scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Author

Lauren Baldasari

Bio: Lauren Baldasari is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Health education & Mental health. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 69 citations.

Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that a sense of belonging, a dimension of social capital, is key to improved well-being and that time banking may be particularly valuable in promoting health and belonging among older and lower-income individuals and those who live alone.
Abstract: Time banking is an international movement that seeks to transform traditional asymmetric social service models into social networks in which members both provide and receive services that are assigned equal value. Time banks have been shown to enhance social capital, and there is some evidence for improved health. This article, based on a survey of 160 members of a hospital-affiliated time bank, examines the likelihood and predictors of improvement in physical and mental health as a result of membership. Men, people with lower income, and those who were not working full-time reported highest levels of participation in exchanging services; attachment to the organization was greatest among women, older members, people with less education, and those with the highest participation levels. Multivariate analyses revealed that physical health improvement attributed to membership was significantly predicted by attachment to the organization and living alone; mental health gains were predicted by general health changes, average number of exchanges, and attachment to the organization. We conclude that a sense of belonging, a dimension of social capital, is key to improved well-being and that time banking may be particularly valuable in promoting health and belonging among older and lower-income individuals and those who live alone.

80 citations


Cited by
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors highlights the critical role of social capital and networks in disaster survival and recovery and lays out recent literature and evidence on the topic, concluding with concrete policy recommendations for disaster managers, government decision makers, and no...
Abstract: Despite the ubiquity of disaster and the increasing toll in human lives and financial costs, much research and policy remain focused on physical infrastructure–centered approaches to such events. Governmental organizations such as the Department of Homeland Security, United States Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Agency for International Development, and United Kingdom’s Department for International Development continue to spend heavily on hardening levees, raising existing homes, and repairing damaged facilities despite evidence that social, not physical, infrastructure drives resilience. This article highlights the critical role of social capital and networks in disaster survival and recovery and lays out recent literature and evidence on the topic. We look at definitions of social capital, measurement and proxies, types of social capital, and mechanisms and application. The article concludes with concrete policy recommendations for disaster managers, government decision makers, and no...

1,096 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This guidance draws on preparatory work for the development of England policy on prevention of mental disorder which used a wide range of sources and should be read in conjunction with the EPA Guidance on Mental Health Promotion.

99 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Apr 2014
TL;DR: This paper discusses how problems with the very metaphor of banking itself can be tackled with user experience design for systems supporting timebanking, a system in which 'time dollars' are earned and spent by people providing services for and receiving them from each other.
Abstract: Commercial peer-to-peer service exchange businesses, such as AirBnB, Lyft and TaskRabbit, are expanding rapidly, but their non-profit counterparts are lagging behind. We conducted a field study of the most prominent of these, timebanking; a system in which 'time dollars' are earned and spent by people providing services for and receiving them from each other. Our study exposed problems with the very metaphor of banking itself, which deter participation. In this paper we discuss how these problems can be tackled with user experience design for systems supporting timebanking. Our design ideas emphasize the personal and social benefits of participation, and avoid such unappealing concepts as debt and neediness that the timebanking metaphor falls afoul of.

98 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore possible lines of tension between principles that underpin time banking practices and principles informing the health policy field in the United Kingdom and develop a framework rooted in the logics approach to critical policy analysis with which to track shifts in conceptions of co-production at three nodes situated along the full length of the public service chain.
Abstract: Time banking is a third-sector initiative that enacts principles of co-production and offers a model with which to understand how users can become actively involved with professionals and other stakeholders in the delivery of public services. This article explores possible lines of tension between principles that underpin time banking practices and principles informing the health policy field in the United Kingdom. We develop a framework rooted in the logics approach to critical policy analysis with which to track shifts in conceptions of co-production at three nodes situated along the full length of the public service chain: (1) service provision and distribution; (2) service delivery; and (3) service governance. Our analysis reveals discrepancies in the way co-production principles can be defined, interpreted, and linked to broader notions of social justice: recognition-based interpretations with a transformative accent, and choice-based interpretations with an additive accent. We conclude that the heal...

88 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the congruence between motivating factors and various forms of participation in a local currency system was investigated. And the results provided some support for the Congruence Hypothesis.
Abstract: Community currency is an understudied, alternative social movement. These local networks are grassroots, collective efforts to form an alternative market with the hopes of empowering the economically marginalized and building social capital. Original data collected from members of a local currency system are employed to investigate their motivations to join and the congruence between motivating factors and various forms of participation. Four categories of motivations are identified and multivariate models are estimated to assess which are the most salient predictors of differential participation. The results provide some support for the congruence hypothesis. As Knoke (1988) predicted, member motivations play a role in shaping forms of participation. This evidence is used to draw larger implications for social movement research.

69 citations