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This paper contributes to the growing body of work on precarious labor, immigration, and social gerontology by examining the racialization of precarious employment across the life course. In particular, the authors examine the impact of precarious employment and discrimination among racialized older immigrants in Canada. Racialized older immigrants are more likely to be disadvantaged by the effects of lifelong intersections of economic and social discrimination rooted in racialization, gender, ageism, and socio-economic status. Drawing from a narrative-photovoice project that focused on the life stories of older immigrants living in Quebec and British Columbia, this paper presents the in-depth stories and photographs of four participants to highlight how intersections of race, gender, age, immigration status, and ability shape and structure experiences of aging, labor market participation and caregiving relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Routing regular and dangerous commodities in railway freights transportation is discussed in this paper. Based on a link-based modeling approach, a mixed integer nonlinear programing model is developed. The model takes into account weather stability conditions of urban and rural areas and spatial distribution of risk at yards and around links as it impacts these zones along the routes. This paper also discusses the advantages of using bifurcation of flows on risk-cost tradeoffs and route planning decisions. The widely used nonlinear risk function is linearized and then the problem was solved to optimality using a commercial software. Results of the experiments on two hypothetical networks and one based on the rail network of the Province of Québec in Canada are presented and analyzed. Routing decisions associated with both variants of the proposed model with bifurcation of the material flows are compared to obtain managerial insights on the model in solving hazmat freight routing problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns the ethical judgment that lies at the heart of assessing requests for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada and Quebec, namely is it ethically right to help the person requesting assistance to end his or her life? We address situations in which making this judgment may be challenging despite the person fulfilling legal eligibility requirements. Using three clinical cases that are challenging by virtue of the legal requirement that a person experience intolerable suffering we explore this issue. We review practice guidance provided to providers and assessors in six jurisdictions and discuss potential resources to inform the ethical judgments involved in MAID assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information about several research papers related to various aspects of food and nutrition. It includes food security of Syrian refugee households in Canada, maternal mental health and infant feeding style, childcare director perceptions on healthy food consumption, the effect of food advertisements on food intake, and associations between intuitive eating levels and desire to eat during pregnancy.

Access to transport is key to people's movement in cities, their social participation, and personal development. People with mobility disabilities (PMDs) face additional barriers when using public transport. The objective of this study is to identify the dilemmas that PMDs face in their daily mobility practices and their coping strategies, in particular the ways in which these dilemmas and strategies are influenced by both personal and environmental characteristics. We conducted ethnographic research, utilizing narrative interviews, life stories, focus groups, and participant observations. Our aim was to analyse multiple experiences of mobility in situations of disability in Quebec City, Canada. This study engages the following research question: how do PMDs navigate their social environment, considering the impact of personal, social, and physical landscape factors on their mobility strategies? Depending on the accessibility of fixed-route public buses and the availability of public paratransit services, what are the dilemmas that PMDs face and how do they shape their mobility strategies? Using the three-dimensional model of narrative analysis, we present a narrative ethnography of participants' dilemmas and strategies about their experiences on public transport. Five dilemmas are examined. Through this methodology, we propose to extend the study of "constellations of mobility" by including the notion of strategies as an experiential outcome between personal and physical landscape factors, practices, and meanings of mobility. This offers new research perspectives both in disability and mobility studies and in the understanding of urban accessibility experiences in situations of disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic entailed significant changes in accompaniment, end-of-life, and bereavement experiences. In some countries, public health measures prevented or restricted family caregivers from visiting their dying loved ones in residences, long-term care institutions, and hospitals. As a result, family members were faced with critical decisions that could easily lead to ethical dilemmas and moral distress. Aim: This study aimed to understand better the experience of ethical dilemmas among family caregivers who lost a loved one. Methds: We interviewed twenty bereaved family caregivers and analysed their narratives using Interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: