After the floods of 1993, Extension services in the North Central Region states realized they could do more effective work during a disaster if they were better prepared and could draw on an established network. Thanks to a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant and leadership from the University of Illinois, NCR state representatives formed the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN).

EDEN's mission is to reduce the impact of natural and man-made disasters through interdisciplinary and multi-state research and education programs that address disaster mitigation, preparation, and recovery. Extension staff have always been involved in emergency work on the local and state levels, but by working across state lines and with other agencies, this expertise is brought together. In addition, by planning ahead, CES can be better prepared to serve people in time of need.

The network is now national with 28 states represented and other states in the process of naming representatives. Pat Skinner with Louisiana CES currently serves as EDEN coordinator. State representatives include specialists in engineering, housing, clothing and textiles, safety, finance, child development, public policy, veterinary medicine, communications, psychology, marine science, and other subjects.

Reasons for EDEN's success and growth include its grassroots beginnings, diversity of representation, multidisciplinary approach, and loosely structured organization.

EDEN's major goals include:

Sharing educational resources and technical expertise across state lines. At an annual meeting and via conference calls and e-mail, EDEN members share publications, videotapes, World Wide Web sites, other resources, and even personal experiences.

Using electronic technology to develop, archive, update, transmit, and receive educational information. The EDEN Web site makes it possible to see what resources are available from different state Extension services and from other agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross.

Establishing formal links for long-term collaboration with federal, state, and local Emergency Management agencies, American Red Cross, and other cooperators. This will help disaster victims receive the help they need without duplication as each agency focuses on its mission.

The EDEN Web site (http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/eden/) primarily provides resources for short- and long-term educational programming. Each member state enters information in the database to link to its disaster resources. The Web site has information on how to prepare for disasters, what to do after a disaster strikes, how to get disaster assistance, how to help disaster victims, and much more. Users can conduct a search of disaster-related resources, browse through resources from member states, and access links to disaster agencies and organizations.

By putting resources on the Web, Extension staff have the most up-to-date information available instantly. New fact sheets don't have to be reprinted every time there's a change, and inaccurate or out-of-date information is less likely to be distributed.

EDEN is an informal network that requires minimal central support. Each member state can share its resources and access accurate information at little expense. When signing the EDEN cooperative agreement, directors agree to have their state represented by one or more Extension professionals interested in disaster issues, link their state's disaster information with the EDEN Web site, and share materials and technical expertise across state lines. Using the EDEN model, CES could address a variety of subjects and interdisciplinary topics in a timely- and cost-effective manner.

Despite its informal structure, the EDEN network is effective. For example, when North Dakota experienced flooding in 1997, e-mail communication resulted in information based on experience not found in any publication. Kansas and Missouri loaned moisture meters so homeowners who checked them out from North Dakota county Extension offices could make sure the wood in their homes was dry enough for rebuilding. Minnesota turned to EDEN during the same disaster for Web-based and video resources.

When Indiana provided staff in-service on "Preparing Rural Communities for Disaster Events," several EDEN representatives shared their expertise. Based on Indiana's successful training, Michigan and other states are planning similar in-service for staff.

A disaster can be anything from a local chemical spill or fire to an area blizzard or hurricane to a multi-state drought or flood. Extension staff are educational resources before, during and after any of these disasters, and EDEN helps get accurate information to them -- and to the people who need it -- quickly.

States that want to learn more or become part of the Extension Disaster Education Network can visit the Web site or contact pskinner@agctr.lsu.edu.

Introduction

Responses to pre-categorized structured questionnaires are easily analyzed by desktop statistical software. It must be the lure of getting presumably unbiased, unconstrained, and thoughtful responses that encourage researchers to use open-ended questions whenever they like. However, such enthusiasm is usually dampened upon realization that the only way that they can make sense of the valued responses is by printing them out as a list. A cumbersome alternative is to sit by the stack of surveys and glean out the contents one form at a time. This paper shows a possible technique for dealing with open-ended question responses without the time-consuming chore of manual collation (Culp and Pilat, 1998).

Methodology

A subset of three open-ended questions from a previously conducted simulated survey was used for this exercise. The data was analyzed using the SAS/BASE(R) and SAS/STAT(R) modules of SAS(R) software (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). During data entry, three essential fields namely ID, QUESTION, and CATEGORY, were added to the original set of variables contained on each record (responses from each respondent). The ID field tags the form and associates it to a specific respondent. ID was also used as a common field from which to merge information with other data set(s) when doing analysis across demographic data, or when frequency analysis becomes important in establishing relationships with other variables in other data sets.

The QUESTION field identifies the issue being addressed by a particular response. The CATEGORY field makes possible the pre-classification of the response for easy handling and programming. The latter is an optional field since categories can be generated from the results of the word frequency analysis as will be discussed in the later part of this paper. Table 1 shows a sample data entry format.

