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This paper explores the connections between parental nonsupport of a young person's trans or gender diverse identity and young trans people's experiences of justiciable legal problems1 as well as access to the legal system to address these issues. Qualitative youth data were drawn from the TRANSforming JUSTICE: Trans Legal Needs Assessment Ontario (TFJ) study. The narratives of 16 young trans people (16–29 years) were analyzed to identify parental factors in relation to encountering legal problems and accessing the legal system. Five themes emerged: parental nonsupport of gender identity, identity documentation issues, accessing medical care, employment legal problems, and housing legal problems. Results indicate that parental nonsupport of a young person's trans or gender diverse identity may render a young person more vulnerable to experiencing justiciable legal problems and may also create barriers to accessing the legal system to address these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings of a phenomenological study entitled: Healing from Recurrent Suicide Attempts: The Impact of Being a Peer Facilitator. The study examined the impact of being a peer facilitator (PF) in the Skills for Safer Living: A Psychosocial/Psychoeducational Intervention for People with Recurrent Suicide Attempts (SfSL/PISA) group on the PFs' healing journey. Using eight semi-structured interviews, the study privileged the lived experience of participants. The results identified four themes in survivors' healing: new identity formation, navigating stigma, developing agency in the activation of personhood, and achieving personal mastery: skills and competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides results from interviews and a focus group conducted at two different points in time in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, which explored impacts of the pandemic and adaptation among water advocacy organizations in southern Ontario, Canada. Our findings show that despite the destabilizing and sometimes devastating impact of COVID-19 on grassroots organizations and their programs, by disrupting business as usual the pandemic also created the conditions for experimentation, innovation, the establishment of new capacities and strategic foci. In this paper, we share descriptive narratives from water activists in our geographic area about how they adapted and innovated their work despite the challenges of the pandemic. Our findings illustrate and add nuance to themes emerging in the literature about the impacts of the pandemic on environmental advocacy groups and other nonprofit organizations, and generate new themes for further exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the history of bareback sex (condomless sex between men), 'subjects' have been created, particularly through scientific literature, to characterise the men who engage in the sexual practice. For example, a gay man who does not use a condom may be framed as a pathologised subject. This paper first presents this history. Afterwards, by relying upon ethnographic data such as interviews collected from fieldwork research done in Toronto in 2014 with young gay men who have bareback sex, it shows exactly how these young gay men related themselves to those subjects. Then, it focuses on the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) Truvada as a new HIV prevention technology. Although PrEP can allow condomless sex to occur while diminishing the risk of HIV transmission, at the time of the research, none of the young gay men were interested in using this tool despite being the subjects for whom the drug is tailored. This paper argues that PrEP and subjectivity are coproduced and can have conflicting meanings. This contradiction of meanings is a result of the various representations and symbols of bareback sex and the men who engage in the practice that have been produced throughout the history of bareback sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on child sexual abuse has been on survivors to the exclusion of service providers. This paper focuses on one group of findings from a larger qualitative study. The aim of the paper is to identify existing services and highlight the gaps in the current programs available for male CSA survivors from the perspective of service providers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 mental health service providers, recruited from two Southern and Central Ontario cities. Findings presented here report service providers' perspective of gaps in services for male CSA survivors. "Limited Male CSA Programs", "Institutional Barriers", "Attitudinal Barriers", and "Systemic Gaps" emerged as four major themes from the data analysis. Findings demonstrate the need to re-evaluate currently available service and highlights gaps in mental health service available for male CSA survivors. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a research project in Toronto, Canada, this article highlights the strengths and resiliency of 12 female Aboriginal Elders and seniors as they age together. For these women, being actively involved in their families and the Aboriginal community gives them a solid grounding in who they are, what their roles are and how they contribute to the whole. Of particular significance is the support and friendship the women offer each other through their commonalities, activities, and sense of humor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is limited research exploring the experiences of people living with HIV (PLWH) who have pursued/successfully adopted children. We aimed to gain a deeper understanding of such experiences by analyzing six interviews with PLWH using thematic analysis. In this paper, we highlight three themes: Understanding the Adoption Process, Desire for Caseworker-Client Transparency, and Framing Health and Wellbeing. While most of the findings are relevant for all people navigating the adoption system, there are clear complexities in the process due to HIV stigma. We consider the key takeaways and offer recommendations for adoption service providers, governing bodies, and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Independent Living Movement seeks to promote independence for people living with disabilities by encouraging them to direct their own care. Programs exist that strive to teach individuals the necessary skills to live independently; however, these programs have not been widely researched. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore alumni perceptions of a long-duration, immersive, independent living program and its influence on community independent living. Methods: Nine individuals who had previously attended the Gage Transition to Independent Living program in urban Toronto were interviewed to ascertain their perceptions on the program and how it assisted with independent community living, as well as their feedback for program improvement. Results: Most participants reported a positive impact from the program, and five main themes were developed: (i) referral source and expectations, (ii) perspectives of program and staff, (iii) navigating housing, (iv) benefits to transition and (v) recommendations for program improvement. Conclusions: Independent living skills education programs seem to have a positive impact on the participants who complete them. Further research should target direct comparisons of program models and effect on quality of life as measured by validated constructs. Incorporating a life skills component for individuals with physical disabilities can improve their transition to independent living. Skills such as self-advocacy, directing attendant services, and completing instrumental activities of daily living are found to be the most efficacious components taught within an independent living skills program. Greater awareness of independent living skills educational programs are needed amongst healthcare professionals to inform individuals who could benefit from such interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The main objectives of this study were to learn from youths with intellectual and developmental disabilities about the ways their families were involved in their engagement in community life and to capture how they felt about such involvement. Method: The current study is a secondary analysis of a larger study, the Voices of Youths Research Project, framed by inclusive research methods. Thirty-eight semi-structured interviews that discussed perspectives on friendship, social inclusion, and quality of life from 20 participants (ages 13 to 24 years) were included in this paper. All interviews were video-recorded and coded using NVivo 10. Thematic analysis of the coded segments was guided by a constructivist grounded theory approach. Results: Three major themes emerged from the experiences of youths with intellectual and developmental disabilities on family involvement in their social and community engagement: (1) complex of supports and influences, (2) community engagement with and through family, and (3) points of tension. Conclusions: These thematic findings offer insights into the lived experiences of youths with intellectual and developmental disabilities about engagement in community life. These findings provide an understanding, outside of conventional schemas, of transition into young adulthood for these youths. Rehabilitation professionals often work with youths with intellectual and developmental disabilities who face barriers to reaching transition goals identified either by themselves or others. Family members' views that may focus on goals of maximizing functional independence and/or decreasing caregiver demands can often overshadow the goals or views of youths with intellectual and developmental disabilities themselves. Rehabilitation professionals should find ways to explore with youth their family's roles in engagement and belonging in community life so that they can link youths to appropriate community resources and plan optimal interventions/programs. Rehabilitation professionals need to be aware of and respond to points of tension that can emerge between youths with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their family during transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voice of the Child Reports have emerged as another method to hear from children involved in their parent's dispute. Until 2016, these Reports had limited use in the province of Ontario. This paper details the content analysis of the Reports written by social workers from interviews conducted with children in the Views of the Child Reports: Ontario Pilot Project. The content analysis was performed of the written text of the interviews with 86 children (38 boys and 48 girls) to describe and gain a richer understanding of children's views and experiences post separation before the court. There was a total of 30 social workers (27 females and 3 males) who wrote the Reports to the court. From a broad perspective, the themes that emerged from the text of the children's interviews included the importance of sibling relationships, the negative impact of interparental conflict and subsequent child–parent relationships, and the appreciation of being listened to about their views and experiences as a result of parental separation. While there is no single best method to obtaining children's views and experiences in parenting disputes, this study provides further evidence of the importance of hearing from children during times of parental separation and divorce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The aim of this paper is to provide a holistic description of the nature, formation and impact of parents' therapy related expectations. Methods: This qualitative descriptive study drew from initial and follow up interviews with 20 parents of children ≤ 6 years who had a developmental disability or delay and used therapy services at a children's treatment center in Ontario, Canada. Conventional content analysis was used to inductively generate themes and investigator triangulation was completed. Results: Parent's child related expectations focused on whether the child would receive a diagnosis and what they might achieve. Parents held expectations about the availability of service and how it would be offered. Parents' expectations of service providers included their knowledge, skills, relationships and communication with the children and parents. Parents held expectations of themselves related to attendance and roles in therapy sessions and home practice. These expectations are described according to how they are shaped and changed them over time. The impact of matched/mismatched expectations is explored. Conclusion: Service providers can improve family-centred care and collaboration with parents by explicitly discussing parents' expectations when beginning, and