141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

278013
Docent tour: A human-centered method for exploring the role of environment in community-based programs

Monday, November 4, 2013

Jamie Chang , Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Introduction: Public health conceptualizations of “place”, such as social ecology models, suggest there are multiple, interacting levels of environmental influences on health behaviors (including individual, physical, community, policy). What remains unclear however is how to apply social-ecological determinants into public health services delivery. This issue is particularly salient for community-based programs, which exist in unique and diverse ecological settings. The current study aimed to develop a new, participatory research method to explore with community members how environments shape health/illness, and to illustrate how study findings based on this method can inform public health practice.

Methods: The docent tour is an in-depth, participant-led walking interview that incorporates ethnographic and community-based participatory research methods. This method was used with formerly homeless women who use drugs/alcohol (N=20) who led me on walking interviews of San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. As we walked, we recorded (using audio, photographs, notes) and discussed the docents' experiences with substance use, community-based treatment, housing, and recovery. Interview data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed in Atlas.ti using the grounded theory method.

Results: Three place-based themes related to the social ecology of substance use will be described: 1) informal and formal surveillance, 2) recovery situated in risk, and 3) the unique role of social support in the Tenderloin.

Discussion: Human-centered methods should be part of community-based health service delivery and evaluation. The docent tour method can be used to illuminate the social ecology of drug and alcohol use in San Francisco in ways relevant to community-based public health efforts.

Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe the role of "place" or environment on substance use, treatment and recovery from the perspective of people undergoing community-based substance use treatment.

Keywords: Drug Abuse Treatment, Community Research

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a doctoral candidate in sociology at UCSF currently completing my dissertation qualitatively exploring the role of environments on substance use and treatment. I am also an on-site program evaluator of a community-based harm reduction substance use treatment program. I have worked in community-based mixed methods research for five years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.