Our analysis suggests that family caregivers struggled with their multiple responsibilities (collective, relational, and personal) and had to deal with the emotional cost of their choices. Results display three emerging themes describing the experience of ethical struggles: (1) Flight or fight: Struggling with collective responsibility; (2) Being torn apart: Assuming relational responsibility and (3) "Choosing" oneself: The cost of personal responsibility. Discussion/Conclusion: Results are discussed and interpreted using an ethical, humanistic, and existential conceptual framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine how food insecurity in childhood up to adolescence relates to eating habits and weight status in young adulthood. Design: A longitudinal study design was used to derive trajectories of household food insecurity from age 4·5 to 13 years. Multivariable linear and logistical regression analyses were performed to model associations between being at high risk of food insecurity from age 4·5 to 13 years and both dietary and weight outcomes at age 22 years. Setting: A birth cohort study conducted in the Province of Quebec, Canada. Participants: In total, 698 young adults participating in the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. Results: After adjusting for sex, maternal education and immigrant status, household income and type of family, being at high risk (compared with low risk) of food insecurity in childhood up to adolescence was associated with consuming higher quantities of sugar-sweetened beverages (ß adj: 0·64; 95 % CI (0·27, 1·00)), non-whole-grain cereal products (ß adj: 0·32; 95 % CI (0·07, 0·56)) and processed meat (ß adj: 0·14; 95 % CI (0·02, 0·25)), with skipping breakfast (ORadj: 1·97; 95 % CI (1·08, 3·53)), with eating meals prepared out of home (ORadj: 3·38; 95 % CI (1·52, 9·02)), with experiencing food insecurity (ORadj: 3·03; 95 % CI (1·91, 4·76)) and with being obese (ORadj: 2·01; 95 % CI (1·12, 3·64)), once reaching young adulthood. Conclusion: Growing up in families experiencing food insecurity may negatively influence eating habits and weight status later in life. Our findings reinforce the importance of public health policies and programmes tackling poverty and food insecurity, particularly for families with young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses and compares disability policies for working-age individuals in Canada with a focus on the mode of policy provision and type of measure to determine the degree to which direct funding is used in this country. To consider policy diversity in this federal system, policies are compared using a mixed-methods approach. Using quantitative methods, federal, provincial and territorial policies are first compared using hierarchical cluster analysis. This provides evidence of three distinct clusters in Canada according to policy provision and measure type. In a second, qualitative analysis, the disability strategies of four provinces' (British Columbia, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec) are compared, to determine over arching policy orientations. Findings indicate that policy provision in Canada largely favours money over services. Furthermore, most provinces emphasize either health or integration measures over substantive measures. Despite these commonalities, significant variation persists across Canada. This extends to poverty and disability reduction strategies with two of the four provinces having a broader orientation while the other two provinces focus specifically on employment as a means of social inclusion. The article concludes with a discussion on the state of employment policies for individuals with a disability in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathways to permanent residency among immigrants in Canada have become more often preceded by a phase of temporariness. Research on these processes indicates that a two-step immigration regime is gaining momentum. However, we know little about those who qualify for permanent residency and experience a transition to permanent status inland. This article examines such experience of encountering federal and provincial administrative borders from within Canada. The analysis is based on 43 in-depth qualitative interviews conducted in the province of Quebec between 2016 and 2020 with temporary migrants in the process of transitioning to permanent residency or having recently acquired it. The article argues that migrants find themselves in spaces of ambiguity and in-betweenness regarding their transition process, access to rights and life perspectives over a period during which their status, as a lived experienced rather than strictly an administrative category, is neither temporary nor permanent. It sheds light on how bureaucratic processes that throw people into precariousness produces different shades of inclusion, not only based on the type of residency permit, but on the staggered transition process resulting from Canada's immigration multi-governance itself. Furthermore, it calls for a rethinking of the permanent-temporary resident binary that structures Canada's immigration policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) pack is the core component of electric vehicles (EVs). As the demand is continuously increasing, it puts a lot of strain on the battery raw material supply chains. Likewise, the large quantity of spent LIBs from different sources will add to the complexity of end-of-life (EoL) management. Battery recycling processing is a potential source of critical cathode precursor