The word count strategy operates on the premise that open-ended responses are strands of phrases and sentences constructed of major and minor keywords plus "extraneous" words such as "the," "is," "are," "that," "to," "a," "of," and many others. Key to capturing the essence of any response is the ability of the programmer to extract and manipulate character strings such that all unimportant components are dropped while keeping the major and minor words intact. For this exercise, numbers and punctuation marks were also excluded. Frequency analysis was then performed on the retained words from which Table 2 was derived. This procedure may be performed for each of the response variables of interest.

Discussion

It could be gleaned from Table 2 that if one only wants to gauge and have a feel of the important issues the respondents are concerned about, then the word frequency table would probably suffice. However, by grouping closely related words together (such as, product, prices, and marketing), the table provides a platform for creating new or modified categories that may be more meaningful, and more descriptive, than those that were originally generated. It also opens up opportunities to drill down on one or several of the issues to reveal more specific opinion of the respondents.

After performing word frequency analysis on the original variables, the result may indicate convergence to just a few specific issues. In such a situation and where dichotomous or only few divergent responses are expected, one can program the string extraction such that the presence (or absence) of a minor modifier word (such as "high") is detected for specific variables (such as "demand"). The sequence of the modifier word with the major keyword (such as "high demand") can then be tracked and counted. Since dual word extraction is only possible using the original response variables, result from word frequency analysis should only serve as a reference.

In SAS, there are at least three ways of searching for a word or a combination of words within a string of characters. The first one is by using the software's pattern-matching functions. The second is through the use of indexing functions that can be programmed to perform string extraction, and word concatenation. The third and simplest way is by the use of conditional loops in combination with counter variables to monitor the occurrence of pattern-matches. All three techniques render the drilling down and tallying of all possible responses to a particular issue possible (Table 3). However, this procedure may not be applicable for variables with less clear-cut responses.

In the example above, one could have stopped with the analysis after doing a word frequency count as was demonstrated in Table 2. At that point there would have been the confidence to conclude that "demand" is one of the predominant concerns of respondents. Whether they feel there is a high demand or no demand at all is imperceptible and could not be deduced by just looking at Table 2. However, with the use of the indexing technique, the researchers were able to drill down and generate definitive, polarized responses not obtainable by the word frequency method alone.

Conclusion

Surveys have always been and will always be indispensable tools in Extension work. While closed-ended questionnaires in surveys offer an easy way of evaluating a program's success or failure, the power of open-ended questionnaire to elicit unrestricted, unbiased, and frank responses is a highly valuable feedback mechanism which should be harnessed to advantage.

One objection to using open-ended questions is the time-consuming and difficult task involved in summarizing responses. This paper presents a simple but effective method of extracting information from surveys that should remove such a constraint. The only drawback is that while SAS provides a point-and-click user interface that takes care of the statistical analyses for most numeric variables, one still needs some experience in SAS at manipulating character strings in order to implement the procedure described in this paper. The good news is programming in SAS is easy to learn. SAS is available for site licensing by universities at academic rates.

References

Culp, K. and Pilat, M. 1998. Converting feedback into quantifiable categories. Journal of Extension 36(5). Available on-line: http://www.joe.org

Trademark Information

SAS is a registered trademark of the SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. (R) indicates USA registration.

Society faces many challenges as it becomes more complex and interrelated. Educators, community leaders, and concerned citizens are working toward effective ways to alleviate some of the problems facing youth and families.

One approach gaining favor and distinction is the collaboration strategy. This process gets people to work together in new ways. It is not an easy fix, but a journey which requires bringing together diverse stakeholders to develop trust among themselves, combine resources, and expand the mind set of all members to adopt new ideas in resolving problems (Winer & Ray, 1994). In working together, collaborative members must internalize the concept that successful prevention models need to focus on a holistic approach of family support. Positive models need to be comprehensive and not fragmented. Creating nurturing environmental contexts which are children centered, family focused, and neighborhood based will enhance and reinforce positive conditions for youth and families (Benard, 1991).

One community embracing this concept is Union Park, a community in the east side of Orlando, Florida. Like any other big city, Orlando has a problem with children's safety. In an effort to address this concern, a focus group of neighborhood school and community leaders, parents, and various agencies met to discuss the prevailing situation. The focus group defined and identified their strengths and needs in developing a vision for a safe neighborhood.

Issues of quality childcare, including before and after school care for school-age and pre-adolescent children, were discussed. An overall parental worry about children's safety while in home alone situations was a common concern of employed parents. Additional issues cited by the focus group were lack of cross-cultural understanding, transportation, cost effectiveness of services for all residents in the community, and family relations.