throughout, therapy. Parent satisfaction and therapy engagement may improve if parents and service providers negotiate and agree upon expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an institutional ethnography that explored how risk discourse organised the experiences of pregnant women living with HIV and was reproduced in the work of healthcare providers operating in a 'high risk' prenatal clinic in Ontario, Canada. This inquiry began from the standpoint of pregnant women living with HIV, and made connections between women's experiences, the work of healthcare providers delivering prenatal care, and the ruling relations that organised women's experiences and healthcare providers' activities. The study revealed how risk was an omnipresent discourse in women's lives and became visible through the treatments women were prescribed, the prenatal clinic appointment schedule women were expected to follow, and the application of medical interventions. The discourse of risk coordinated the work of healthcare providers and was inextricably linked to practices that prioritised foetal health. Women's daily realities and experiences were overshadowed by the healthcare providers' focus on the foetus and mitigating perinatal risks. As a result, the work women did to organise their lives to participate in care, and the physical and emotional costs they experienced when attending their appointments, taking their medicines, and following clinical procedures were overshadowed within an institutional context where the primary goal was to reduce risks to their babies – even if women shared concerns and aspirations about preventing perinatal HIV transmission. Women's experiences reveal some important consequences regarding the current organisation of prenatal care that emphasises risk and possible ways to enhance prenatal care policies and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the experiences of Chinese immigrant caregiver employees (CEs) residing in Southern Ontario, Canada. Qualitative analysis of participant interviews with thirteen Mandarin Chinese immigrant CEs revealed family conflicts due to cultural differences and an intergenerational gap between CEs and their care recipients. CEs also had future concerns in regards to their own health and the lack of long-term care facilities that offer cultural services for immigrant seniors. These findings provide an opportunity for social workers to collaborate with other service providers to provide ethno-specific and culturally sensitive health, community. and employment services to immigrant ethnic minority CEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patient safety has been presented as a unifying concern across the health professions. This conceptual connection has been accompanied with efforts towards standardized, interprofessional safety competencies, as well as increased attention towards interprofessional education for systems improvement. Despite numerous program initiatives and research endeavors, progress towards improving patient safety in hospitals is viewed as disappointingly slow. This paper adds to a body of literature that suggests patient safety remains a difficult problem to solve because safety is not simply a technical issue, but is a practice embedded in organizational and professional contexts. In this paper, we explore the differences between the professions, as different professional groups intersect with the ways patient safety is thought about, talked about, and known about in an acute care hospital in Canada. We draw on findings from a critical discourse analysis of documents related to patient safety, as well as transcripts from interviews from (a) formal health care leaders and (b) practicing clinicians from medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and social work. This analysis suggests implications for the way different professions may or may not work with one another in the service of patient safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 60 countries criminalise ‘the “willful” transmission of HIV’. Such a law has the potential to hinder public health interventions. There is limited literature discussing the perceptions of this law and the impact, it has had on HIV-positive women. This paper describes the knowledge of and attitudes of this law by HIV-positive women living in Ontario; and their experiences with its application. Three group discussions (n = 10) and 17 in-depth interviews with HIV-positive women age: 21–56 years. Data were analysed using a modified thematic approach. Most of the respondents knew about the law with regard to adult HIV transmission. However, very few knew about any laws related to mother to child HIV transmission, although some reported having had their children taken away because of breastfeeding. Respondents felt that the law could be fair and protective if there were means of providing a priori support to those women who have been disadvantaged social-culturally and structurally. Without this support, the law could potentially lead HIV-positive women into hiding and not accessing services that could help them. There is need for the law implementers to consider these findings if they are to support the public health efforts to control HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background There is limited research investigating the lived experiences of parents raising children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). The aim of this paper is to use qualitative analysis to identify how parents have adapted to the experience of raising their child with FASD. Method Eighty-four parents and caregivers of children with FASD in Ontario, Canada, participated in in-depth, semistructured interviews employing a basic interpretive approach. Results Parents of children with FASD report a number of strategies, supports, and transformational outcomes. