Staffing – Proposed
THE WELLNESS CENTER CASE STUDY Methodology
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access to health and social services for youth and adult residents, create safe spaces for youth programming, and advance projects that utilize community building strategies.”47
THE WELLNESS CENTER CASE STUDY Methodology
The case study research methodology represents an effective and useful approach to understanding community and systems change while offering a guide to future
interventions and initiatives. Employing rigorous case study methodology, qualitative and quantitative data (where applicable) was collected, coded, and analyzed for this
comprehensive final report. The case study specifically sought to document the creation of TWC, examining how stakeholders are involved in and helping advance its work.
The case study began with a period of informal ethnographic observation, information interviews, and document review. From these efforts, an interview
questionnaire (see Appendix A) was constructed, integrating topics and issues that arose frequently and repeatedly during this period of preliminary research. The protocol was pilot tested in three initial interviews to ensure that questionnaire was capturing
meaningful information, helping to paint an accurate picture of the development, successes, and challenges faced by TWC staff, community, and organizations.
Case studies provide a holistic understanding of a broader issue through a detailed contextual analysis of real‐life scenarios. Jack and Baxter (2008) explain the use of case studies when they state:
“Qualitative case study is an approach to research that facilitates
47 Ibid.
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exploration of a phenomenon within its context using a variety of data sources. This ensures that the issue is not explored through one lens, but rather a variety of lenses, which allows for multiple facets of the phenomenon to be revealed and understood…[Case studies] ensure that the topic of interest is well explored…”48
This quotation highlights the primary motivation for using the case study approach; case studies allow us to collect information in the depth needed to understand organizations and communities including the processes and changes that comprise their structure and functioning. In particular, The Wellness Center case study truly required this sort of
“informational depth” to ultimately produce the most useful and valid findings that
emerged from multiple interviews, observation and document analysis. Drawing upon this, the case study represents an effort to create a fundamental understanding of what took place during the development of TWC, what occurred during its initial months of service, and the outline of its future prospects. Additionally, the material from this case study will be used to inform other organizations about the innovative and remarkable work
happening on the first floor of Historic General Hospital. In particular, this work can be used a starting point to guide further research into the potential for, and efficacy of, wellness centers in other TCE sponsored Building Healthy Community sites. As such, this case study can serve as a guide for other sites working on improve the health and wellness of their communities.
As part of this, the research assessed many facets of community engagement as well as the level to which the ideals and practices of a healthier community were being
promoted. Drawing upon multiple approaches, researchers utilized depth interviews, ethnographic observation, and detailed analysis of available documents. Both the research
48 Baxter, P. and Jack, S. (December 2008). Pg. 544.
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approach and interview protocols broadly engaged government representatives,
stakeholders, and community residents, allowing them to present each of their viewpoints and experiences. The interview process was both participatory and intentional and
involved face‐to‐face interviews were conducted with individuals from each the following groups:
Local and national nonprofit tenants of TWC LAC+USC Medical Center
Office of First District Supervisor Gloria Molina The California Endowment
Boyle Heights Community members BHC‐BH members
To identify and recruit participants for the case study, the research team relied on a purposive sampling method, working closely with The California Endowment to identify key stakeholders. From there, each individual interviewed was asked for the names and contact information for other key participants and people they believed would be valuable to interview. Participation in the case study was completely voluntary and participants were not compensated for completing the interview. While most individuals were extremely helpful and cooperative when approached for an interview, there were others who did not respond. This is an understandable reaction to requests of this nature – particularly as people’s schedules and concerns are multiple and demanding.
With permission from interview subjects, the evaluation team recorded all interviews. These recorded interviews were then transcribed and the transcripts were analyzed using an open coding process. To develop preliminary themes, members of the
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evaluation team listened to a random sampling of three interviews and created a comprehensive list of over 30 line items. To ensure that the list of themes was all‐
encompassing, all interviews were then played back twice and coded based on this complete list. Using codes developed from the open coding process, the second coding process created more highly refined key themes. The most prominent themes are discussed below; these were themes present in at least 25% of interviews, with some mentioned in as much as 83% of the interviews. This coding process provided the research team with the qualitative context for the table presented below. This data triangulation helped to ensure internal validity. As demonstrated in the following section, interviews illuminated the ways in which the establishment of The Wellness Center continues to meet community needs and in effect, enlarges upon TCE‐BHC drivers of change: collaboration, resident and youth leadership, and policy and systems change. These formal interviews were augmented with informal interviews and lengthy discussion with community
members. While these were not part of the coding process, the additional qualitative data gathering was used to augment the formal interview material.
Interviewee Demographics
The research team completed 12 formal interviews over the course of several months with a variety of stakeholders who reported wide‐ranging levels of involvement with the project since its inception. The graph portrayed in Figure 5 below depicts the breakdown of respondent categories: one interview was conducted with two staff members from the 1st District office. The majority of interviewees were center tenants, which included seven local organizations and two national organizations. In the interest of
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candor and in sensitivity to respondent requests, the specific individuals and their agencies are being kept confidential.
Figure 5: Respondent Breakdown
First Month of Operations
According to one of our interviewees, in her efforts as executive director, Ms.
Mullenax requested that the 16 tenants provide progress reports documenting the first month of service. The case study team asked tenants that were interviewed if they would provide their reports for review. Of the nine tenants interviewed, six provided their
reports as requested. In order to paint a picture of the day‐to‐day operations at TWC, while not revealing the identity of the interviewees, the case study will highlight some of their work. All of the reports reviewed indicated that within the first month after opening, offices were full operational; this included the installation of phone lines, computers, other related media, and office furnishings. Office infrastructure was developed, staff was hired, and
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