Research on latchkey children has revealed that many children are afraid, bored, and lonely when home alone (Long & Long, 1983). Accidents, low self-esteem, criminal injury, increased use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana (Richardson, Radziszewska, Dent, & Flay, 1993), and academically unmotivated students are other possible risks facing these children. Addressing the challenge of children having to be in latchkey situations requires efforts on many fronts. It involves creating support services for children on their own, developing supervised before and after school programs, and acknowledging the need for policies that affect families' child care responsibilities (American Home Economics Association & Whirlpool, 1993).

To meet the needs of the community, the Union Park Action for Safe Families collaborative growth initiative was created. Funding was secured in April 1996 from the Orange County Citizens' Commission for Children. The collaborative partners consisted of four member agencies spearheaded by the University of Florida's Orange County Cooperative Extension Service and an advisory group consisting of parents, school and community leaders and member agencies.

During the funding cycle, the advisory group met quarterly. Collaborative agencies also met on a monthly basis to provide support and discuss any challenges in meeting their desired outcomes. The desired outcomes the team worked on were:

By September 30, 1998, 90 percent of the children participating in the collaborative programs will be safer as measured by (a) a 50% increase in supervised collaborative programs and (b) a 25% increase in learned safety behaviors measured by pre and post tests.

By September 30, 1998, 50% of families in collaborative programs will successfully achieve their goals according to their participation plan.

The collaborative agencies and their purpose in achieving the desired outcome follows:

* East Orange Community Action Inc. - This agency grants numerous subsides for after school care; provides space for neighborhood services, classroom space for a variety of program activities, including volunteer training and parent meetings.

* Orange County Sheriff's Office B.A.D.G.E. (Becoming Achievers and Doers Through Guided Education) - This agency provides an after school enrichment program for middle school adolescents. It is a combined effort between a teacher and a sheriff deputy. The teacher provides tutoring by working with children on academic enrichment; the mentor deputy provides a positive role model. Participants are rewarded for academic achievement.

* Orange County Department of Human Services, Family Education - This agency provides free family counseling to families in the Union Park community. The family education counselor also works with students in the elementary school. The counselor provides academic enrichment to improve grade point average and teach anger management skills.

* Cooperative Extension Service - This agency coordinates the project, acting as fiscal and managing agent for the collaborative. The neighborhood coordinator, employed through Extension, is responsible for referring Union Park citizens to agency services and outside community resources. Cooperative Extension Service awards 30 extended-day scholarships in two elementary schools in the community, recruits and trains volunteers for the Children and Literacy program, as well as after school 4-H clubs.

In addition, it produces Safe Families, a quarterly newsletter, in-service trainings for Family Day Care Providers, and offers a six-week parent nurturing program. A pre-school safety curriculum, self-care education lessons for fourth and fifth grade, and 4-H club after-school activities are also part of the offerings.

Each partner has played an important role in providing various services to families for the attainment of a safer neighborhood. To date, evidence is clear that the project is meeting its desired outcome.

Results

After a two-year span, the outcome audit for the Union Park Action for Safe Families was conducted by the Orange County Citizens' Commission for Children, the granting agency. The audit consisted of interviews with community advisory members, school, and client groups, fiscal reviews and contract outcomes. Interviews with stakeholders identified summer, after school programs and family counseling programs as meaningful and worthwhile to them. Participants commented that the agencies were flexible and worked with parents' and children's schedules to meet their needs. Following are the results of the contract outcomes.

The baseline in 1996 for children enrolled in supervised programs was 123. As of September 30, 1998, 343 youth participated in supervised collaborative programs, an increase of 64%.

Two-hundred thirty 4th and 5th grade students were evaluated in three different elementary schools. Pre- and post-test scores indicate a 25% increase in knowledge of personal safety. Some of the learned behaviors students reported practicing were posting emergency numbers by the telephone, taking messages when parents were not home, and planning enjoyable activities to avoid boredom.

Sixty nine families participated in in-depth collaborative programs. Of the 69 families working on their participation plans, 49 successfully achieved their goals. This resulted in a 71% completion rate. Participation plans consisted of setting family goals based on the family's strengths and opportunities for improving family stability.

Conclusions

In the journey toward collaboration and servicing families, participants met challenges of trust, agency territory issues, and client confidentiality. However, keeping the collaborative's mission and common outcomes in the forefront helped focus the work efforts toward meeting the needs of children and families in the community.

Implications

Union Park Action for Safe Families' success has resulted in an extension of the contract for an additional three years. Building on the strengths accomplished in this community, the advisory group recommended two additional services for families. Beginning October 1, 1998 the Orange County Department of Health and the Orange County Department of Human Services-Home Visitor/Parent Support Program joined the collaborative to bring additional resources to families.

