Date Presented 04/04/2025
This study explores community enfranchisement in Israeli border areas during war. Despite displacement, border residents reported stronger community bonds. Anxiety levels showed no significant impact.
Primary Author and Speaker: Naor Demeter
Contributing Authors: Batya Engel-Yeger
PURPOSE: Since October 7th, Israel has experienced an ongoing war, significantly impacting population health through psychological distress, anxiety (Rakhman et al., 2022), and routine disruptions. Border residents’ displacement further exacerbated these effects. This study investigated disparities in anxiety levels and community enfranchisement (Heinemann et al., 2011) between border residents and non-border populations, with potential implications for occupational therapy interventions in routine restructuring.
DESIGN: A cross-sectional comparative study with 146 participants (64.4% female, 35.6% male) from diverse religious backgrounds in Israel, aged 18–75 years (M = 38.2).
METHOD: Ethical approvals were obtained, and after providing consent, participants completed a socio-demographic-health questionnaire, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale, and the Hebrew translation of the Community Participation Indicators.
RESULTS: A two-way MANOVA revealed a significant main effect for border proximity on community enfranchisement, F(2,141) = 3.53, p ≤ .05. Univariate ANOVAs showed significant differences in Enfranchisement Control, F(2,141) = 6.10, p ≤ .05, and Enfranchisement Importance, F(2,141) = 4.55, p ≤ .05. Border residents reported higher enfranchisement, indicating stronger community belonging. No significant effects were found for anxiety on community enfranchisement or for the interaction between anxiety and border proximity.
CONCLUSION: Despite displacement and associated challenges, border residents exhibited elevated community enfranchisement. This suggests that collective relocation of cohesive border communities may have preserved social bonds, maintaining inclusion despite adversity. These findings have implications for occupational therapy interventions with displaced populations.
References
Rakhman, L. V., Plevachuk, O. Y., Shpylovyi, I. V., Dzis, M. O., & Suvalo, O. B. (2022). An anxiety as a response to distress and as a symptom of stress disorders in wartime. Wiad Lek, 75(8 pt 1), 1882–1887.
Heinemann, A. W., Lai, J. S., Magasi, S., Hammel, J., Corrigan, J. D., Bogner, J. A., & Whiteneck, G. G. (2011). Measuring participation enfranchisement. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 92(4), 564–571.
