Developing Accessible Videos for Public Communications

When working with different platforms, we need to take strong considerations of our audiences and their needs. It's easy to say that putting a video out in public domain would spread message of our concerns about the homeless community, but if people cannot hear or see what's being conveyed on their screen, we're limiting our audience outreach. It is vital for content editors to take extra considerations on delivering our message with purpose and not limit who can gain access to the resources that's shared.

Multimedia

Multimedia makes content dynamic and engaging through visual and audio content but can easily create barriers to users who may not be able-bodied! It’s necessary to take the steps of being deliberate and intentional about developing captions and transcripts. Without limiting the user base, these steps bridge connection between the user and platform and enriches experiences when made accessible. To fully encapsulate the experience of engaging with multimedia, visual and auditory content must:

• Contain accurate, synchronized captions

• Have an accompanying transcript

• Include audio or text descriptions for any visual elements not accurately accompanied by equivalent audio

Media players must be keyboard accessible for those who use adaptive technology to navigate the web. Features such as captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions ensure accessibility and usability for those who have cognitive learning disabilities, are second-language learners, and for those who are sight and/or hearing impaired. 

Captions

Captions are accurate and synchronized text representation of all audio content including spoken words and critical non-verbal audio. This feature ensures that people with hearing impairments can understand what’s being communicated on video platforms and provide context that cannot be comprehended with audio only. Subtle events such as bird chirping in the background cannot be detected by someone who’s hearing-impaired unless the captioning mentions the sound. 

Text Transcripts

Considering users that are both auditory and visually impaired, they utilize a refreshable braille display to engage with content, and transcripts provide essential descriptions that include important non-speech audio information in order for those users to understand the context of media. 

Not limited to users with adaptive technology, transcripts accommodate for different learning styles. For both blind screen readers and able-bodied readers, they can read content at a higher speed than the natural speed of audio! As an alternative from captions, transcripts allow for flexibility by making content searchable by search engines. Searchability supplies feasibility when engaging with content and ease of information navigation. 

Audio Description

Audio descriptions supply context for those who are visually impaired to understand contents such as charts, graphs, and text such as speaker names, titles, and links. This enables access to external material from the media source without any hassle. 

The threat of heat

 

 

 

As the “heat dome” passed thru the Pacific North West earlier this month, I experienced first hand the danger of being outside for any extended amount of time in those conditions. I walked from my home to my university, just over one mile. Around the middle of the trip I noticed I was sweating at a much faster rate than it was evaporating, and I was starting to feel sick. By the time I got to the university, I had to immediately lay down in an air conditioned room for nearly an hour before I felt safe to get back up, and had a headache that lasted the next few hours.

While this was an unprecedented event for Portland, It seems that similar events will be occurring more regularly in the future. Extreme humid heat overall has more than doubled in frequency since 1979 and locations across the globe are experiencing localized heat waves that approach the upper limit human survive-ability, with wet-bulb temperatures (TW) reaching 35 C. While climate scientists predicted these events would unfold in the mid 21^st century, they are happening now.

In Oregon, right before the pandemic, the homelessness population was estimated to be about 12,000. And while those are the most up to date numbers I could find, it is expected that this is on the very low end of the estimate for homelessness in Oregon today. There are so many problems the homeless community faces day in and day out relating to their lack of shelter, and now temperatures at the upper limit of what a human can endure is something they have to face and overcome.

For those of you like me who experienced just a piece of the heatwave before retreating back into air conditioning, try and imagine what it would have been like, having very limited access, if any at to a survivable environment. These are people just like us, and they are the ones that need our help. For a chance to donate to an app that connects the homeless with resources, clickhere.