References

Benard, B. (1991). Fostering resiliency in kids: Protective factors in the family, school and community. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Clearinghouse. Prevention Resource Center Alcohol and Other Drugs.

Long, T., & Long, L. (1983). The handbook for latchkey children and their parents. New York: Arbor House.

American Home Economics Association and Whirlpool Foundation (1993). Project home safe. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Richardson, J. L., Radziszewska, B., Dent, C. W., & Flay, B. R. (1993). Relationship between after-school care of adolescents and substance use, risk taking, depressed mood, and academic achievement. Pediatrics, 92, 32-38.

Winer, M., & Ray, K. (1994). Collaboration handbook: Creating, sustaining, and enjoying the journey. MN: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation.

Because outdoor workers such as farmers are more likely to get skin cancer than others (Blair, Malker, Cantor, Burmeister & Wiklund, 1985), and because intense intermittent exposure to sunlight poses a risk factor for malignant melanoma, particularly when the exposure occurs in the first 15 years of life (Holman & Armstrong, 1984), farm children are a uniquely important target for skin cancer prevention programs. The Georgia Harvesting Healthy Habits program developed a sun safety and skin cancer prevention program which was implemented at the annual Farm Safety Camp held at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton.

The curriculum for this program is appropriate for use in camp settings, 4-H meetings, and other Extension education venues. Designed for youth between the ages of 10-13, the program promotes use of sunscreen and sun protective hats as simple skin cancer prevention tools. It also gives the youths an opportunity to learn how to conduct a skin self-exam. The program can range from one to two hours long and can be easily adapted to many settings in order to teach children about skin cancer prevention.

The first part of the Harvesting Healthy Habits curriculum consists of a seminar introducing children to the concepts of skin, cancer, and skin cancer. The participants receive fact sheets explaining the three concepts in basic terms. The educator leads a group discussion of the fact sheets. Once the basic concepts have been presented, the educator explains the causes of skin cancer, the three different types of skin cancer, who is at greatest risk for the disease, and the importance of developing prevention habits, including sunscreen use, wearing sun protective hats, and conducting skin self-exams. The curriculum encourages student participation through group discussion and question and answer sessions.

After the youths understand the three key prevention strategies (sunscreens, sun protective hats, and skin self-exams), they receive a packet that instructs them on how to participate at three activity stations illustrating the prevention strategies. The packets allow the youth to evaluate each activity, listing several potential things the students could like or dislike about a hat or sunscreen. The order of activities has been randomly assigned within individual activity packets, so one student may begin at a station by testing sunscreen "A" while another evaluates hat "C" at a different station.

At the sunscreen activity station, the children sample five or more different types of sunscreen with a range of SPF values and uses (for example, sport sunscreen versus sensitive skin sunscreen). The students try on the sunscreens, judge them on the basis of smell, texture, and color, and rate their feelings in their activity packets. These feelings include likes and dislikes about the particular sunscreen and their feelings toward using sunscreen in general.

At the hat activity station, the participants try on at least five different hats with a variety of sun protective values. These hats should include a baseball cap, a wide-brimmed straw hat, a tightly woven wide-brimmed cloth hat, and others deemed appropriate by program planners. Students judge the hats based on color, style, comfort, likelihood of wearing the hat, and sun protective value. The youths have a chance to "model" the hats for their peers and observe the appearance of others who are trying on the same hats. They can evaluate their feelings toward each hat in their packets.

The skin self-exam station gives the students a chance to practice conducting an exam. Two full length mirrors allow students to examine their exposed skin. Hand held mirrors are available at the station and, when used with the full length ones, give the students a chance to view their entire bodies. The participants use the sheet in the activity packets about "how to conduct a skin self-exam" as a guide. The youths search their skin for moles or distinctive markings and then record these markings in their packets. One part of the "skin self-exam" pages shows a body on which the participant can draw himself or herself and indicate the position of any moles. Colored pencils, crayons, or markers can be used with this activity to make drawing more fun.

These three stations give youth a chance to practice skin cancer prevention behaviors and also observe their peers performing them as well. Activities allow the students to assess skin cancer prevention strategies in terms that coalesce with the way youth make judgements about the world. During the discussion and activities, students can form opinions about the appearance and practice of recommended behaviors. This program is especially ideal for youth, as social comparison, observation, and practice of certain behaviors are powerful learning tools for children in this age group. The program may also be appropriate for adults who may benefit from the opportunity to try-out skin cancer prevention behaviors.

References

Blair, A., Malker, H., Cantor, K. P., Burmeister, L., & Wiklund, K. (1985). Cancer among farmers. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Environmental Health, 11, 397-407.

Holman, D.C., & Armstrong, B.K. (1984). Cutaneous malignant melanoma and indicators of total accumulated exposure to the sun: An analysis separating histogenetic types. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 73, 75-82.

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