materials as an alternative to virgin raw material sourcing. Indeed, metal sulfates (nickel, cobalt, and manganese) and lithium carbonate could be recovered through EoL processing. This study aims to provide an economic and environmental life cycle sustainability assessment of recycled battery materials. This assessment is based on a bottom-up approach considering geographical boundaries and process data inputs. The two sources of critical cathode battery materials, virgin and recycled battery materials, are compared based on economic and environmental indicators. This study identified the province of Quebec in Canada as the geographical boundary where several battery processing plants have been recently announced. The best available recycling process (hydrometallurgy) was selected. For the virgin materials, this study considers the option of importing from other jurisdictions by using global average supply chain values. Furthermore, a comparison of alternative supply chain configurations was performed using a spatially differentiated approach. The main findings of this study are as follows: (i) the environmental credit of recycled cathode active materials (CAMs) is estimated as −6.46 kg CO2e/kg CAM, and (ii) the overall cost and environmental impacts of producing LIB cathode active material from recycled battery materials can be 48% and 54% lower than production from virgin materials, respectively, considering the upstream, midstream, and downstream stages of the CAM supply chain. The main drivers for the reduction in these financial costs and emissions are the local transportation and the hydrometallurgical process. The assessment results provide insights to support the development of appropriate policies and R&D solutions adapted to local considerations as well as offer additional possibilities to improve the design of sustainable supply chains for LIB recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents typical values of electrical resistivity for common saturated and unsaturated sediments in Québec in the form of a resistivity chart. The database for this study consists of surface geophysical investigations [i.e., transient electromagnetic (TEM) surveys] together with stratigraphic and hydrogeological data from boreholes drilled among five regions of the Province of Québec in Canada: Mauricie, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Charlevoix and Haute-Côte-Nord. TEM stations were selected near the sites where boreholes, stratigraphic cross-sections and piezometric surveys were acquired to derive an empirical and local petrophysical relationship and establish a resistivity chart of the sediments. This chart proposes ranges of resistivity applying to fourteen classes of common sediments, seven of which have never been included in previous studies: silty clay, clay with sand/gravel/pebbles, unsaturated clayey silt with sand, saturated and unsaturated silty sand and saturated and unsaturated clayey sand and gravel. A standardization method was developed and used in this study to produce an accurate and representative chart, and to eliminate outliers that might distort the results and reduce their relevance. This method was designed with the aim of mitigating the impact of outliers and ensuring a reliable and consistent dataset. The findings from this study may provide scientists and practitioners with precise electrical resistivity characteristics of typical saturated and unsaturated sediments, enabling a more accurate assessment of groundwater resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recently, the government and an opposition party cut a deal that involved a promise to consider implementing a single-payer pharmacare scheme in Canada in exchange for supporting the current minority government. There have been political headwinds from the private extended health insurance industry, the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, as well as the pharmaceutical industry. We suggest a new multiple-payer of mixed-resort framework that achieves both the goal of universal coverage and preserves the private extended health insurance industry through a scheme based on the current coordination of benefits between private payers in this sector. Methods: We employ game theory to better understand the dynamics within a market that involves multiple payers. In particular, we use the game of Collective Action to help illustrate the problems of free-ridership. Results: An analysis of the dynamics of this market suggests that ex–ante agreements need to be struck between all payers in a multi-payer marketplace to achieve both stability and sustainability of such a framework. Conclusion: We show that universal coverage is still possible while leveraging the existing system of private extended health insurance so long as a well-established system for coordinating benefits between public and private payers is established. A stable public/private partnership can achieve universal coverage so long as a system for coordinating benefits is instituted. The proposed alternative will achieve the same goals, but maintain a niche for the private sector thereby maintaining therapeutic variety in the marketplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Bioethics / Revue canadienne de bioéthique is the property of Ecole de Sante Publique de l'Universite de Montreal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Simple Summary: Early detection of adventive and potentially invasive insects that may threaten the health of forests is essential for their successful management in Canada and the world at large. To