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Since the 1970s, a defining feature of advanced economies has been industrial plant closures, stemming from the broader process of economic restructuring. Plant closures have been extensively covered by the media due to their adverse effects on localities. However, no media analysis of closures has been conducted in the plant closure literature. In addition to providing a wealth of information, such an analysis can provide insight into media narratives of closures. Media profoundly affects economies by disseminating narratives that influence society, institutions, and politics. To bridge the plant closure and media literature, this paper conducts a media analysis of closures in Ontario, Canada, from 2000 to 2019. Like other advanced economies, the province has experienced many plant closures over the past several decades. The paper found that the overarching narrative presented by the media was that 'no one is responsible' for plant closures and therefore 'no one can or should act'. Also, it was found that differences in media narratives of closures were primarily due to the political slant of news outlets, not city size or scale of news outlets or whether news outlets were independently owned or part of a media conglomerate. Lastly, the paper found that the dissemination of media coverage on plant closures throughout the province was primarily based on the number of job losses, resulting in media coverage of smaller closures remaining localised, while media coverage of larger closures spreading throughout the province. The paper found that the overarching narrative presented by the media was that 'no one is responsible' for plant closures and therefore 'no one can or should act'. Also, it was found that differences in media narratives of closures were primarily due to the political slant of news outlets. Lastly, the paper found that the dissemination of media coverage on plant closures throughout the province was primarily based on the number of job losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: International studies show that adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice and forensic mental health systems; however, it is difficult to capture their involvement across systems in any one jurisdiction. Aims: The current study aimed to estimate the prevalence of IDD across different parts of the criminal justice and forensic mental health systems in Ontario and to describe the demographic and clinical profiles of these individuals relative to their counterparts without IDD. Methods: This project utilised administrative data to identify and describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of adults with IDD and criminal justice or forensic involvement across four sectors: federal correctional facilities, provincial correctional facilities, forensic inpatient mental health care and community mental health programmes. Questions were driven by and results were contextualised by a project advisory group and people with lived experience from the different sectors studied, resulting in a series of recommendations. Results: Adults with IDD were over‐represented in each of the four settings, ranging from 2.1% in federal corrections to 16.7% in forensic inpatient care. Between 20% (forensic inpatient) and 38.4% (provincial corrections) were under the age of 25 and between 34.5% (forensic inpatient) and 41.8% (provincial corrections) resided in the lowest income neighbourhoods. Medical complexity and rates of co‐occurring mental health conditions were higher for people with IDD than those without IDD in federal and provincial corrections. Conclusions: Establishing a population‐based understanding of people with IDD within these sectors is an essential first step towards understanding and addressing service and care needs. Building on the perspectives of people who work in and use these systems, this paper concludes with intervention recommendations before, during and after justice involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although effluent treatment systems within pulp and paper mills remove many toxicants and improve wastewater quality, there is a need to understand and quantify the effectiveness of the treatment process. At a combined news and kraft pulp and paper mill in northwestern Ontario, Canada, fathead minnow (FHM) reproduction and physiology were examined before, during, and after a short-term (6-d) exposure to 10% (v/v) untreated kraft mill effluent (UTK), 25% (v/v) secondary treated kraft mill effluent (TK), and 100% (v/v) combined mill outfall (CMO). Although UTK exposure significantly decreased egg production, neither TK nor CMO caused any reproductive changes. The expression of six genes responsive to endocrine-disrupting compounds, stress, or metals was then examined in livers of these fish using real-time polymerase chain reaction. In female FHMs, none of the three effluents induced significant expression changes in any genes investigated. By contrast, in males there were significant increases in the mRNA levels of androgen receptor, estrogen receptor (ER) β, and cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) upon UTK and TK exposure but no changes in ERα or vitellogenin (VTG) gene expression, whereas CMO exposure significantly increased the mRNA levels of ERα, VTG, and CYP1A. Together, these results suggest that kraft effluent before and after biological treatment contained compounds able to induce androgenic effects in FHMs, and that combination of kraft and newsmill effluents eliminated the androgenic compounds while inducing distinct and significant patterns of gene expression changes that were likely due to estrogenic compounds produced by the newsmill. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2010;29:430–439. © 2009 SETAC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Activated Sludge Model No. 1 was chosen as the basis for model development and was modified to take into account the specific characteristics of pulp and paper effluents. The model was incorporated to the GPS–X simulation environment (Hydromantis, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) to study operating deficiencies and nutrient transformations, particularly in relation to hulking. The results show that the process of ammonification is not significant at the studied mill and that the process of phosphatification (transformation of soluble organic phosphorus into orthophosphates) seems to be related to settling problems, as indicated by the sludge volume index. The phosphatification rate and the standard oxygen–transfer efficiency were found to decrease as the system entered a bulking state. Understanding the behavior of pulp and paper activated sludge can be improved by the incorporation of industry– specific processes and components to comprehensive models. These models then can be used to gain insight to the causes of bulking. Water Environ. Res., 82, 362 (2010). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation voltage reduction (CVR) is a strategy that tries to save energy consumption by managing consumers' voltage. On the other hand, enhancing reactive power compensation in the power system gives rise to CVR implementation more effectively. This paper addresses how the power system planner could encourage investment to establish the above‐mentioned topics. Here, a model for encouraging industrial loads to dynamically invest in implementing the CVR strategy over the planning horizon is presented. To make CVR implementation more efficient, investment in upgrading plug‐in electric vehicles (PEVs) chargers to be utilized as reactive power compensators is also considered. Industrial loads benefit from saving in their electricity bills and incentive payments that might be paid by utilities (if necessary). The objective function of the proposed planning model is to maximize the energy‐saving of industrial loads and to minimize incentive payment by electric utilities over the planning horizon. This objective is achieved subject to that the investment plan is economically feasible. Moreover, power system operation constraints in the planning horizon based on AC power flow equations and voltage‐dependent load models are considered. The proposed