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, 5 themes were identified: understanding FASD and advocating on their child's behalf, day-to-day adaptation, transformational outcomes, as well as the importance of informal and formal supports. Conclusions Understanding what families do in order to facilitate adaptation is important when assisting families who may not be adapting as successfully. Continued research looking at the family experience of raising a child with a developmental disability, such as FASD, is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a case study that explored and reflected on the relationship between the beliefs and classroom practices of four English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers in a university language school in Canada related to teacher questions. Data gathered consisted of interviews and classroom observations of all four teachers. The findings revealed that although for the most part the teachers implemented their classroom questioning practices in convergence with their stated beliefs, there were some instances of divergence observed for all teachers. Potential factors contributing to the patterns of convergence and divergence are further explored. In addition, this study found that through the reflective process whereby the teachers articulated and reflected on their beliefs about their use of questions, they became more aware of the meaning and impact of these beliefs on their classroom practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In recent years, western governments influenced by neoliberalism have emphasized paid work as a key route to social inclusion and community participation for people with psychiatric disabilities. Although paid work can offer many rewards, access to mainstream employment for people with psychiatric disabilities is difficult as they continue to encounter discrimination and a lack of workplace accommodation. One response to these challenges has been the creation of social enterprises as ‘alternative spaces’ of employment for people with psychiatric disabilities. On the basis of interviews with key informants from 21 different social enterprises across Ontario, Canada, this paper critically analyzes the strategies used by organizations to create jobs that are both accommodating for people, but also conducive to the ongoing success of the business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the nature of the relationship between satisfaction with high school sexual health education and the pursuit of a post-secondary human sexuality course. In an initial study, first-year university students who received high school sexual health education in Ontario completed a questionnaire which assessed their satisfaction with sexual health education and asked whether students were pursuing or intended to pursue a human sexuality course in university. Students who were less satisfied with high school sexual health education and, in particular, those who did not rate sexual health education as contributing to their understanding of themselves as sexual beings, were more likely to pursue a university-level course. A second qualitative study investigated potential reasons underlying this correlation. Eleven first-year students enrolled in a human sexuality course were interviewed about (a) their satisfaction with their high school sexual health education and (b) their reasons for taking the course. The findings suggest that dissatisfaction with sexual health education may be a result of students perceiving they had not learned enough personally relevant information and/or received a biased education in high school. These factors, which seem to determine dissatisfaction, may motivate students to pursue additional education in university. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper offers an examination of gay–straight alliance (GSA) members’ engagement with sex education, sexual health, and prejudice and discrimination in Canadian public high schools. It explores how five students’ (four straight and one gay-identifying) participation in GSAs served as a springboard for learning about and challenging stereotypes; prejudice; and discrimination directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) people. Queer theory provided the theoretical underpinnings of the study, offering a lens through which to examine the heteronormative underpinnings of education, and a means to interpret how homophobic discourses circulate in school and society. Empirical data were obtained via observational notes from visits to nine GSAs and semi-structured interviews with the five GSA members. Findings suggest that straight allies can use their heterosexual privilege to address LGBTQ issues with their peers. Through GSA involvement, participants learned to interrogate and combat stereotypes about LGBTQ people and HIV-related myths, as well as to engage in queer discussion and political action. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports on the process of developing a community-based interprofessional team to provide diabetes related foot ulcer care. A new interprofessional team was formed in a local community, and the process of building a successful team was examined by the adoption of an exploratory qualitative case study approach that gathered a series of one-on-one interviews with participants at three points in time - prior to the team's formation, two months into the team's operation, and finally seven months later - shortly before the team and its clinic closed. Interviews were also conducted with a small sample of the team's patients. The factors linked to the successes and challenges of building a care team in a community setting are explored. Informants highlighted the value of regular team meetings, role clarity, and a commitment to patient-centered care. However effective collaboration was not sufficient to maintain the team in the face of poor institutional and government support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commitment to change (CTC) statements have been shown to have a useful role as an instrument of change. We explored the experiences of six health professionals at a large community teaching hospital in making and keeping CTC statements in the context of a foundational interprofessional education (IPE) faculty development program. As part of program evaluation, a qualitative study, applying a grounded theory approach, was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of using CTC statements in the context of a paradigmatic organizational change project. This paper explores the effectiveness of an IPE faculty development program at a community teaching hospital. Participants identified personal/professional and interpersonal/interprofessional changes related to CTC statements. The study highlighted a range of issues surrounding implementation of collaborative actions connected to participants' ability to follow through on commitment to change statements made during the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]