Evidence-Based Practice Brief
Evidence-BasedPractice Brief
Evidence-BasedPractice Brief
Beingborn in the urban areas has both challenges and benefits. However,there is a high probability of going through a lot of financialstruggles in the urban areas due to the high cost of living. Childrenare affected disproportionately due their limited capacity to engagein productive labor (National Center for Children Poverty, 2017).This evidence-based practice brief will address the followingpractice question what are the key factors that contribute tofinancial struggles among low-income children of urban communities?
Part1: Practice Question
Practicequestion
Thepractice question addressed in this research brief is: what are thekey factors that contribute to financial struggles among low-incomechildren of urban communities?
Rationalefor the question
The practice question was selected due to the large number ofchildren who are born in low-income families, especially in the urbanareas. According to NCCP (2017) about 21 % of children in the U.S.are born in families with an income that is below the poverty levelset by the federal government. These children go through a lot offinancial struggles that limit the quality of their lives. Thesestruggles also limit their capacity to acquire knowledge and skillsthat help them to become as competent as their counterparts who areborn in rich families. The possession of information regarding thisissue will facilitate the development of evidence-based practicesthat will reduce financial struggles among the affected children.
Apopulation that is affected by the practice question is comprised ofchildren who are between two and eleven years. These children areborn and live in low-income families that live in the urban areas. Inaddition, they go through financial struggles, which is an indicationof the lack of capacity to meet the basic needs.
Relevantcultural and contextual factors
Itwill be important to understand the values as well as belief systemsheld by low income families in the urban areas. These are culturalfactors that will make it possible to determine how these people makedecisions on important issues, such as housing and education (WinonaUniversity, 2016). One of the key contextual factors that need to beconsidered is the fact that the urban environment presents uniquechallenges (such as the high cost of living) that could alsocontribute to financial struggles among the low-income children.
Part2: Evidence Search
Approachto search
Thekey word approach was used to conduct an online the search forarticles that could provide useful evidence. Some of the key termsused include “financial struggles among children in urban areas”,“causes of financial struggles among children”, and “childpoverty in urban areas”. The evidence hierarchy provided by WinonaState University was used to assess the quality of the articles. Thehierarchy has seven levels that are determined by the methodologicalquality of the validity, design, and applicability of the researchfindings (National Poverty Center, 2017). The decision on whicharticles that would be reviewed was based on whether they arescholarly, relevant to the question, and provide research-basedevidence.
Resultsof the search
Thesearch process resulted in the identification of a total of sixarticles. Out of these publications, four of them were empiricalresearch studies that were based on different methodologies, whiletwo of them were literature review. All the six sources are scholarlyjournal articles.
Oneof the key limitations in the search process is the difficulty offinding articles that address the issues raised in the practiceproblem directly. This creates the need for the research to identifythe key synonyms when applying the key work search protocol.
Part3: Critical Appraisal of the Evidence
Strengthof the evidence
Thehierarchy of evidence indicates the strengths of the findingsreported in the article. The evidence reported by Zhang (2016) andDesmond (2015) can be put at level V since they it is based on thereview of descriptive studies. Evidence provided by Dunga &Makhalima (2016) Sheikh, & Prodhan (2013) can be classified inclass since it is obtained from single quantitative studies andrandomized control trials. The evidence presented by Edwards (2012)can be classified in class IV since it was obtained from a casecontrol study.
Qualityof the evidence
Sheikhand Prodhan (2013) used a mixed approach methodology to address theissue of poverty among children in urban areas. A mixed method ispreferred because it offsets weaknesses that are associated withquantitative as well as qualitative methodologies. A total of 25child laborers were recruited into the study, where a purposefulsampling approach was applied. However, the purposeful samplingapproach is associated with a researcher bias, which limits thequality of the findings.
Dunga& Makhalima (2016) used a quantitative methodology to study thefactors that cause financial struggles among low income children. Theuse of a stratified random sampling approach reduced the risk ofbias. Participants were recruited from 300 households, which was areasonable sample size.
Zhang(2016) relied on the literature review methodology to investigate theinfluence of education on the poverty or access to finance amongchildren. A total of 121 relevant articles was sampled and reviewed.The literature review methodology limited the capacity of the authorsto determine the quality of data used by other scholars in makingconclusions.
Chanda(2014) used the case study design, which facilitates the collectionof a lot of details. However, the application of a purposefulsampling approach to recruit about 10 live-out child domestic workersintroduced the risk of bias, which limited the reliability of thefindings.
Edwards(2012) used a quantitative methodology to study the effect of povertyon the achievement gap, which then contributes to the occurrence ofgenerational poverty. A quantitative method facilitates thecollection of data from many subjects, which leads to thegeneralization of the findings. However, Edwards (2012) did notdisclose the method used to sample the study participants.
Desmond(2015) used a review of literature methodology to study the effect ofexpensive housing on child poverty. A total of 26 articles wassampled and reviewed. This methodology allowed the author to identifytrends in financial struggles among children in the urbancommunities.