planning problem is modelled as a non‐linear optimization problem that can be solved by off‐the‐shelf software, for example, GAMS. The proposed model is applied to the Ontario transmission system. The numerical results show the proposed model's effectiveness in designing an investment plan for industrial loads to implement the CVR strategy and upgrade PEVs' chargers. Here, a model for encouraging industrial loads to dynamically invest in implementing the conservation voltage reduction (CVR) strategy over the planning horizon is presented. To make CVR implementation more efficient, investment in upgrading plug‐in electric vehicles (PEVs) chargers to be utilized as reactive power compensators is also considered. The objective function of the proposed planning model is to maximize the energy‐saving of industrial loads and to minimize incentive payment by electric utilities over the planning horizon. This objective is achieved subject to the fact that the investment plan is economically feasible. Moreover, power system operation constraints in the planning horizon based on AC power flow equations and voltage‐dependent load models are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) peoples experience systemic health disparities within Ontario's healthcare system. Learning health systems (LHS) is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary area with the potential to address these inequitable health outcomes through a comprehensive health system that draws on science, informatics, incentives, and culture for ongoing innovation and improvement. However, global literature is in its infancy with grounding theories and principles still emerging. In addition, there is inadequate information on LHS within Ontario's health care context. Methods: We conducted an environmental scan between January and April 2021 and again in June 2022 to identify existing frameworks, guidelines, and tools for designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating an LHS. Results: We found 37 relevant sources. This paper maps the literature and identifies gaps in knowledge based on five key pillars: (a) data and evidence‐driven, (b) patient‐centeredness, (c) system‐supported, (d) cultural competencies enabled, and (e) the learning health system. Conclusion: We provide recommendations for implementation accordingly. The literature on LHS provides a starting point to address the health disparities of FNIM peoples within the healthcare system but Indigenous community partnerships in LHS development and operation will be key to success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research on consultants in policymaking described their expanding policy involvement and impact. This research focuses on consultants' policy formulation roles and on how and why these roles vary across jurisdictions and contexts. It draws on comparative research on healthcare policy in Ontario, Canada, and Victoria, Australia. Based on analysis of contracts and expenditure data, and 59 semi‐structured interviews, this research finds that consultants in Victoria are partners in formulation, used routinely for a variety of tasks, including core formulation work. Their role is institutionalized through formal and informal rules. In contrast, consultants in Ontario perform non‐core formulation work and are primarily active in linking the government to other sites and pools of knowledge. The paper ties this variation to public sector internal capacity and policy sector complexity. It offers new empirical data and provides a nuanced understanding of the roles of consultants in policy formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID‐19 has had deep impacts on a wide range of vulnerable communities in Canada. Migrant agricultural workers in the southwestern region of Ontario were particularly impacted. Fearing the threat of the 'racialized foreign other', the Canadian state produced myriad securitization responses with heightened surveillance. This paper will examine both state and non‐state forms of securitization and the response from both workers and activists such as the advocacy group Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW). While there has been ample discussion of how vulnerable migrant agricultural workers were affected during the pandemic, there has been less attention paid to how state policies have heightened and targeted specific groups such as migrant agricultural workers through modes of securitization. Central to this was to ensure that labour needs would be met to ensure the viability of Canada's multi‐billion agricultural industry. This paper shows how securitization and control were vital to ensure no disruptions to production levels and Canada's role as a leading agricultural export producer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada's immigration policy is regarded globally as a best practice model for selecting highly skilled migrants. Yet, upon arrival many immigrants face challenges integrating into employment. Where immigrants settle is one factor that has been shown to impact on employment integration. In Canada, regionalization policies have resulted in more immigrants settling in small to mid‐sized cities. It is important to understand how these local systems are organized to promote immigrant integration into employment. Using a systems approach, this paper presents a case study of immigrant employment in a mid‐sized city in Ontario, Canada. Through a document review and stakeholder interviews, a systems map was developed, and local perspectives were analyzed. Results demonstrate that in a mid‐sized city, few organizations play a large role in immigrant employment. The connections between these core organizations and the local labour market are complex. Any potential challenges to the system that interfere with these connections can cause a delay for newcomers seeking employment. As cities begin to experience growth driven by immigration, there is a need to ensure local services are not only available but also working effectively within the larger employment system. Key messages: An important focus of Canada's immigration policy has been to improve employment integration locally.Using a systems approach allows mid‐sized cities to identify local services and how they are connected to promote employment integration of newcomers.Greater connectivity between services can streamline the employment process for immigrants settling in mid‐sized cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID‐19 has caused enormous economic and social disruptions that may have lasting effects on employment, income, and working conditions. Critically, these disruptions often have a negative impact on mental health. While significant research has examined the relationship between COVID‐19 and mental health, most of these studies focus on urban centres. This paper presents results from a pilot study conducted in two rural counties in Ontario, Canada on the experiences of residents from small and rural communities related to COVID‐19. Based on 3496 survey results, this study quantifies the negative impact of COVID‐19 on overall mental health and the confounding role of gender, income, and age. Results must be used to expand the dialogue around rural mental health and to ensure appropriate programs and policies are developed. Key messages: COVID‐19 has had variable and significant impacts on residents in rural communities.Gender is a key characteristic, as self‐identifying females have experienced a greater decrease in self‐assessed mental health since the start of the pandemic.Governments must consider the "lived reality" that residents experience when they design and implement response plans; a one‐size‐fits‐all response to disruption is not sufficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses abstracts of research papers to be presented at the fifteenth annual meeting of the American Society of Primatologists at Glendon College of York University in Toronto, Ontario on June 19-21, 1992. Ultrasonic imaging of ovarian dynamics during the menstrual cycle in rhesus monkeys; Endocrine and behavioral constraints on reproduction in subordinate male common marmosets; Successful implementation of the video-task paradigm with a squirrel monkey.

