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Journal Article•DOI•

Time banking and health: the role of a community currency organization in enhancing well-being.

Judith N. Lasker1, Ed Collom2, Tara Bealer3, Erin Niclaus4, Jessica Young Keefe, Zane Kratzer5, Lauren Baldasari, Ethan Kramer6, Rachel Mandeville, Julia Schulman7, Danielle Suchow, Abby S. Letcher4, Anne Rogers, Kathy M. Perlow4 •
Lehigh University1, University of Southern Maine2, University of Phoenix3, Lehigh Valley Hospital4, Legal Services Corporation5, Northampton Community College6, Columbia University7
01 Jan 2011-Health Promotion Practice (SAGE Publications)-Vol. 12, Iss: 1, pp 102-115
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.
Citations
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Journal Article•DOI•
Social Capital and Community Resilience

[...]

Daniel P. Aldrich1, Michelle A. Meyer2•
Purdue University1, Louisiana State University2
01 Feb 2015-American Behavioral Scientist
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

Cites background from "Time banking and health: the role o..."

  • ...One study of 160 participants found both physical and mental health improvement from involvement in a time banking program (Lasker et al., 2011)....

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  • ...” One study of 160 participants found both physical and mental health improvement from involvement in a time banking program (Lasker et al., 2011)....

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Journal Article•DOI•
European Psychiatric Association (EPA) guidance on prevention of mental disorders

[...]

Jonathan Campion1, Kamaldeep Bhui2, Dinesh Bhugra3•
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust1, Queen Mary University of London2, King's College London3
01 Feb 2012-European Psychiatry
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

Cites background from "Time banking and health: the role o..."

  • ...isolation; social prescribing of arts [34] and time banks [52,159,199] can...

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Proceedings Article•DOI•
Towards community-centered support for peer-to-peer service exchange: rethinking the timebanking metaphor

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Victoria Bellotti1, Sara Cambridge2, Karen Hoy3, Patrick C. Shih4, Lisa Renery Handalian5, Kyungsik Han4, John M. Carroll4 •
University of California, Santa Cruz1, University of California, Berkeley2, PARC3, Pennsylvania State University4, California College of the Arts5
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 Article•DOI•
Varieties of co-production in public services: time banks in a UK health policy context

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Jason Glynos1, Ewen Speed1•
University of Essex1
01 Dec 2012-Critical Policy Studies
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 Article•DOI•
Motivations and Differential Participation in a Community Currency System: The Dynamics Within a Local Social Movement Organization1

[...]

Ed Collom1•
University of Maine System1
01 Mar 2011-Sociological Forum
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

Cites background from "Time banking and health: the role o..."

  • ...Today, most Time Banks continue to be based in existing institutions (such as hospitals, schools, churches, or social service agencies) and target the socially and economically marginalized—the young, the elderly, the poor, and the disabled (Lasker et al., 2010; Seyfang, 2009; Seyfang and Smith, 2002). Some service credit banking programs and institution-based Time Banks have different primary principles than LETS and Hours systems. As discussed earlier, local currencies have been advocated for their larger impact on the local economy and for building social capital among all neighbors (not targeting specific groups). However, some Time Banks are stand-alone, ‘‘neighborto-neighbor’’ networks with organizational and individual members. These types look similar to LETS or Hours systems (with the exception of the paid staff and time-based currency). According to a directory maintained by the national umbrella organization TimeBanks USA, there are currently 116 Time Banks with 20 or more members in the United States (TimeBanks USA, 2010). This model of local currency is growing rapidly as over 70 new Time Banks were launched in 28 states in the year 2009 alone (TimeBanks USA, 2009). Time Banks UK began in 1998 and currently has 93 active programs and another 98 in development (Time Banking UK, 2010). Community currency is a unique type of social movement. In Starr’s (2001) survey of anticorporate movements, community currency is characterized as a ‘‘relocalization’’ movement....

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  • ...In their case study of an institution-based Time Bank, Lasker et al. (2010) also explore the demographic determinants of transactions as well as attachment to the Time Bank....

