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25 Years
ICR celebrated its 25th anniversary by opening our doors to project collaborators, friends, supporters, and community partners. Our Open House featured interactive exhibits and presentations that highlighted ICR's 25 years of partnerships and community involvement. Click here to view photos.
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Visiting from Ethiopia!
ICR presented the dynamic music and dance group Fendika at Charter Oak Cultural Center on Oct. 2, 2012, in partnership with Charter Oak and members of the local Ethiopian community. Fendika also conducted a workshop and a performance for schools at the Artists Collective, another of ICR's important partners
To view the Hartford Advocate's article, click here
To listen to WNPR's Diane Orson's story, click here
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Oral Health Fair A Success
The staff of Project GOH (Good Oral Health) worked with volunteer residents of one senior housing building to become health advocates and to organize their own Oral Health Fair on December 11, 2012. The event was a success and taught fellow residents about the importance of oral health and what they can do to maintain healthy teeth, gums, and mouths. Another fair is scheduled for January. To learn more about this project, click here.
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"Searching" for ICR
Use Goodsearch as your search engine, and each time you search, ICR will receive a $0.01 donation! Go to www.goodsearch.com. In the search field, type in "institute for community research" and click "get started." This will set ICR as your chosen "cause!" You can choose to register, or continue without registering. Now, each time you want to search for something on the web, use Goodsearch to help us raise funds. It's easy and the pennies add up for us!
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ICR has a Facebook page! By "liking" us on Facebook you will get event notifications, photos from programs, news, links, and updates.
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RESEARCH FINDINGS
Respondent Driven Sampling
ICR is conducting an in-depth study of peer recruitment dynamics and social networks when Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) is implemented among injection drug users (IDUs) in Hartford, CT. RDS is often used to recruit hidden populations and estimate population characteristics, like demographics, risk, and epidemics. But the validity of the RDS statistical model is questionable if the peer recruitment occurs in a non-random pattern. Using RDS, each participant receives three coupons to refer their peers into the study. We want to understand what factors affect participants' decision making in choosing peers to give their coupons, and what factors affect the referral process from the recruiters to the potential recruits. We have completed 432 baseline surveys, 300 two-month interviews and 40 in-depth interviews. Preliminary analysis suggests that recruiters are more likely to think about giving coupons to those who have a close relationship to the recruiter, are iin dire need of money, are likely to come to the survey, or have a high level of addiction. The coupon passing process is impacted by the availability of potential recruits, the personality of the potential recruit, the relationship between the recruiter and potential recruit, and changing street dynamics. To read more about this project, click here.
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CULTURE
Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program 
ICR's Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program announces the participants in our 15th annual Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. This program brings together folk arts practitioners working in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Master artists from one state teach their traditional arts skills to an apprentice from one of the other states, informally but intensively, over several months. This connection encourages community-based knowledge and art forms to be shared around the region. All apprenticeship teams present the results of their learning at a public event - a concert, an exhibit, a demonstration, a festival, or a workshop held within their community. So far the program has supported 101 apprenticeships, and a total of 327 artists. This year's group includes French Canadian fiddlers, Roma fiddlers, Finnish fiddlers, Southern New England Native American storytelling, Puerto Rican doll making, Ugandan singing, and traditional shoe making. ICR partners with the Massachusetts Cultural Council and independent Rhode Island folklorist Winifred Lambrecht on the program, which is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Connecticut Office of the Arts. For more information, click here.
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YOUTH
ICR Staff Member Receives Substance Abuse Award
ICR Substance Abuse Prevention Research Educator Paige Nuzzolillo was awarded the Prevention Achievement Award for 2012 by the Capital Area Substance Abuse Council for her work with the 2012 Town Hall Meeting. The Town Hall Meeting was held in April, 2012 at West Hartford Town Hall. It included a mini-expo of resources for teens and parents, a panel discussion with experts on underage drinking, and the premier of "New Year's Eve Party," a research-based video on underage drinking made by teens. The event raised awareness about underage drinking in West Hartford. ICR's involvement with the Town Hall Meetings is part of a project that taught West Hartford teens to conduct research among their peers and write, direct, and film a video that educates teens on the dangers of binge drinking. Paige and her team are working with the West Hartford Substance Abuse Commission to plan next year's Town Hall Meeting and are currently running two social marketing campaigns with parents and teens to promote the event. The event is scheduled for April 8, 2012 at the West Hartford Town Hall.
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INTERNATIONAL
 Multi-media Materials from China Female Condom Project Now Available
Extensive materials from the High-Risk Establishments and Women's HIV Prevention in Southern China final conference are now available on the project's updated web page. In October, 2011 ICR staff were joined in Sanya, China by research partners from Peking Union Medical College, Hainan and Guangxi provincial and regional Centers for Disease Control, and health care providers and outreach workers from each of the project's 4 study sites to present, discuss and compare findings from the 5-year HIV/STI prevention and female condom acceptability study. CDC HIV/AIDS prevention division staff from every county in Hainan also attended the conference to learn about the female condom and local partners' outreach and prevention work. Project findings, conference highlights and presentations, photos and new video interviews with project partners in China are now available here, along with an updated list of project publications.
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