The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was once the most abundant bird species in North America. Flocks of these birds witnessed in the early 19th century were so vast that they were said to darken the sky for days as they passed. Early syntheses of passenger pigeon remains in archaeological contexts in the eastern United States, in contrast, found them to be relatively rare in relation to other fowl, leading to the suggestion that the colonial‐era hyper‐abundance of passenger pigeons was a post‐European‐contact phenomenon resulting from contact‐induced demographic and ecological changes. In this paper, we provide new insights into passenger pigeon historical ecology through a synthesis and GIS‐based analysis of zooarchaeological data on skeletal remains from 157 Late Woodland (ca. 900–1650 CE) sites in Ontario, Canada. Our results reveal that passenger pigeon bones are common, and often abundant, in Late Woodland archaeological assemblages in Ontario, which speaks to the species' importance to Indigenous peoples in the region. However, the relative abundance of passenger pigeon remains varies over time, suggesting longer‐term trends in their availability and/or in hunting patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The migration literature focusing on understanding interactions between immigrants' integration and transnationalism is replete with mixed findings. However, contemporary consensus among migration scholars suggests that immigrants' integration and transnational connections can occur simultaneously. Focusing on transnational dating—which is understudied—this exploratory study draws on an online qualitative survey with five Ghanaian male immigrants in southwestern Ontario, Canada, to explore how immigrants' attachment to the host society, homeland, and "elsewhere" shape transnational dating behaviour. Transnational dating is conceptualized in this paper as dating partners that live part or most of their life or time detached from each other, yet hold together and create a sense of shared welfare and harmony, namely "datehood" that surpasses national borders. Using the integration‐transnationalism matrix as the theoretical framework, this paper demonstrates that the roles of integration and transnationalism should not be seen as separate influences on participants' transnational dating behaviour given participants' strong attachment to the host society, sending country, and "elsewhere." Importantly, our finding indicates that the motivation for transnational dating is related to transnational connections rather than not feeling integrated into Canadian society. Overall, the finding contributes to discourses on dating, transnational dating, transnationalism, and the conceptual framework of the integration‐transnationalism matrix. Key Messages: The migration literature focusing on understanding interactions between immigrants' integration and transnationalism is replete with mixed findings.This exploratory study has taken a critical step in stimulating a research agenda on transnational dating within the integration‐transnationalism matrix.Our finding indicates that the motivation for transnational dating is related to transnational connections rather than not feeling integrated into Canadian society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There has been a significant uptake in the use of telepractice during the coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 (COVID‐19) pandemic. This study explored the experiences of speech and language therapists (SLTs), assistants (SLTAs) and parents with telepractice during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Aims: (1) To identify factors that influenced success of telepractice; and (2) to describe clinicians' and parents' preferences for the future mode of service delivery for preschoolers with communication disorders. Methods & Procedures: The study was conducted in partnership with one publicly funded programme in Ontario, Canada, that offered services to preschoolers with speech, language and communication needs at no cost. SLTs (N = 13), assistants (N = 3) and parents (N = 13) shared their experiences and perspectives during semi‐structured videoconference interviews. Outcomes & Results: Factors that influenced the success of telepractice were reported in three categories: the setting (i.e., where and how telepractice was being delivered); the nature of telepractice (i.e., the services that were provided via telepractice); and the individuals (i.e., who was involved in telepractice). These factors were reported to interact with each other. As the needs for each child and family are unique, parents and clinicians reported a preference for a hybrid and flexible service delivery model in the future. Conclusions & Implications: The themes identified in this study can be used by clinicians and managers to consider factors that influence the success of telepractice for children and families. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject?: Studies conducted before the COVID‐19 pandemic showed that telepractice was an effective and acceptable service approach. However, some clinicians and parents reported wanting to resume in‐person visits. The provision of telepractice services to families with children with communication disorders increased significantly during COVID‐19. What this paper adds to existing knowledge?: Parents and clinicians shared factors that influenced the success of telepractice during semi‐structured interviews. Factors were identified in three categories: the setting (i.e., where and how telepractice was being delivered); the nature of telepractice (i.e., the services that were provided via telepractice); and the individuals (i.e., who were involved in telepractice). As each child's and family's needs are unique, parents and clinicians reported a preference for a hybrid and flexible service delivery model in the future. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: SLTs and SLT managers can use the factors identified to discuss with parents and decide whether telepractice may be well suited to the needs of each child and family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An active debate has emerged about the political viability of market‐based versus non‐market‐based policies to address climate change. As carbon pricing policies face significant political challenges, some have argued that regulatory policies are a better option because they do not highlight consumer energy prices and can be linked to other economic and social priorities. Yet, no study has compared communication strategies for regulatory versus price‐based climate policies in practice. This paper fills that gap through a qualitative content analysis of framing strategies for Ontario's 2016 cap‐and‐trade program for greenhouse gas emissions, and Virginia's 2020 clean energy mandate. Results largely confirm the paper's primary hypothesis that similar financial frames will be used as or more frequently for the regulatory policy as for the price‐based policy, complicating any theory that regulatory policies will face an easier political path due to their different messaging options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are chronic gastrointestinal diseases that negatively affect the enjoyment of food and engagement in social and cultural gatherings. Such experiences may promote psychosocial challenges, an aspect of IBD often overlooked and under‐supported in clinical settings and research. Objectives: This study explored the psychosocial experiences that young adults with IBD have with food via a qualitative patient‐led research process. Methods: Trained patient researchers conducted this study by engaging peers via semi‐structured interviews and focus groups in a three‐step co‐design process. Participants (n = 9) identified the research topic (SET), explored the topic and identified emerging themes (COLLECT), refined themes and made recommendations for healthcare system change (REFLECT). Results: Themes that emerged included: 'Experimenting with Food', 'Evolution Over Time', 'Diet Changes are Emotional' and 'Role of Stigma'. Participants identified the significance and frustrations of repeated testing and experimenting with food compatibility, and noted nuances in food relationships as they gain knowledge and experience over time. They emphasized the importance of maintaining a sense of hope throughout and wished to impart this to newly diagnosed patients. Conclusion: Participants experience numerous psychosocial challenges as they strive to manage their diet, noting gaps in support available from IBD practitioners. Participants made practical recommendations for healthcare system change to improve patient outcomes, highlighting the importance of sharing stories and collaboratively including patients in the development of new services and protocols. Authors recommend further research in this area to build a body of knowledge and support that helps IBD patients maintain hope while navigating challenges with food. Patient or Public Contribution: The first four authors on this paper were the lead researchers in this study's design and analysis and identify as patients; they conducted the research with this identity at the forefront following a peer‐to‐peer research model. These authors were mentored by patient researchers who also contributed to the manuscript, and the research process itself was co‐lead and directed by other patient participants and consultants. Results and recommendations coming from this paper came directly from patient participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Canada, Ontario midwives provide care to sexual and gender minority (SGM) people. Published literature shows how midwives' attitudes shape the experiences of lesbians, but research examining midwives' attitudes toward SGM people is lacking. Our study measured the attitudes of Ontario midwives toward SGM clients, hypothesizing that attitudes