Theevidence presented in the article was relevant to the specificproblem, population, and question. The evidence presented by Dunga &Makhalima (2016) establishes the association between household incomeand financial struggles among children living in a township. Inaddition, the evidence provided by Sheikh and Prodhan (2013)indicates how the deprivation of child laborers limits the capacityof children living in the urban areas to earn money and reduce theirfinancial struggles. Chanda (2014) showed that the lack of affordablehousing limits the capacity of parents to provide adequate financesto their children, which exacerbates their financial struggles.Similarly, Zhang (2016) provides evidence to show how bad policiesdeprive migrant children in urban areas, which deny them theopportunity to address their academic and financial challenges.According to Chanda (2014) domestic labor is a major contributingfactor to child poverty, which is a key indicator of financialstruggles among children living in the urban areas. Edwards (2012)indicated that poverty leads to performance gap, which contributestowards generational poverty and financial struggles among childrenliving in townships.
Answerto the question as suggested by the evidence
Basedon the literature provided in the aforementioned articles, the keyfactors that to financial struggle among the low-income children ofthe urban communities include domestic violence, segregation bypolicies, expensive houses, generational poverty, being immigrants,and the violation of rights of child laborers. The lack of adequatepolicies to protect the rights of children subjects them to the riskof domestic labor, where they work without any pay (Chanda, 2014). Inaddition, the deprivation of child laborer rights leads tounderpayment or the lack of payment for the work done by children inthe urban areas (Sheikh and Prodhan, 2013). This limits theircapacity to earn some money and reduce their financial struggles. Theincrease in the cost of houses reduces the disposable income forparents, which limits the capacity to provide adequate funds to theirchildren (Desmond, 2015). Children of immigrant parents living in theurban areas suffer from financial constraint compared to theircounterparts from the families of residents or a given area.
Stateof the knowledge
Theevidence provided in the six articles responded appropriately to thepractice question. Two of the articles (including Dunga &Makhalima, 2016 and Edwards, 2012) provided quantitative evidence.Other articles (including Sheikh and Prodhan, 2013 and Chanda, 2014)were based on mixed method and case study, respectively. Thesearticles are primary sources that provide strong and qualityevidence. The other two articles (including Zhang, 2016 and Desmond,2015) are based on literature review methodology, which provided theviewpoints of many scholars. Therefore, the evidence is quality andstrong enough to respond to the practice question.
Part4: Translating Evidence into Practice
Practicedecision and action supported by the evidence
Themajor cause of financial struggles among children from urbancommunities can be addressed by the agency by taking three keyactions. First, the agency should advocate for the development offair and effective policies that seek to ensure that child laborersare given their rights. Secondly, the agency should push for thedevelopment of policies that give all children an opportunity toaccess quality education. This will address the issue of generationalpoverty, thus ensuring that children of the low-income families willnot suffer from financial struggles in the future. Third, the agencyshould apply the modern technology in the construction of affordablehouses for the low-income families that live in the urban areas. Thisstrategy will ensure that parents have adequate disposable income tomeet the financial needs of their children.
Theevidence can be integrated into practice experience of the agency byincluding it in the mission statement and long-term strategies. Forexample, the agency can state that it intends to provide affordablehousing to low-income families in the urban areas as part of itsmission.
Inthe future, it will be important to undergo some training on theapplication of the key word search protocol. Moreover, the limitationof lack articles addressing the practice question directly will beresolved by identifying the synonyms. The issue of quality ofevidence could only be raised when reviewed the articles that werebased on the review of literature. Therefore, the methodology used inconducting the research should be considered when searching forscholarly articles. Financial contain is among the key barriers thatmight be faced when applying the aforementioned actions. Thischallenge will be addressed by developing fundraising strategies. Forexample, the agency will market the ideas to well wishers andcorporations that would like to invest in low income children inurban communities in order to source funds.
Conclusion
Thelow-income children in the urban communities go through a lot ofchallenges that limit their capacity to compete fairly with theircounterparts from rich and middle-income families. Some of the keyfactors that conclude to financial struggles among these childreninclude domestic violence, segregation by the policies, expensivehouses, generational poverty, being immigrants, and the violation ofrights of child laborers. The agency should address these factors bydeveloping strategies that seek to enhance the lives of the affectedchildren and their families in the long-run.
References
Chanda,P. (2014). Impact of child domestic labor on child poverty: A casestudy of Lusaka City in Zambia. EuropeanScientific Journal,1, 294-303.
Desmond,M. (2015). Unaffordable America: Poverty, housing, and eviction.Focus,22, 1-6.
Dunga,H. & Makhalima, L. (2016). Perceptions of household heads on thecauses of child poverty in Boipatong Township. InternationalJournal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies,8 (20, 18-34.
Edwards,S. (2012). Theeffects of poverty on achievement gap: A quantitative analysis usingstratification theory.Ogden: Weber State University.
NationalCenter for Children Poverty (2017). Child poverty. NCCP.Retrieved April 9, 2017, fromhttp://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html
NationalPoverty Center (2017). Policy brief number 21. NPC.Retrieved April 9, 2017, fromhttp://www.npc.umich.edu/publications/policy_briefs/brief21/
Sheikh,M. & Prodhan, M. (2013). The socio-economic deprivation of thechild laborer: Bangladesh perspective. Journalof International Social Issues,2 (1), 45-59.
WinonaUniversity (2016). Evidence based practice toolkit. WinonaUniversity.Retrieved April 9, 2017, fromhttp://libguides.winona.edu/c.php?g=11614&p=61584
Zhang,H. (2016). Literature review on educational attainment of migrantchildren in China. OpenJournal of Social Sciences,4, 190-206.
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