that end, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducts annual surveys at sites with high risk of adventive species introductions (e.g., ports, industrial zones, disposal sites for solid wood packaging material) using semiochemical-baited traps and also by rearing insects from trunk sections collected from stressed trees. We report 31 new Canadian provincial records of beetle species detected in surveys conducted from 2011 to 2021, including 13 new records for Canada and 9 species adventive to North America. Nine of the new Canadian records were native North American species previously detected only south of the border. All but three species belong to the Curculionidae family ("snout beetles") and most of these were in the subfamily Scolytinae (bark and ambrosia beetles). Rearing of insects from trunk sections of stressed trees accounted for two new species records whereas trapping accounted for the remainder. These surveys not only assist our efforts to manage forest insects by documenting new species introductions and apparent range expansions but also increase our knowledge of biodiversity. The arrival and establishment of adventive, invasive forest insects are a threat to the health, diversity, and productivity of forests in Canada and the world at large, and their early detection is essential for successful eradication and management. For that reason, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducts annual surveys at high risk sites such as international ports and freight terminals, industrial zones, and disposal sites for solid wood packaging material using two methods: (1) semiochemical-baited traps deployed in a total of about 63–80 sites per year in British Columbia (BC), Ontario (ON), Quebec (QC), New Brunswick (NB), Nova Scotia (NS), and Newfoundland and Labrador (NL); and (2) rearing of insects from bolts collected from stressed trees and incubated in modified shipping containers in four cities (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax). We report 31 new Canadian provincial records of Coleoptera from surveys conducted in 2011–2021, including 13 new records for Canada and 9 species adventive to North America (indicated by †). Nine of the new Canadian records were native North American species previously detected only south of the border. All but three species belong to the Curculionidae family and most of these were in the subfamily Scolytinae. The records include: Xenomelanophila miranda (LeConte) (Canada, BC) (Buprestidae: Buprestinae); Neoclytus mucronatus mucronatus (Fabricius) (BC) (Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae); Amphicerus cornutus (Pallas) (Canada, BC) (Bostrichidae: Bostrichinae); Mecinus janthinus (Germar)† (ON) (Curculionidae: Curculioninae); Aulacobaris lepidii (Germar)† (Canada, ON); Buchananius striatus (LeConte) (ON) (Curculionidae: Baridinae); Cylindrocopturus binotatus LeConte (Canada, ON) (Curculionidae: Conoderinae); Himatium errans LeConte (ON); Phloeophagus canadensis Van Dyke (ON); Rhyncolus spretus Casey (Canada, BC); Stenomimus pallidus (Boheman) (Canada, ON); Tomolips quercicola (Boheman) (Canada, ON) (Curculionidae: Cossoninae); Strophosoma melanogrammum (Forster)† (NB) (Curculionidae: Entiminae); Conotrachelus aratus (Germar) (ON) (Curculionidae: Molytinae); Anisandrus maiche Stark† (Canada, ON, QC); Cnesinus strigicollis LeConte (Canada, ON); Cyclorhipidion pelliculosum (Eichhoff)† (Canada, ON, QC); Hylesinus fasciatus LeConte (QC); Hylesinus pruinosus Eichhoff (QC); Hypothenemus interstitialis (Hopkins) (Canada, ON); Lymantor alaskanus Wood (BC); Pityogenes bidentatus (Herbst)† (Canada, ON); Scolytus mali (Bechstein)† (BC); Scolytus schevyrewi Semenov† (QC); Trypodendron scabricollis (LeConte) (Canada, ON); Trypophloeus populi Hopkins (QC); Xylechinus americanus Blackman (NFLB); and Xylosandrus crassiusculus (Motschulsky)† (BC, QC) (Curculionidae: Scolytinae). We also provide additional data confirming the presence of the adventive Hylastes opacus Erichson† in NS. Rearing of insects from bolts accounted for two new records (H. pruinosus, R. spretus) and trapping accounted for the remainder. These surveys not only assist our efforts to manage forest insects by documenting new species introductions and apparent range expansions but also increase our knowledge of biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that many consumers believe local foods are more expensive than comparative products coming from other markets. The aim of this study was to measure the price competitiveness of products certified by the Aliments du Québec program, a well-known program in the Canadian province of Quebec. Using machine-learning, artificial intelligence and targeted data mining, the report identifies local products and comparator products, to consider whether locally certified products are more expensive than comparative products coming from outside Quebec. Uncertified products used as comparative products come from anywhere around the world, outside of the province of Quebec. For this study, a total of more than 350,000 discrete price data points were analyzed in the Winter 2022. Local product prices were examined relative to the prices of comparator products. In total, there were 48 subcategories considered. In 70.83% of the subcategories, the local product was either as expensive (similar price) or less expensive than the comparator product. Results challenge the popular belief that local food products are often more expensive. This study also provides limitation and future research paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored the experiences of working-age and older adults with acquired vision impairment who pursued braille rehabilitation training, and the facilitators and barriers they encountered throughout this process. Semi-structured interviews of up to 90 min in length were conducted with 14 participants from across Canada who learned braille between the ages of 33 and 67 (Mdn = 46). Transcripts were analyzed by two researchers using interpretive phenomenological analysis. A variety of personal, social and institutional factors characterize the adult braille learning experience. Among these, participants highlight the role of prior identity and experience, the impact of access to resources and the cost of materials and devices needed to maintain braille skills. Findings also emphasize invisible barriers, including the role of societal perceptions towards braille, the level of support provided by family and friends, and the influence of unconscious biases towards braille and aging held by both adult learners and those around them. These findings provide important context to improve policies and practice in adult braille rehabilitation. As the prevalence of age-related vision impairment continues to increase, it will become imperative to understand the unique needs of working-age and older adults with acquired vision impairment who pursue braille. This study is one of the first to explore the experiences of working-age and older adults with acquired visual impairment who pursue braille rehabilitation training. Rehabilitation professionals must take into account prior learning and reading experiences which may shape the braille learning process. Family members require greater access to resources and support during the training process. There is a significant need for public education to address societal misconceptions about braille and blindness that can lead to a reluctance to use braille. Interactions with other braille users foster more empowering definitions of braille that align with the social model understanding of disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has affected cancer care worldwide. This study aimed to estimate the long‐term impacts of cancer care disruptions on cancer mortality in Canada using a microsimulation model. The model simulates cancer incidence and survival using cancer incidence, stage at diagnosis and survival data from the Canadian Cancer Registry. We modeled reported declines in cancer diagnoses and treatments recorded in provincial administrative datasets in March 2020 to June 2021. Based on the literature, we assumed that diagnostic and treatment delays lead to a 6% higher rate of cancer death per 4‐week delay. After June 2021, we assessed scenarios where cancer treatment capacity returned to prepandemic levels, or to 10% higher or lower than prepandemic levels. Results are the median predictions of 10 stochastic simulations. The model predicts that cancer care disruptions during the COVID‐19 pandemic could lead to 21 247 (2.0%) more cancer deaths in Canada in 2020 to 2030, assuming treatment capacity is recovered to 2019 prepandemic levels in 2021. This represents 355 172 life years lost expected due to pandemic‐related diagnostic and treatment delays. The largest number of expected excess cancer deaths was predicted for breast, lung and colorectal cancers, and in the provinces of Ontario, Québec and British Columbia. Diagnostic and treatment capacity in 2021 onward highly influenced the number of cancer deaths over the next decade. Cancer care disruptions during the COVID‐19 pandemic could lead to significant life loss; however, most of these could be mitigated by increasing diagnostic and treatment capacity in the short‐term to address the service backlog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental Reviews is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: Inadequate pregnancy monitoring for pregnant migrant women without medical insurance (PMWMI) exposes them to severe complications during childbirth and consequences for the health of their child (e.g. preterm delivery, low birth weight, etc.). This scoping review aims to identify existing interventions globally to improve access to perinatal care for PMWMI. It will also highlight the strengths, weaknesses as well as the costs of these interventions. Materials and methods: The methodological framework developed by Arksey & O'Malley (2005) will be used. An electronic search of studies from 2000 to 2021, published in French or English, will be conducted in 12 databases. Publication in Websites of non-governmental organizations working on migrant women without medical insurance issues will be also searched. All articles related to perinatal follow-up and care of PMWMIs, regardless of design, will be included. Editorial comments will be excluded. Outcomes of interest will focus on the impacts, strengths, weaknesses, and cost of interventions. Selection of articles and data extraction will be done by two independent researchers following the Tricco et al. (2018) reporting guide. Finally, a deliberative workshop with experts will allow to identify the most promising and appropriate interventions that can facilitate access to perinatal services by PMWMIs in the Quebec province of Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To translate and validate the Child Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (CTFEQr17), assessing cognitive restraint (CR), uncontrolled eating (UE) and emotional eating (EE), among French-speaking Canadian young individuals.Design: Phase 1 comprised a translation and the evaluation of the