would be positive overall and that there would be no difference in attitudes across practice settings. Methods: Paper surveys (n = 926) with an option to respond online were sent to Ontario midwifery practices. We measured midwives' attitudes toward sexual minorities (11 questions, scores ranged from 11 to 55) and gender minorities (9 questions, scores ranged from 9 to 45), with higher scores indicating more positive attitudes. Overall and subgroup analyses were performed. Results: The 268 completed surveys indicated that midwives' attitudes were positive toward both sexual (mean score 49.2, maximum possible score of 55, ie, 89.4%) and gender minorities (mean score 38.9, maximum possible score of 45, ie, 86.4%). Analyses showed that attitudes toward SGM were associated with midwives' sexual identity and route of entry into the profession (ie, university‐based vs bridging programs), but not practice setting. Conclusions: Although attitudes of this subset of midwives toward SGM clients were positive, volunteer bias could account for this finding since 32.6% of respondents identified as sexual minorities. Since the attitudes of midwives who entered the profession through the university‐based education program were significantly more positive than those who entered through international bridging programs, future research should examine how SGM‐related content is integrated into midwifery education and training curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Canadian government recently launched initiatives to promote immigrant settlement outside of traditional gateway cities, in small towns and rural areas. These initiatives attempt to mitigate socio‐economic impacts of population decline, and address barriers to successful integration in urban areas. Drawing on the geographies of hope, this paper examines how newcomers navigate hopes as they imagine rural resettlement in Ontario. Based on focus groups with immigrants (n = 50), the findings suggest that newcomers' imagined rural futures are a dynamic and mobile process, shaped by competing hopes for a stable life. Rural imaginaries can sometimes provide a generative space to realize hopes and develop new future aspirations, other times they can constrain hopes for intergenerational futures. We contend that newcomer hopes arise in moments of relocation uncertainty, shaped by competing visions, interests, and priorities at individual and collective scales. Newcomers' expectations of rural futures are always enlivened with a sense of optimism for what has not yet become, but are equally replete with angst and anxiety for the future. This article concludes that future geographic research on migration‐hope‐place interactions, particularly in the health subfield, should engage constructions, experiences, and enactments of hope that mediate relocations and the policies governing them. Key Messages: Newcomers' imagined future hopes are complex and contradictory, playing out unevenly across geography and social groups.The permeability of hope‐migration‐relocation interactions creates tenuous realities for immigrants navigating relocation.Geographic work should examine the creation and termination of hope mediating relocation and the policies governing them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Measuring, assessing and managing outcomes in school practice environments is difficult due to the complex nature of school communities as well as the recent shift in service‐delivery models towards tiered approaches. In tiered approaches, multiple levels of service are offered to better match students' needs. Each level of service may require different outcomes and management techniques. Research to date on outcomes has focused on measuring outcomes in medical settings, leaving a substantive gap in the literature regarding practice in schools. Aims: The first aim was to explore how school‐based speech–language therapists approached outcomes management as their clinical programmes transitioned to tiered service‐delivery models The second aim was to describe the successes and challenges in outcomes management reported by clinicians in this context. Methods & Procedures: A secondary deductive‐inductive content analysis was performed using qualitative interviews with 24 clinical managers and senior therapists from schools across Ontario, Canada. Using a framework of outcomes measurement, assessment and management in schools based on previous research studies, data were grouped into broad categories deductively, and then the content of each category was further explored using inductive coding. Iterative peer debriefing and reflexive journaling were key strategies to increase the trustworthiness of the results. Findings & Results: Participants reported measuring and qualitatively assessing seven key outcomes for school‐based practice. These included: (1) student progress and achievement, (2) student participation and inclusion in the school community, (3) stakeholder perspectives, (4) 'buy‐in', (5) expanded capacities, (6) responsiveness to needs and (7) accountability to systems. Participants reported more challenges than successes in outcomes management during this transition to tiered services. Challenges were attributed to idiosyncratic organizational barriers, the transition to tiered models and the philosophy of working within the educational system. Conclusions & Implications: School‐based speech–language therapists measure, assess and manage multiple outcomes relevant to school‐based practice in tiered service‐delivery models. Many challenges remain. Solutions to support meaningful, systematic and proactive outcomes management in schools should address the broader set of outcomes relevant to tiered service‐delivery models and the unique practice context of the educational system, while remaining responsive to idiosyncratic organizational factors. Sustained clinical–research collaboration and knowledge exchange is recommended. What This Paper Adds: What is already known on the subject: Systematic, proactive collection and interpretation of outcomes has long been encouraged within speech–language therapy. However, implementing outcomes management in clinical practice remains a substantial challenge. Additionally, research on outcomes to date has focused on medical practice environments, to the exclusion of school‐based practice. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: Outcomes management is valued in school practice environments; however, the current repertoire of techniques for outcomes management are a poor match for school‐based practice. Clinicians in schools would benefit from the development of contextually relevant, meaningful and feasible outcomes management tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Due to the increased risk of obesity for boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), recent guidelines recommend that dietary intake is carefully managed. Parents play an important role in the development of their child's eating behaviours and patterns. However, despite what is known about the increased risk of obesity for children with DMD, little is known about parental feeding behaviours in this population. The objective of this study was to qualitatively explore the experiences of parents of children with DMD around their child's weight management and understand what influences their feeding behaviours. Methods: This paper reports a secondary data analysis. Semi‐structured, individual interviews were conducted and analysed using qualitative description. Results: Thirteen parents were interviewed for the study. Three themes were developed: (1) parent responses to healthcare provider interactions, (2) mixed emotions contributing to feeding approach and (3) variable parenting feeding styles. Within the third theme, two subthemes arose including (1) control and preoccupation and (2) striking a balance. Conclusion: Given the potential impact of higher weights on the progression of DMD, it is important that healthcare providers explore feeding behaviours with families. However, it is essential that healthcare providers consider the impact of these conversations on parents, as well as the broader issues that may place additional pressure on the lives of families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To examine the prevalence and temporal trends of cerebral palsy (CP) overall and by population characteristics. Method: We identified 2 110 177 live births born in the province of Ontario, Canada, between 2002 and 2017 using administrative health data and estimated CP prevalence in children aged 0 to 16 years overall and by specific population characteristics. We also examined temporal trends in CP rates – overall and by characteristics – in young children (0–4 years) by their year of birth between 2002 and 2013 (n=1 587 087 live births) to allow for an equal follow‐up time (4 years and 364 days) for all children. Results: Overall CP prevalence among children aged 0 to 16 years was 2.52 (95% confidence interval 2.45–2.59) per 1000 live births. CP rates in ages 0 to 4 years peaked at 2.86 in 2007 births, but steadily declined afterwards to 1.94 per 1000 live births in 2013. CP rates were higher in children born preterm, small for gestational age, males, multiples, children with congenital malformations, and in children of young (<20 years), old (≥40 years), primiparous, or grand multiparous (≥4) mothers; differences by these characteristics decreased over time. We observed socioeconomic disparities in CP rates that persisted over time. Interpretation: Despite the decreasing trend of CP rates overall, CP rates varied by the child and maternal characteristics over time. What this paper adds: Overall cerebral palsy (CP) prevalence was 2.5 per 1000 live births among children born from 2002 to 2017.CP prevalence peaked in children born in 2007 then steadily decreased between 2007 and 2013.Changes in CP rates varied over time by child and maternal characteristics.Socioeconomic