References:

https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/19/eaaw1838

https://www.opb.org/article/2021/03/19/federal-analysis-shows-oregons-homeless-population-in-decline-prior-to-pandemic/

Mental Health In Homelessness

 

Image by: The Mercury News

Picture yourself in the outdoors camping. With the chilly morning breaking, the chirping of birds, and faint sunlight beaming through the trees to greet you. The satisfaction of spending a night in the unpredictable wilderness, under the stars over a campfire, sleeping on the ground (or air mattress if you’re fancy) and knowing that once the day or weekend is over it will be soon time to pack it all up and go home. Refreshed by nature and isolation one may feel recharged for the upcoming work week. Now picture yourself lost outdoors camping on a random sidewalk you call home. With the chilly morning breaking to the sound of busy streets, speeding cars, and the fresh smell of gasoline in the air. With only the growls of your belly and cold feet to remind you that you're alive. You wonder why every passing person crosses the street to avoid any interaction with you, as if suffering from a contagious disease. The time to pack up, unpredictable. Your home could be swept away by the authorities at any given time and the uncertainty of the week is yours to bear alone. Well, most homeless people are suffering from a “disease” , this sickness is the stigma and judgement of all being considered lazy, drug addicted, and dangerous. I challenge all readers to seek to understand before being understood when it comes to viewing public health concerns like homelessness.

According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) homelessness is traumatic. The link between homelessness and stress factors in a person’s upbringing is considered evident. Some people, in most cases women, suffer from sexual, phycological, and physical abuse. Stress factors like the aforementioned, lead to substance abuse, post traumatic stress disorder, and in the end the breakdown of a stable home. As the homeless become marginalized, they also become hopeless, succumbing to their habits in the eyes of society. The lack of a home may not be attributed to simply not having money or maintaining stable income, it is in the suffrage and trauma that people endure which prevents the hope to continue with society norms. To address the issue one must attempt to walk in their shoes, one must look at this as a mental health issue, one must forget the stigmas and see the homeless as everyday people trying to survive.

Viewing homelessness as a mental health issue offers different perspectives on solutions. It considers the homeless as patients and removes the naive expectation for them to simply find a job or easily quit their addictions. Case Management has been proven to help, SAMHSA defines case management as “a range of services provided to assist and support individuals in developing their skills to gain access to needed medical, behavioral health, housing, employment, social, educational, and other services essential to meeting basic human services.” This also includes providing “linkages and training for the patient served in the use of basic community resources, and monitoring of overall service delivery.” Case managers assist in helping people who are currently homeless or at risk of being. They are tasked with identifying household risks and searching for resources to prevent homelessness. This important role branches not only to homelessness but to the independence from substance abuse. Survivors of homelessness may in return help by becoming Peer Advocates. A position where survivors become a resource for case managers to gain trust and help their fellow humans as they transition to more permanent solutions. This partnership increases the chances of reaching more mental health patients and in return offers a monetary and philanthropic purpose to survivors. A case manager may have the overwhelming task of managing up to 40 cases, but with the help of peer advocates the support is divided. This healthy supportive relationship between case managers, peer advocates, and the homeless can ultimately lead to recovery.

Recovery is the luxury of stepping out of that camping trip in the wilderness and coming back home. SAMHSA defines recovery as “The process of change through which people improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives, and strive to reach their full potential. There are four major dimensions that support recovery:

• Health: overcoming or managing one’s disease(s) or symptoms and making informed, healthy choices that support physical and emotional well-being.
• Home: having a stable and safe place to live.
• Purpose: conducting meaningful daily activities and having the independence, income, and resources to participate in society.
• Community: having relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love and hope.

To address the issue of homelessness one must understand that not all people suffer from laziness and wild aspirations of living worry free in a concrete jungle. One must empathically understand that our fellow humans suffer not only the worries of hunger or weather patterns. It may be deeper than that, it may have been a stressful upbringing, a traumatic experience, sexual harassment, that leads to the loss of hope and stability. Next time you encounter an angry, upset, or tired homeless person, know that at the root of anger at the root of self harm is pain and suffering. Addressing the pain and suffering through support of case managers, peer advocates and removing stigmas will help these lost campers come home. Click here for more information and resources.