comprehension of the questionnaire. Phase 2 comprised a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the evaluation of internal consistency (Cronbach's α), test-retest reliability (intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC)) and construct validity, including correlations among the CTFEQr17 and Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), anthropometrics, dietary intake and diet quality.Setting: Primary and secondary schools, Québec City, Canada.Participants: Phases 1 and 2 included 20 (40 % boys, mean age 11·5 (sd 2·4) years) and 145 (48 % boys, mean age 11·0 (sd 1·9) years) participants, respectively.Results: Phase 1 resulted in the questionnaire to be used in Phase 2. In Phase 2, the CFA revealed that the seventeen item, three-factor model (CTFEQr17) provided an excellent fit. Internal consistency was good (Cronbach's α: 0·81-0·90). Test-retest reliability was moderate to good (ICC = 0·59, (95 % CI 0·48, 0·70), ICC = 0·78, (95 % CI 0·70, 0·84), ICC = 0·50, (95 % CI 0·38, 0·62) for CR, UE and EE, respectively). CR correlated with EAT-26 score (r = 0·43, P < 0·0001). UE and EE correlated negatively with BMI Z-scores (r = -0;·26, P = 0·003; r = -0;·19, P = 0·03, respectively). CR correlated with the proportion of energy intake from protein and diet quality (r = 0·18, P = 0·04; r = 0·20, P = 0·02, respectively).Conclusion: The CTFEQr17 is suitable to use among French-speaking Canadian young individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homelessness is an ongoing societal and public health problem in Canada and other countries. Housing services help homeless individuals along the transition towards stable housing, yet few studies have assessed factors that predict change in individual housing trajectories. This study identified predictors of change in housing status over 12 months for a sample of 270 currently or formerly homeless individuals using emergency shelters, temporary housing (TH) or permanent housing (PH) resources in Quebec. Participants recruited from 27 community or public organisations were interviewed between January and September 2017, and again 12 months later. Sociodemographic variables, housing history, health conditions, service use and client satisfaction were measured. Directors and programme coordinators from the selected organisations also completed a baseline questionnaire measuring strictness in residential codes of living/conduct, interorganisational collaboration and overall budget. Independent variables were organised into predisposing, enabling and needs factors, based on the Gelberg‐Andersen Behavioral Model. Multilevel logistic regressions were used to test associations with the dependent variable: change in housing status over 12 months, whether positive (e.g. shelter to TH) or negative (e.g. PH to shelter). Predictors of positive change in housing status were as follows: residing in PH, being female, having children (predisposing factors); having consulted a psychologist, higher frequency in use of public ambulatory services (enabling factors); and not having physical illnesses (needs factor). The findings support strategies for helping this clientele obtain and maintain stable housing. They include deploying case managers to promote access to public ambulatory services, mainly among men or individuals without children who are less likely to seek help; greater use of primary care mental health teams; the establishment of more suitable housing for accommodating physical health problems; and reinforcing access to subsidised PH programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of autonomy is essential in the practice and study of gerontology and in long-term care policies. For older adults with expanding care needs, scores from tightly specified assessment instruments, which aim to measure the autonomy of service users, usually determine access to social services. These instruments emphasise functional independence in the performance of activities of daily living. In an effort to broaden the understanding of autonomy into needs assessment practice, the province of Québec (Canada) added social and relational elements into the assessment tool. In the wake of these changes, this article studies the interaction between the use of assessment instruments and the extent to which they alter how older adults define their autonomy as service users. This matters since the conceptualisation of autonomy shapes the formulation of long-term care policy problems, influencing both the demand and supply of services and the types of services that ought to be prioritised by governments. Relying on focus groups, this study shows that the functional autonomy frame dominates problem definitions, while social/relational framings are marginal. This reflects the more authoritative weight of functional autonomy within the assessment tool and contributes to the biomedicalisation of aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater recharge (GWR) is a strategic hydrologic variable, and its estimate is necessary to implement sustainable groundwater management. This is especially true in a global warming context that highly impacts key winter conditions in cold and humid climates. For this reason, long-term simulations are particularly useful for understanding past changes in GWR associated with changing climatic conditions. However, GWR simulation at the regional scale and for long-term conditions is challenging, especially due to the limited availability of spatially distributed calibration data and due to generally short observed time series. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the relevance of using a water budget model to understand long-term transient and regional-scale GWR in cold and humid climates where groundwater observations are scarce. The HydroBudget model was specifically developed for regional-scale simulations in cold and humid climate conditions. The model uses commonly available data such as runoff curve numbers to describe the study area, precipitation and temperature time series to run the model, and river flow rates and baseflow estimates for its automatic calibration. A typical case study is presented for the southern portion of the Province of Quebec (Canada, 36 000 km 2). With the model simultaneously calibrated on 51 gauging stations, the first GWR estimate for the region was simulated between 1961 and 2017 with very little uncertainty (≤ 10 mm/yr). The simulated water budget was divided into 41 % runoff (444 mm/yr), 47 % evapotranspiration (501 mm/yr), and 12 % GWR (139 mm/yr), with preferential GWR periods during spring and winter (44 % and 32 % of the annual GWR, respectively), values that are typical of other cold and humid climates. Snowpack evolution and soil frost were shown to be a key feature for GWR simulation in these environments. One of the contributions of the study was to show that the model sensitivity to its parameters was correlated with the average air temperature, with colder watersheds more sensitive to snow-related parameters than warmer watersheds. Interestingly, the results showed that the significant increase in precipitation and temperature since the early 1960s did not lead to significant changes in the annual GWR but resulted in increased runoff and evapotranspiration. In contrast to previous studies of past GWR trends in cold and humid climates, this work has shown that changes in past climatic conditions have not yet produced significant changes in annual GWR. Because of their relative ease of use, water budget models are a useful approach for scientists, modelers, and stakeholders alike to understand regional-scale groundwater renewal rates in cold and humid climates, especially if they can be easily adapted to specific study needs and environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce the time-dependent shortest path and vehicle routing problem. In this problem, a set of homogeneous vehicles is used to visit a set of customer locations dispersed over a very large network where the travel times are time-dependent and therefore the shortest path between two locations may change over time. The aim of the problem is to simultaneously determine the sequence in which the customer locations are visited and the arcs traveled on the paths between each pair of consecutively visited customers, such that the total travel time is minimized. We are the first to formally define and solve this fully integrated problem, providing tight bounds to it. We then propose a dynamic time-dependent shortest path algorithm embedded within a simulated annealing metaheuristic to efficiently solve the problem. We also propose a variant of the algorithm where some time-dependent shortest paths are precomputed. We test our formulations and algorithms on a set of real-life instances generated from a dataset of the road network in Québec City, Canada. Our results indicate that the resulting models are too large to be solved even for small instances. However, the obtained bounds show that the developed simulated annealing heuristic performs very well. We also demonstrate that neglecting time-dependent information on traffic leads to imprecise estimation of the traveling time. Moreover, the results show the importance of solving the shortest paths and routing problems simultaneously, as using a set of precomputed shortest paths leads to slightly worse solutions. This work adds new research avenues to city logistics and congestion studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: We compared smoking initiation and cessation in Quebec versus the rest of Canada as possible underpinnings of the continued higher cigarette smoking prevalence in Quebec. Methods: Data were drawn from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). We compared average and sex-stratified prevalence estimates of (1) current cigarette smoking in persons aged 15 years and older; (2) past-year initiation of cigarette smoking in those aged 12 to 17 and 18 to 24 years; and (3) past-year cessation in adults aged 25 years and older in Quebec versus the other nine Canadian provinces in each two-year CCHS cycle from 2007/08 to 2017/18. Results: The prevalence of current smoking decreased from 25% to 18% among adults aged 15 years and older in Quebec from 2007/08 to 2017/18, and from 22% to 16% in the rest of Canada. Initiation among those aged 12 to 17 years decreased from 9% to 5% in Quebec, and from 7% to 3% in the rest of Canada. Neither initiation among people aged 18 to 24 (at 6% and 7%, respectively) nor cessation among adults aged 25 and older (approximately 8%) changed over time in Quebec or in the rest of Canada. In each two-year CCHS cycle, past-year initiation among those 12 to 17 years of age was consistently higher in Quebec than in the rest of Canada, but there were no substantial or sustained differences in initiation among people aged 18 to 24 or in past-year cessation. Findings were similar when stratified by sex. Conclusion: Higher levels of smoking initiation among youth aged 12 to 17 years could be a proximal underpinning of the continuing higher prevalence of smoking in Quebec versus the rest of Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]