inequalities in CP persisted and remained stable over the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a relational approach, we draw on repeated interviews with a group of 30 diverse children from Ontario to share and reflect on their knowledge, experiences and feelings early in the COVID‐19 pandemic. Prioritising relational interdependence and relational agency, this paper illustrates our participants' embedded engagements with the pandemic and their contribution to the co‐production of knowledge. We emphasise their thoughtful responses to the pandemic; their creative, self‐reflexive strategies for managing a difficult time; and their advice to others. We thus prioritise children's viewpoints and emphasise their relational interconnections with others during a time that was marked by social isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business risk management (BRM) has been an important focus of Canadian agricultural policy in the New Millennium. Safety net payments received by farmers can alter their investment portfolio and lead to risk‐balancing behavior in agriculture. Risk‐balancing is an unintended consequence of the farm safety net program and has a direct implication for future growth and sustainability of farm business. Does risk‐balancing exist in Ontario agriculture? This question is addressed in this paper using data for the hog sector in Ontario. While safety net programs were designed to address Business Risk (BR) for all farms, our empirical results indicate that CAIS/AgriStability payments reduced BR for small, medium, and large farms. The results from our fixed effect panel regression analysis demonstrate that there is a significant risk‐balancing behavior among medium hog farms in Ontario. Our results also reveal that the presence of risk‐balancing behavior in Ontario hog sector does not pose any problem for future growth of the hog sector or the long‐term sustainability of the farm safety net program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This paper aims to explore the care processes that best exemplify person‐centred care during physical activity (PA) for long‐term care (LTC) residents with dementia from the perspectives of substitute decision‐makers (SDMs) and LTC home staff. Little is known about how person‐centred care is reflected during PA for residents with dementia, or the barriers and benefits to enacting person‐centred care during PA. Methods: Semistructured interviews were used to collect SDMs and LTC home staffs' perspectives on the importance of person‐centred care during PA from two LTC homes in Canada. The McCormack and McCance person‐centredness framework was used to guide thematic content analysis of responses. Results: SDM (n = 26) and staff (n = 21) identified actions categorized under the sympathetic presence or engagement care processes from the person‐centredness framework as most reflecting person‐centred care. Benefits of person‐centred care during PA were categorized into three themes: functional and physical, behavioural and communication and psychosocial improvements. Barriers to person‐centred care during PA identified were lack of time, opportunities for meaningful activity in LTC setting and staff experiences with resident aggression. Significance: Understanding the care processes that are most recognized as person‐centred care and valued by SDMs and LTC home staff has implications for education and training. Insights into SDMs' care expectations regarding person‐centred care can inform staff about which actions should be prioritized to meet care expectations and can foster relationships to the benefit of residents with dementia. Patient and Public Contribution: Study participants were not involved in the development of research questions, research design or outcome measures of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides certain abstracts of papers presented at the Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, which was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, in October 1975. Members of the Program Committee were J. Richards Jennings, James Avcrill, Anne Schell, Neil Schnciderman and Gary E. Schwartz. Symposia and mini-courses comprised most of the day-rime program. Research report accepted for presentation were given and discussed informally at two Science Fairs, one during October 17, 1975 and the other on October 19, 1975.

This article presents abstracts of papers to be presented at the Thirty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research held October 12-15, 1995 in Toronto, Ontario. Cardiovascular activation has traditionally been operationalized in terms of single registered variables, it has often been interpreted, however, in terms of underlying functional units or modes of control, such as alpha-adrenergic, beta-adrenergic, and cholinergic activation and their synergistic or antagonistic interactions.

Domestic Violence (DV) is a social issue concerning all women, but not all women are oppressed or impacted in the same way. This paper draws on an analysis of fifteen closed Family Law case files of racialized immigrant women in Ontario who experienced DV to examine gaps in services and suggest interventions to fill these gaps. The findings reveal that these women and their children experience multiple and intersecting oppressions. Significantly, few existing services recognize the multiple intersecting vulnerabilities, systemic barriers in the host country, or other socio‐political, economic, and cultural realities these women face. Our research reveals a lack of coordination between different institutions providing services to these women. To respond to these gaps, the authors recommend developing interdisciplinary, holistic and culturally‐informed services offered at a single location to support racialized immigrant women and their children as they navigate the complicated path out of the traumatic entrapment of DV. Key points: Gaps between the needs and services existing for racialized immigrant women and children navigating various systems and surviving domestic violence.Importance of holistic, interdisciplinary, accessible and culturally informed services in helping racialized immigrant women navigate various systems and survive DV.Coordinated response of justice and social services systems for DV survivors.Understanding DV as patterns of coercive behaviorImpact of DV on all members of the family unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identification of faunal specimens based on a morphological comparison with known‐identity reference specimens is the standard methodology used in zooarchaeological analysis. However, the accuracy of identifications is rarely considered. In this paper, we report results of an experiment in which 13 analysts were asked to identify 50 fish skeletal elements from a reference collection and 50 fish skeletal elements from an archaeological collection in southern Ontario. The type and level of experience of the analysts and the amount of time they invested in the identification were controlled. The archaeological specimens were subsequently identified taxonomically using ZooMS. Our findings demonstrate that taxonomic and element identifications are far from perfect, both in the reference collection set and in the archaeological collection set. Probable contributing factors include the richness of taxonomic groups; distinctiveness of skeletal morphology; experience level of the analyst; and size of the individual specimens and whether the analyst had access to comprehensive, well‐labeled reference collections. We recommend emphasis be placed in training on the importance, for most species, of not making a taxonomic identification unless the element identification is certain; conservatism in identification of species in groups with many members; clear knowledge of the range of species possible within a region; and active involvement by the instructor or mentor to ensure that neophyte analysts are corrected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has profoundly affected families and children involved in Ontario's family justice system as well as family justice professionals in the province. In a span of two years, Ontario's family justice system has been fundamentally transformed, from a paper‐based, in‐person system to a paperless system in which many services, including judicial proceedings, continue to be largely delivered remotely. We report on the findings of two studies on the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on Ontario family justice: (1) an analysis of early pandemic court decisions; and (2) a survey of family justice professionals about their experiences during the early pandemic. We describe how the pandemic has exacerbated access to justice issues for certain groups, including families experiencing high conflict, victims of intimate partner violence, families involved in child welfare proceedings, and self‐represented litigants, while improving access to justice for others by improving efficiency and reducing legal costs. As Ontario moves past the pandemic, the family justice system will need to ensure that technological advances improve access to justice for all court‐involved families. Key Points for Practitioners: The pandemic disproportionately affected families experiencing high conflict, victims of intimate partner violence, self‐represented litigants, and families in the child welfare systemVirtual courts and electronic document filings improve efficiency and reduce costs for those with lawyers, but increase barriers in access to family justice for those without representationClosure of court‐based legal information services and summary advice from Legal Aid lawyers significantly impact access to justice for self‐represented litigantsAccess to technology may improve access to justice but more must be done for the self‐represented litigants who may need face‐to‐face support [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the use of