Bibian Ortiz

 

Homelessness and Vaccinations

                                             

    During the rise of Covid-19 and the recent vaccine role outs the U.S.'s homeless population is still deeply underserved in regards to public health especially in regards to the pandemic. Though there are no actual figures for the amount of homeless people that have the vaccine it is believed that it is only between 5 and 15% that are fully vaccinated. This is because this community is deeply underserved and understaffed by volunteers trying to give out vaccinations. Homeless shelters that are lucky enough to have an onsite nurse are just being allowed to vaccinate their inhabitants but even though this is a good start it is not nearly enough. The outreach teams, crucial to vaccinating this community, are underfunded and unable to get a hold of the virus in these communities before new strains and new outbreaks pop up. What is being fought for now is the release of more money to these organizations so that they can do their jobs efficiently and with renewed vigor. This battle will be long and arduous but what is being fought for is human rights and public safety not just for the homeless but for all.

Sources:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/homeless-shelters/vaccine-faqs.html

https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20210421/cities-face-barriers-to-vaccinating-people-experiencing-homelessness

Link Between Childhood Adversity and Triggers for Homelessness

    Homelessness can be a traumatic experience. However, what many of us may not realize is that it can also be the result of traumatic experiences. A growing body of research is drawing a strong connection between childhood adversity and homelessness. These Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can include emotional or physical abuse and neglect as well as household mental illness and substance abuse. Newer research is beginning to incorporate community-level ACEs such as bullying, economic hardship and discrimination.  

    While the association between ACEs and negative health outcomes impacts all populations and socio-economic levels, people experiencing homelessness often have much higher ACE scores. Not only are ACEs overrepresented among the homeless population, but being homeless can actually compound these negative outcomes. In 2019, The National Health Care for the Homeless Council released findings that show children living below the Federal Poverty Line are 5 times more likely to experience 4 or more ACEs compared to those living in financially stable households. Housing-insecurity can place children further at risk for ACE exposure due to the impact of unstable and unsafe living conditions. 

    Understanding these early indicators can provide a foundation for preventative treatment. Early screening is critical to identify risk factors that require community services and support. This type of intervention can prevent risk factors from developing and worsening due to homelessness. Programs such as Early Risers, which aim to strengthen parenting strategies for homeless caregivers, have been clinically proven to reduce depression and behavioral problems in children and improve confidence in parenting. Other potential intervention strategies include exposure mitigation and mental health treatment. 

    Programs directed toward reducing negative outcomes of ACEs may be just what we need to prevent more children and families from experiencing homelessness. Click here for more information. 

What Does Homelessness Mean to You?

 

What Does Homelessness Mean to You?

Image taken by Israel Bayer.

Homelessness can happen to anyone.  Some causes, according to medlineplus.gov, include lack of affordable housing, being unable to work due to illness or disorders, death of a family member or spouse, divorce, and more.  For many, homelessness happens suddenly or unpredictably.  People who are already experiencing suffering will find themselves without a home, which then leads to even more negative impacts to their health and well-being.  This often puts individuals in a difficult cycle of poverty contributing to poor health which then contributes to homelessness.  This cycle then loops back to where being homeless can contribute to poor health.  There are so many conditions that the homeless population face including the inability to obtain the necessary food to sustain a healthy body and being unable to access health care.  Homelessness also leads to high stress levels due to violence on the streets, the inability to stay safe in unsanitary areas or dangerous situations, and exposure to severe weather.  With all of these conditions stacking and building up into an endless cycle, individuals who find themselves homeless are commonly plagued with lung diseases, skin infections, wounds, malnutrition, substance abuse, HIV, AIDS, and mental health disorders. 

People who are just like us face unprecedented or unfortunate times that force them to leave the life they knew and somehow survive on the streets without a place to call home.  Homelessness is happening all over the country.  According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, it has been recorded that 580,466 individuals have become homeless in our country in just a single night in the year 2020.  So many people in our country are suffering and losing everything that they have.  People who had or have families are suffering and losing the place that they call home.  Just between the years 2019 and 2020, such an increase in the homeless population has revealed a significant incline of homelessness in our country. 