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  • ...Today, most Time Banks continue to be based in existing institutions (such as hospitals, schools, churches, or social service agencies) and target the socially and economically marginalized—the young, the elderly, the poor, and the disabled (Lasker et al., 2010; Seyfang, 2009; Seyfang and Smith, 2002). Some service credit banking programs and institution-based Time Banks have different primary principles than LETS and Hours systems. As discussed earlier, local currencies have been advocated for their larger impact on the local economy and for building social capital among all neighbors (not targeting specific groups). However, some Time Banks are stand-alone, ‘‘neighborto-neighbor’’ networks with organizational and individual members. These types look similar to LETS or Hours systems (with the exception of the paid staff and time-based currency). According to a directory maintained by the national umbrella organization TimeBanks USA, there are currently 116 Time Banks with 20 or more members in the United States (TimeBanks USA, 2010). This model of local currency is growing rapidly as over 70 new Time Banks were launched in 28 states in the year 2009 alone (TimeBanks USA, 2009). Time Banks UK began in 1998 and currently has 93 active programs and another 98 in development (Time Banking UK, 2010). Community currency is a unique type of social movement. In Starr’s (2001) survey of anticorporate movements, community currency is characterized as a ‘‘relocalization’’ movement. Seyfang (2009) ties it to local food and alternative housing as forms of sustainable consumption. Leyshon and Lee (2003) also see local currencies, ‘‘day-to-day experiments in performing the economy otherwise’’ (2003:16), as part of the antiglobalization movement in terms of both their activists and their goals....

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  • ...Today, most Time Banks continue to be based in existing institutions (such as hospitals, schools, churches, or social service agencies) and target the socially and economically marginalized—the young, the elderly, the poor, and the disabled (Lasker et al., 2010; Seyfang, 2009; Seyfang and Smith, 2002)....

    [...]

  • ...Today, most Time Banks continue to be based in existing institutions (such as hospitals, schools, churches, or social service agencies) and target the socially and economically marginalized—the young, the elderly, the poor, and the disabled (Lasker et al., 2010; Seyfang, 2009; Seyfang and Smith, 2002). Some service credit banking programs and institution-based Time Banks have different primary principles than LETS and Hours systems. As discussed earlier, local currencies have been advocated for their larger impact on the local economy and for building social capital among all neighbors (not targeting specific groups). However, some Time Banks are stand-alone, ‘‘neighborto-neighbor’’ networks with organizational and individual members. These types look similar to LETS or Hours systems (with the exception of the paid staff and time-based currency). According to a directory maintained by the national umbrella organization TimeBanks USA, there are currently 116 Time Banks with 20 or more members in the United States (TimeBanks USA, 2010). This model of local currency is growing rapidly as over 70 new Time Banks were launched in 28 states in the year 2009 alone (TimeBanks USA, 2009). Time Banks UK began in 1998 and currently has 93 active programs and another 98 in development (Time Banking UK, 2010). Community currency is a unique type of social movement. In Starr’s (2001) survey of anticorporate movements, community currency is characterized as a ‘‘relocalization’’ movement. Seyfang (2009) ties it to local food and alternative housing as forms of sustainable consumption....

    [...]

References
More filters
Book•
Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research

[...]

Donald T. Campbell, Julian C. Stanley, Nathaniel Lees Gage
01 Jan 1963
TL;DR: A survey drawn from social science research which deals with correlational, ex post facto, true experimental, and quasi-experimental designs and makes methodological recommendations is presented in this article.
Abstract: A survey drawn from social-science research which deals with correlational, ex post facto, true experimental, and quasi-experimental designs and makes methodological recommendations. Bibliogs.

10,916 citations

"Time banking and health: the role o..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...The widely used onequestion self-rating of health (“In general, my health is . . . ,” with five choices ranging from excellent to poor) was posed for both the present and, relying on a retrospective pretest design ( Campbell & Stanley, 1963 ), for the time before joining CE;2 the difference between the two was computed as a measure of “general health change” and introduced as a control variable in analyses....

    [...]

Journal Article•DOI•
Missing data: Our view of the state of the art.

[...]

Joseph L. Schafer, John W. Graham
01 Jun 2002-Psychological Methods
TL;DR: 2 general approaches that come highly recommended: maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian multiple imputation (MI) are presented and may eventually extend the ML and MI methods that currently represent the state of the art.
Abstract: Statistical procedures for missing data have vastly improved, yet misconception and unsound practice still abound. The authors frame the missing-data problem, review methods, offer advice, and raise issues that remain unresolved. They clear up common misunderstandings regarding the missing at random (MAR) concept. They summarize the evidence against older procedures and, with few exceptions, discourage their use. They present, in both technical and practical language, 2 general approaches that come highly recommended: maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian multiple imputation (MI). Newer developments are discussed, including some for dealing with missing data that are not MAR. Although not yet in the mainstream, these procedures may eventually extend the ML and MI methods that currently represent the state of the art.

10,568 citations

"Time banking and health: the role o..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...Therefore, following Schafer and Graham (2002), it was determined that the missing data problem would be most accurately corrected using the maximum likelihood estimation procedure....

