'The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of community capacity for American Indian communities. The study included development and testing phases to ensure face, content, construct, and predictive validity,' researchers in Albuquerque, United States report.
'There were 500 participants in two southwest tribes who completed a detailed community profile, which contained 21 common items in five dimensions (communication, sense of community, youth, elders, and language/culture). In addition, subscales of women and leadership were included in one tribe each,' wrote J. Oetzel and colleagues.
The researchers concluded: 'Confirmatory factor analysis primarily supported the factorial structure of the instruments, and the seven dimensions were found to correlate with previously validated measures of social capital, historical trauma, community influence, and physical health in expected directions.'
Oetzel and colleagues published their study in Health Education & Behavior (Creating an Instrument to Measure People's Perception of Community Capacity in American Indian Communities. Health Education & Behavior, 2011;38(3):301-310).
For additional information, contact J. Oetzel, MSC03 2240, Albuquerque, NM 87106, United States.
Publisher contact information for the journal Health Education & Behavior is: Sage Publications Inc., 2455 Teller Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320, USA.
Keywords: City:Albuquerque, State:New Mexico, Country:United States, Region:North and Central America, Health Education Research
This article was prepared by Education Letter editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2011, Education Letter via VerticalNews.com.