universalizing language as a discursive strategy to promote shifts in energy policy. Building on scholarship that seeks to understand the political nature of energy transitions, including resistance to transitions, the role of the state, and implications for justice, we examine three phases of energy transition in Ontario in the period 2009–2019, focusing on the ways that three successive ruling coalitions used the first plural pronoun "we" to promote contrasting energy policy orientations. Our analysis of policy documents and government news releases confirms that all three coalitions used the "we" form as a strategic device to define priorities, prescribe courses of action, and broadcast achievements. However, they also used the ambiguity of the "we" form to obscure alternative perspectives, claim credit for rivals' accomplishments, and gloss over harmful and differentiated impacts of policy choices. The paper concludes by reflecting on broader questions about power and justice relevant to energy transition scholars. Key Messages: Analyzing discursive strategies helps demonstrate how power is exerted through politics.Three ruling coalitions in Ontario strategically used universalizing language to promote very different energy policy regimes.The "we" form in political discourse leaves room for ambiguous messages, implying benefits to all while obscuring differentiated impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Messages: This study suggests that the communication of select information on cancer risk varies between urban and rural settings in newspaper coverage in Ontario.News coverage that reports risk information in a variety of formats could foster health literacy and accurate perceptions of cancer risk among Canadians.Participatory communication practices, involving collaboration between multiple stakeholders, could help address communication inequalities between various geographies. Cancer clusters attract considerable interest from the public, the media, and governments, and the risk communication undertaken during an investigation may impact cancer risk perceptions. This paper examined the frequency of select words on qualitative risk, quantitative risk, and cancer risk factors used in the news coverage of suspected cancer clusters in Ontario. A total of 84 news articles on cancer clusters in Ontario published during the period 1990–2017 were retrieved from news databases. The language on cancer risk used in the news articles was examined by various geographic characteristics such as urban and rural communities, geographic scale, and environmental and occupational exposure settings. On average, articles reporting on cancer clusters in urban areas used words describing quantitative risk more frequently compared to articles reporting on cancer clusters in rural areas. Word frequencies for cancer risk factor terms were on average higher in articles covering urban cancer clusters compared to rural. These results suggest that language around cancer risk varies across the news coverage of cancer clusters in Ontario and the communication of key information on cancer risk factors is limited. More collaboration between expert risk communicators, journalists, and community members may be needed to improve the media's risk communication around cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Individuals with psychotic disorders have poorer health outcomes and die earlier due to cardiovascular diseases when compared to healthy populations. Contributing factors include low levels of physical activity, poor nutrition and tobacco smoking. Currently, patients navigate a fragmented health‐care system to seek physical and mental health services, often without access to evidence‐based health promotion interventions, especially in non‐academic settings or rural areas, increasing client barriers at the individual and provider level. To address these gaps, we wish to test the feasibility and impact of a Technology‐Enabled Collaborative Care for Youth (TECC‐Y) model to improve healthy behaviours among youth with early psychosis. The model addresses geographical barriers and maldistribution of physical and mental health care. Methods: A randomized controlled trial, including youth (ages of 16‐29) with early psychosis (diagnosed in the past 5 years) residing in Ontario, Canada. Our primary outcome is client engagement. Secondary outcomes include smoking status, physical health and nutrition. Participants are randomly assigned to either a health coach supervised by a virtual care team, or a self‐directed learning group (e‐platform with psychoeducational materials). Assessments are conducted at baseline, 6, 12 and 24 weeks. Results: This paper presents the protocol of the study. Recruitment commenced in August 2018. This study was registered on 16 July 2018 on clinicaltrials.gov (Registry ID: NCT03610087). Conclusions: TECC‐Y will determine if a technology‐based collaborative care model engages youth with early psychosis, and whether this will be associated with changes in smoking, physical health and nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant effect of industrial capitalism on the modern Western world is the generation and perpetuation of a physical and discursive distancing between people and food – a result of what Marx termed the metabolic rift. Studies of alienated relationships often homogenize the rift experience. This paper explores how rural Ontario dairy farmers experience what John Bellamy Foster calls 'metabolism' and their perceptions of the alienated states of non‐farmers. Results from on‐farm semi‐structured interviews suggest these farmers are aware of a distancing between non‐farmers and food (milk) that is a different experience than that of farmers. Such perception of milk alienation involving an external group – or what I term third‐party alienation – is accompanied by farmer‐initiated interventions, such as on‐farm educational visits and educational programmes, attempting to mend non‐farmers rift experience. Third‐party alienation exemplifies the ways in which metabolism can be diversely embodied – and possibly mended – within current human–food, and human–nature, relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the substantial increases in farmland values that have occurred in Ontario since 2008, concerns have been expressed regarding the potential influence of nonfarmer buyers, such as investment companies and foreign buyers, on prices paid for farmland. To examine whether these concerns may be warranted, this paper estimates the impact of nonfarmer buyers on sale prices for farmland in Ontario, using a hedonic approach and farmland sales data from 2002 to 2016. Analysis is also conducted to determine whether marginal implicit prices of specific farm attributes differ between farmer buyers and nonfarmer buyers. The results indicate that nonfarmer buyers have paid higher prices for farmland, but only in near‐urban areas. In addition, differences in marginal implicit prices for farmland attributes are found, where farmer buyers value more highly attributes related to the agricultural productivity of the property while nonfarmer buyers value more highly attributes related to nonagricultural use. These results imply that the higher prices paid by nonfarmers may be attributable to the bid‐rent theory, as nonfarmers may be bidding more than farmers for farmland in near‐urban areas due to higher expected returns from future urban use of the land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model calibration and validation is an important step of empirical modeling. The current local calibration (LC) method suggested by the AASHTOWare mechanistic‐empirical pavement design guide (MEPDG) is defective and can result in a completely distorted prediction of pavement reliability in design. This paper proposes an advanced LC method that integrates a jackknife sampling procedure and an iteratively weighted least squares technique into one coherent LC process. The jackknife sampling method, which has been recommended by AASHTO for model validation, is now used for identifying outliers of the data in order to ensure a homogeneous population. Meanwhile, an iteratively weighted least squares method is proposed to simultaneously estimate the LC coefficients and the standard deviation functions. Two LC case studies for Ontario roads are presented: one for the bottom‐up fatigue cracking models of asphalt concrete pavements and the other for the joint faulting models of Portland cement concrete pavements. The comparison with the traditional split‐data method has shown the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method. With little modification, the method can be introduced as a general calibration‐validation process for all empirical and mechanistic‐empirical models in engineering disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are no gold standard methods that perform well in every situation when it comes to the analysis of multiple time series of counts. In this paper, we consider a positively correlated bivariate time series of counts and propose a parameter-driven Poisson regression model for its analysis. In our proposed model, we employ a latent autoregressive process, AR(p) to accommodate the temporal correlations in the two series. We compute the familiar maximum likelihood estimators of the model parameters and their standard errors via a Bayesian data cloning approach. We apply the model to the analysis of a bivariate time series arising from asthma-related visits to emergency rooms across the Canadian province of Ontario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper provides a critical review of the decision‐making process of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long‐Term Care (MOHLTC) regarding which migraine treatment drugs will be covered under the Ontario Drug Benefit Formulary (ODB). Main Text: Under MOHLTC policy, triptans and OnabotulinumtoxinA are available to patients only through