Looking at the data from our country, one may think that the large number of homelessness reflect the large population.  Let’s take a look at the population of Oregon, the home state of Portland State University.  According to oregoncf.org, while the population of Oregon makes up approximately 1.3% of the country’s total population, Oregon’s homelessness population makes up approximately 2.6% of the total country’s homeless population.  Click here for more information.

You Might Be Homeless too, Ya Know?

Once someone very close said to me, 

"The only thing separating you from a homeless person is one or two major tragedies.”

How true that statement seemed to me then, and how potent it is today. 

There are a myriad of potential catastrophes that can land us into a life of impoverishment and misery. They lurk just beneath the thin surface of protection that we all take for granted and weigh on so heavily.

You might, for example, hit a pedestrian on your way to work and find yourself wrapped up in a lawsuit (that you lose!); likewise, you could lose your job; or perhaps you get terribly ill and are unable to work or pay your hospital bills. In fact, all three of these things may happen all at once, and often it is the case that people are experiencing simultaneous tragedies at one time.

Certainly, tragedy is by no means the exception… and one would be wise to consider that when things are “good”, they are experiencing a profound blessing and are more than willing and encouraged to exercise some gratitude due to the fact that they are reasonably well constituted by forces often out of their control.

This is wisdom to live by, be grateful for the blessings you do have. Additionally, don’t so easily denigrate others' seemingly miserable lives without proper knowledge of who they are as individuals.

We’ve made the error in our community in generalizing the homeless person as belonging to a class of all homeless people. The man or woman so sadly slumped in a sidewalk tent is not viewed as an individual, but identified by their group- homeless. This classification comes with all the attendant stigma associated with the group.

It’s important to remember that the difference between a homeless man and yourself, is not so great as you may believe. Without recognizing how it may be possible on a personal level to be homeless, we will operate towards the homeless in a way that is not fully representative of all involved in the homelessnes problem as it is. This means that we can’t begin to understand the problem, if we don’t strive to come to know how the homeless ended up in their position.

Health Crisis in Portland

Homelessness has been a rising issue in many growing metropolitan areas, including Portland. With that comes a lot of health problems like we experienced this year. We have temperatures of record highs and extreme lows that cause havoc on many people. We can flick a switch and get light, and we can turn a nob and get heat. Many things that a lot of us take for granted. Unfortunately for homeless people, they don't have that luxury when it comes to extreme climate. Portland homeless have suffered for the lack of support we have to help those in need. Many people died from hypothermia from being outside in the cold and no warm place to stay overnight. As a community, we cannot let innocent lives be affected in this way. Losing a life is a tragedy, but losing an easily preventable life is unacceptable. Click here to learn more about shelters in town that help and how you may support those in need. 

Homelessness, Causes and Cures

In today’s society the issue of homelessness is often overlooked and misunderstood. To many individuals, homeless people are viewed as products of their own poor life choices. When in reality many homeless individuals are in these situations due to events that are entirely out of their control. While it is true that single events can cause one to become homeless, oftentimes it is caused by a pathway that inevitably leads to the loss of shelter and a life on the streets. According to the Journal of Sociology in London, England, there have been identified at least five pathways that lead to homelessness. 

The five pathways include: 

1. housing crises, which entails financial hardships such as the loss of a job or collapse of a business 

2. family breakdown which in many cases is a result of domestic violence 

3. substance abuse which can be caused by other factors such as abuse or traumatic experiences 

4. mental illness 

5. youth to adult transitions which involve individuals in state care or those that have been victims to traumatic experiences. 

As we can see there are many factors that lead to homelessness, but we must understand that these situations are not hopeless and things can be done to prevent it. It is important to understand the causes of these situations in order to find the cures and to prevent these situations from happening to our families, friends, and even ourselves. Click here for more information.