    [...]

Journal Article•DOI•
From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium.

[...]

Lisa F. Berkman1, Thomas A. Glass2, Ian Brissette3, Teresa E. Seeman4•
Harvard University1, Johns Hopkins University2, Carnegie Mellon University3, University of California, Los Angeles4
15 Sep 2000-Social Science & Medicine
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a conceptual model of how social networks impact health, and argue that networks operate at the behavioral level through four primary pathways: (1) provision of social support; (2) social influence; (3) on social engagement and attachment; and (4) access to resources and material goods.

4,033 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Social ties and mental health.

[...]

Ichiro Kawachi1, Lisa F. Berkman1•
Harvard University1
01 Sep 2001-Journal of Urban Health-bulletin of The New York Academy of Medicine
TL;DR: Despite some successes reported in social support interventions to enhance mental health, further work is needed to deepen the understanding of the design, timing, and dose of interventions that work, as well as the characteristics of individuals who benefit the most.
Abstract: It is generally agreed that social ties play a beneficial role in the maintenance of psychological well-being. In this targeted review, we highlight four sets of insights that emerge from the literature on social ties and mental health outcomes (defined as stress reactions, psychological well-being, and psychological distress, including depressive symptoms and anxiety). First, the pathways by which social networks and social supports influence mental health can be described by two alternative (although not mutually exclusive) causal models—the main effect model and the stress-buffering model. Second, the protective effects of social ties on mental health are not uniform across groups in society. Gender differences in support derived from social network participation may partly account for the higher prevalence of psychological distress among women compared to men. Social connections may paradoxically increase levels of mental illness symptoms among women with low resources, especially if such connections entail role strain associated with obligations to provide social support to others. Third, egocentric networks are nested within a broader structure of social relationships. The notion of social capital embraces the embeddedness of individual social ties within the broader social structure. Fourth, despite some successes reported in social support interventions to enhance mental health, further work is needed to deepen our understanding of the design, timing, and dose of interventions that work, as well as the characteristics of individuals who benefit the most.

2,989 citations

"Time banking and health: the role o..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Similarly, Kawachi and Berkman (2001) concluded in their review that social ties are generally conducive to better mental health and possibly to improved cognition among elderly people....

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  • ...…aspects of an individual’s social environment, many questions remain about how best to design interventions that might increase social capital or expand social networks in order to influence physical and mental health outcomes in a positive way (De Silva et al., 2005; Kawachi & Berkman, 2001)....

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  • ...An important example of the latter is that those who are most embedded in networks that impose restrictive norms or burdensome social obligations—more often women—may experience worse mental health (Kawachi & Berkman, 2001)....

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Journal Article•DOI•
A Collective Self-Esteem Scale: Self-Evaluation of One's Social Identity

[...]

Riia Luhtanen, Jennifer Crocker1•
University at Buffalo1
01 Jun 1992-Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
TL;DR: In this paper, a scale was constructed to assess individual differences in collective, rather than personal, self-esteem, with four subscales (Membership esteem, public collective selfesteem, private collective self esteem, and importance to identity), and evidence for reliability and validity of the scale was provided by three studies.
Abstract: Social identity theory as developed by Tajfel and Turner argues that there are two distinct aspects of the self-concept: personal identity and social identity (in American terminology, collective identity). Although many self-esteem measures are available in the literature, they allfocus on individuals'evaluation of their personal identity, whether in private or interpersonal domains. No scale currently exists that assesses the positivity of one's social, or collective, identity. A scale was constructed to assess individual differences in collective, rather than personal, self-esteem, with four subscales (Membership esteem, Public collective self-esteem, Private collective self-esteem, and Importance to Identity). Evidence for reliability and validity of the scale was provided by three studies, suggesting that the scale can be a useful research tool. Implications for research and social identity theory are discussed.

2,806 citations

"Time banking and health: the role o..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...The Collective Self-Esteem Scale was developed by Luhtanen and Crocker (1992) to measure individuals’ identification with and evaluation of the social groupings they are part of, such as religion, race, and gender....

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Related Papers (5)
No more throw-away people : the co-production imperative

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01 Dec 2004
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Time banks: rewarding community self-help in the inner city?

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01 Jan 2004-Community Development Journal
Gill Seyfang
Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community

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01 Jan 2000
Robert D. Putnam
Tackling social exclusion with community currencies: Learning from LETS to time banks

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01 Jan 2002
Gill Seyfang
The Time of our Lives: Using Time Banking for Neighbourhood Renewal and Community Capacity Building

[...]

01 Jan 2002
Gill Seyfang, K Smith