the Exceptional Access Program (EAP). This policy, and justifications for it, are examined with reference to clinical guidelines, patient experiences, and health policy literature. The contexts and consequences of compromised access are outlined. Improvements in access to these treatments are suggested by highlighting how a country with similar healthcare infrastructure – Australia – employs policies that more adequately meet the needs of migraine patients as they secure treatments. Conclusions: Despite clinically significant gains in the discovery of safe and effective migraine‐specific treatments the ODB thus far has failed to align its practice with current clinical recommendations. This forces patients to rely heavily on medication that, while still effective for some, is potentially suboptimal. This review concludes it is prudent, at minimum, to follow clinical recommendations that advocate for the removal of triptans from EAP and recategorize them as Limited Use drugs. Ideally, moving them to a general benefit would further remove the barriers experienced by patients attempting to access this treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern methods for detecting changes in the scale or covariance of multivariate distributions rely primarily on testing for the constancy of the covariance matrix. These depend on higher‐order moment conditions, and also do not work well when the dimension of the data is large or even moderate relative to the sample size. In this paper, we propose a nonparametric change point test for multivariate data using rankings obtained from data depth measures. As the data depth of an observation measures its centrality relative to the sample, changes in data depth may signify a change of scale of the underlying distribution, and the proposed test is particularly responsive to detecting such changes. We provide a full asymptotic theory for the proposed test statistic under the null hypothesis that the observations are stable, and natural conditions under which the test is consistent. The finite sample properties are investigated by means of a Monte Carlo simulation, and these along with the theoretical results confirm that the test is robust to heavy tails, skewness and high dimensionality. The proposed methods are demonstrated with an application to structural break detection in the rate of change of pollutants linked to acid rain measured in Turkey lake, a lake in central Ontario, Canada. Our test suggests a change in the rate of acid rain in the late 1980s/early 1990s, which coincides with clean air legislation in Canada and the US. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 48: 417–446; 2020 © 2020 Statistical Society of Canada [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For at least the past 20 years, the Province of Ontario – as well as other advanced economic regions – has experienced a period of transition, with traditional manufacturing declining and advanced manufacturing firms and sectors emerging. Concurrently, there has been a concerted policy effort emphasising the development of industry clusters within the province, though key issues of governance and where and how to invest public funds remain. This paper presents research on the spatial configuration of firms in 26 manufacturing sub‐sectors, using point density analysis of the basis for determining the presence and spatial configuration of firms. This allows for the comparison of patterns observed in traditional, advanced, and evolving sub‐sectors. The findings show that there are patterns of clustering in all sub‐sectors, though different spatial configurations are apparent between traditional, advanced, and evolving sub‐sectors. These differences have implications for both investment and governance. Based on the findings, investment needs to be directed towards areas with locational advantages, while regional perspectives and initiatives on cluster governance are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has demonstrated the benefits of mental healthcare interventions that ensure a safe transition of clients throughout the discharge and community integration process. This paper reports on qualitative data from focus groups with health professionals collected as part of a larger a mixed method study designed to examine the effectiveness and sustainability of implementing the transitional discharge model. Data collection involved two sets of focus groups, which were held at six months and one‐year post‐implementation. There were 216 health professional participants from nine (9) hospitals across the Province of Ontario, Canada. Data analysis used a four‐step ethnographic framework by Leininger (1985) to identify descriptors and recurrent and major themes. The study identified four major themes, including healthcare professionals' roles and positive experiences in implementing the transitional discharge model; perceived benefits of the model; challenges to implementing the model; and suggestions for sustaining the model's implementation. Healthcare professionals felt that the implementation of the transitional discharge model has the potential for increasing their awareness of the process of clients' integration, serving as a framework for discharge planning, and reducing hospital readmissions. The study findings may provide healthcare providers with information on pragmatic ways to plan clients' discharge, to bridge the gap between hospital and community care, and to positively impact client health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary care is the level of a health system that provides first point of access to health care services for all health-related needs and problems, providing person-focused care over time in a continuous and coordinated fashion (Primary Healthcare Planning Group [48]; Aggarwal and Hutchison [1]; Health Canada [20]). This paper undertakes a comprehensive examination of how primary care services are distributed across Southwestern Ontario (SWO), with a particular focus on understanding how the distribution is meeting the primary care needs of the senior population (i.e., people aged 65 years and older) and populations living in different geographic settings (i.e., the urban-rural continuum). PCPs were included in our research database if they were physicians or NPs that have a comprehensive primary care practice and have a roster of enrolled patients for whom they provide ongoing primary care (as of July 2015). Despite the high PCP-to-population ratios, the number of PCPs actually providing care in these rural and small population centre communities away from metropolitan influence zones is overestimated, as many PCPs provide other health services (e.g., emergency room doctors, specialists, service to long-term care). [Extracted from the article]

The paper contributes to the literature on black students and racial disparities in high school completion in Canada and makes original use of the 2006 Census to analyze the educational attainment of 18- to 19-year-olds in Ontario and Quebec. Results of a logistic regression indicate that in both provinces, black/white disparities in graduation rates disappear when income, family structure, language, gender, and place of residence are taken into account. Higher rates of socioeconomic disadvantage among black children pose challenges for high school completion. These findings do not imply that racism has no impact; indeed, the paper concludes that high school completion may not be the outcome most suitable for evaluating the effects of racism on educational attainment. Future studies should examine the causes of racial disparities in intermediate outcomes of school success (i.e., grades, special education placement, academic tracking, and disciplinary sanctions), and their effects on the graduation rates and postsecondary pathways of black students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to report a unitarily invariant decomposition of arbitrary Hermitian second-order matrices. For the particular cases of antisymmetrical and symmetrical Hermitian second-order matrices this decomposition reduces to the unitarily invariant decompositions of antisymmetrical and symmetrical Hermitian second-order matrices reported by Coleman, A. J. In: Erdahl, R. M., ed. Reduced Density Operators with Applications to Physical and Chemical Systems II, Queen's Paper in Pure and Applied Mathematics, vol. 40; Queen's University: Kingston, Ontario, 1974 and Sun et al. Int J Quantum Chem 1984, 25, 1045, respectively. An illustration of physical interest is reported. