Community Observation Paper

The purpose of this paper is to explore and give relevance to a service program in the DeKalb County area. I recently had the opportunity to attend a class administered by the M.O.R.E program, which is a free service provided by the DeKalb County Board of Health. The acronym M.O.R.E stands for mother’s offering resources and education. The topic for the class surrounded the issues of breastfeeding and vaccinations. I performed my observation as both the observer and as a participant. Conducting a participant observation allowed me to develop insight into the group and build a relationship with the other group attendees.
When I arrived to the facility, I signed in at the front desk of the health clinic. I then sat in small waiting area, which

Many of the parents spoke about their personal preferences and cultural values about vaccinations. One of the ladies talked about her religious beliefs regarding vaccinations and how the body is sacred and that it should not receive certain chemicals, blood or tissues and should be healed by God or naturally. Another perspective that came up about vaccinations was about medical physician’s suspicious treatments. A few of the mothers had little or no trust that the flu shot or vaccines, in general, are for our benefit. Some of the ladies in the program feel as though certain public health interventions are not beneficial and if it was required by the U.S they would choose not to even have their children given certain shots or doses.
When covering different topics the resource mother or leaders of the program would speak and then encourage us to interact with each other publicly to see the different views and experiences we all had. Everyone got a chance to speak verbally and interact in the different games and questionnaires presented. A few of the guest had a strong accent of sort but everyone spoke English. The program lasted about an hour and a half but not everyone stayed the entire time. The guest, again including myself, were eager to express our personal preferences and experiences during the public