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2004 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As midwifery moved from lay practice to a regulated health-care profession in Ontario toward the end of the twentieth century, it brought with it many of its social movement goals and aspirations. Among these was the desire to attend to diversity and equity in the provision of birthing care. Drawing on interviews with currently practicing Ontario midwives, this paper focuses on midwives’ conceptualizations of diversity and explores their everyday work to support and strengthen diversity among those using and those providing midwifery care. We argue that midwifery’s recent relocation within state structured health care means neither that the social change projects of midwifery are complete nor that midwifery has abandoned its movement-based commitment to social change. Responses to social diversity in health care range from efforts to simply improve access to care to analyses of the role of social justice in recognizing the needs of diverse populations. The social justice aspiration to “create a better world” continues to animate the work of midwives postregulation. This paper explores the legacy of midwifery as a social movement, addressing the connections between diversity, social justice and midwifery care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Children with medical complexity require multiple providers and services to keep them well and at home. A care map is a patient/family-created diagram that pictorially maps out this complex web of services. This study explored what care maps mean for families and healthcare providers to inform potential for clinical use.Method: Parents (n=15) created care maps (hand drawn n=10 and computer-generated n=5) and participated in semi-structured interviews about the process of developing care maps and their perceived impact. Healthcare providers (n=30) reviewed the parent-created care maps and participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed for themes and emerging theory using a grounded theory analytical approach.Results: Data analysis revealed 13 overarching themes that were further categorized into three domains: features (characteristics of care maps), functions (what care maps do), and emerging outcomes (benefits of care map use). These domains further informed a definition and a theoretical model of how care maps work.Interpretation: Our findings suggest that care maps may be a way of supporting patient- and family-centred care by graphically identifying and integrating experiences of the family as well as priorities for moving forward.What This Paper Adds: Care maps were endorsed as a useful tool by families and providers. They help healthcare providers better understand parental priorities for care. Parents can create care maps to demonstrate the complex burden of care. They are a unique visual way to incorporate narrative medicine into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few years, cities have been increasingly adopting a written plan to guide economic development processes. This is in sharp contrast to past practices which were haphazard and unsystematic. So far, there has been no comprehensive overview of the policies, strategies and focus of these written documents. Focusing on the Province of Ontario, Canada, we undertook a systematic content analysis of the most recent documents for each city. Specific codes were developed for the analysis of the documents. While the majority of cities in Ontario were identified as having codified a formal economic development plan (a plan was identified in 41 of 51 cities), there was considerable variability in how the plans were developed (such as through the use of private consultants) and presented, with noticeable differences in the information given about the community, complexity of analysis conducted and the details on the economic development policies that are being pursued. Despite the range of document formats, there was notable uniformity in the content of the policy directives that were presented. In terms of economic development focus, traditional manufacturing is essentially ignored in favour of attracting advanced manufacturing and knowledge-based industries. Additionally, due to the extensive reliance on private external consultants, the plans have a homogenous nature, where contemporary ideas such as diversification, place branding and marketing, downtown redevelopment, focus on creative and knowledge industries, and tourism are constantly regurgitated. Conspicuously missing among the strategies were regional collaborations and cluster development. Although the adoption of a written plan represents an important milestone in local economic development policymaking, a number of key limitations were identified within the current documents, and the paper offers direction for a more effective future policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based healthcare services have quickly evolved over the last few decades to respond to the growing population of older adults, and their desire to remain independent in the community. In Ontario, Canada, deinstitutionalization has resulted in all persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities living-and aging, in the community. This paper compares use of home care services in Ontario among adults (age 18-99 years) with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities over time. Home care use over a 5-year period was compared between a cohort of 46,008 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and a random sample of 3,272,080 adults without intellectual and developmental disabilities. Persons with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities received similar types of home care services. Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities had much higher rates of admission to home care, and at much earlier ages. While this remained true over time, slight differences by age were noted between groups. Higher use at earlier ages suggests that home care services are responding to the needs of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Future research should identify (or develop) best practices for promoting independence in the community for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities with healthcare needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the factors affecting the corn basis in Ontario with particular emphasis on the effect of ethanol production given the projected detrimental effect its expansion could have on the red meat sector. We estimate a location-specific and panel vector error correction models (VECM) for seven elevators in Ontario from 2006 to 2013. We find a long-run equilibrium relationship exists between the basis and factors affecting local supply and demand including ethanol capacity and that the direction of causality is from these factors to changes in corn price. A one-time increase in ethanol capacity of 100 million liters is projected to increase the basis by approximately 30 cents per bushel within two years. However, the impact is insignificant for elevators located in the livestock-intensive regions of the province. The demand for corn as livestock feed is a determinant of the local corn price for all elevators. The decline in the number of hogs and beef cattle along with the 50% increase in corn supply have resulted in the observed decline in the local corn price despite the significant increase in demand from ethanol. L'impact de la production locale d′éthanol sur le prix de base du maïs en Ontario Cet article cherche à comprendre les facteurs ayant un effet sur le prix de base du maïs en Ontario, en particulier sur les effets de la production d′éthanol étant donné les effets négatifs attendus sur le secteur de la viande rouge causés par son expansion. Nous estimons des modèles vectoriels à correction d'erreurs (MVCE) à emplacements précis et panel entre 2006 et 2013, pour 7 silos-élévateurs en Ontario. Nous constatons une relation d′équilibre à long terme entre le prix de base et les facteurs ayant un effet sur l'offre et la demande locale incluant la capacité pour l′éthanol. Nous constatons aussi que le sens de la causalité passe de ces facteurs aux changements du prix du maïs. L'on s'attend à voir une augmentation d'environ 30 cents du prix de base du boisseau suivant l'augmentation unique de 100 millions de litres de la capacité d′éthanol. Par contre, l'impact est négligeable pour les silos-élévateurs situés dans les régions d′élevage intensif de la province. La demande pour le maïs comme aliment pour le bétail est un facteur déterminant du prix local du maïs pour tous les silos-élévateurs. Le déclin du porc et des bovins ainsi que l'augmentation de 50 % de l'offre de maïs ont mené à la diminution notée du prix du maïs local malgré l'augmentation significative de la demande pour l′éthanol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Social theorists have demonstrated the growth in dominance of two central discourses for understanding the ways that children's mental-health issues are understood today - medicalization and intensive mothering. In this context, this paper reports on a qualitative interview-based study of 16 mothers whose children had received a diagnosis with one or more mental-health or developmental issues such as Tourette's, bipolar, anxiety, depression, autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is based on the retrospective accounts of mothers given during interviews, from the time when they noticed what they thought to be unusual behaviours and decided to try to normalize and accommodate to their children's behaviours and then to the various steps they took to seek help. The paper begins with a description of the sorts of problems that mothers noticed. It then moves to the strategies mothers then took to cope, manage and socialize their children. When these failed, mothers sought professional assistance with understanding, remediation and/or a diagnosis for the child(ren). Mothers described uncertainty, confusion and contradictions as they unremittingly sought help. This process may be called surplus suffering. The relevance of the theoretical issues is then reconsidered along with the substantive and practical consequences of the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Person-directed planning ( PDP) is an approach to planning supports that aims to redistribute power from the service system to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities ( IDD) and natural supports, improve relationships and build community. To do this, the right people with the right attitudes engaging in the right actions are needed. This paper examines how key elements in PDP contribute to successes in planning. Materials/Methods Researchers worked with three planning teams from different community service agencies using participatory action research techniques (i.e. free list and pile sort, Socratic wheel, whys/hows exercise). Results Most key elements of PDP were relevant to each team. Perceptions of which had most contributed to planning successes differed. Conclusions The various elements of PDP are used by and useful to planning teams, although some may be more relevant to some successes than others because of specific goals, or the person's strengths and needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]