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In the course of the author's research into media representations of vulnerability and disability at end of life, she came across two local news stories, both thoroughly reported on by the "Winnipeg Free Press". In November 1998, doctors at a long term health care facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba insisted on entering a "do not resuscitate" order on the chart of 79 year old Mr. Andrew Sawatzky. In December 2007, doctors in the intensive care unit of a Winnipeg hospital opted to disconnect the ventilator and remove the feeding tube of Mr. Samuel Golubchuk, an 84 year old man. Doctors evaluated both Mr. Sawatzky and Mr. Golubchuk by assessing their levels of awareness and consciousness. Neither man was able to speak, although relatives of both men claimed each was capable of communicating and expressing his wishes. For this reason, both of these medical decisions went against the wishes of their respective families, who then sought judicial intervention to reverse them. At the heart of both these cases was the pivotal debate over the entitlement to the designation of "person" and the moral status that it confers. In this paper, the author focuses on this debate and its conflicting narratives. She aims to deconstruct the newspaper accounts of the different narratives in the cases of Mr. Sawatzky and Mr. Golubchuk. She then uses the news accounts to demonstrate the implications that such narratives can have on the lives of these two vulnerable people, as well as people with intellectual disabilities. She begins by describing the law and policy for providing life-sustaining treatments in Manitoba. She follows this description with a summary of the above-mentioned two cases and continues with a brief review of the literature highlighting the relevant philosophical, ethical and medical concepts which are central to understanding these stories. She concludes this paper with a discussion of the implications that these different narratives can have for people with intellectual disabilities. (Contains 1 footnote.)

This article offers a sampling and critique of the history of education in North America, including Canada, the United States and Mexico. Being Black and Indigenous academics, respectively, the authors' scholarship centres on community relationships, considering activism around #BlackLivesMatter and Indigenous Peoples, especially with the news of thousands of unmarked graves at former Indian Residential Schools in Canada. Amidst increasing global calls for decolonisation, social justice and accountability, we ask: how should one consider the history of education in North America amidst social unrest, climate change, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, ongoing colonialisms, gender inequities, police violence against Black bodies and unmarked graves of Indigenous children? This paper traces histories of Indian Residential Schools, explores schooling structures and emerging settler states, and examines the growing focus on local histories to offer new directions in the history of education that challenge antiquated national narratives.

This paper explores an arts-based practitioner action research study that explores the artworks made by students from a Grade 11 History of Canada course in response to teaching and learning about the First World War. The practitioner considers the art-things (Bennett, 2015) of his students and the associated thing-power (Bennett, 2004) affordances. The work was informed by a rhizomatic methodology (Deleuze & Guattari, 1980/2000) that illuminated insights arising from interpretation and analysis of the educative assemblage and its concrete and abstract constituents and forces. The practitioner's action research was informed by newness, unexpectedness, and difference (Deleuze & Guattari, 1968/1994) drawn from engagements with the students' art-things and artist statements, which in turn enriched the personal and professional knowledge and educative practices of the author as well as his students' learning because of knowledge drawn from this inquiry.

Longstanding impressions of children as innocent to human frailty, alongside the emphasis on efficiency and management in schools, play undeniable roles in the way teachers engage with children experiencing death and illness. This paper draws from a larger study of 116 written childhood memories from prospective teachers and practitioners enrolled across four universities in Canada and the United States and focuses on the 12 memories that specifically reference childhood experiences with death or illness. Bearing witness to death evoked a range of participant responses, including guilt and shame, a sense of childhood immaturity, or the need to "grow up" in the face of mortality. In contrast, memories of illness almost always occurred in school, featuring a neglectful teacher or adult figure with anxiety about disrupting normalcy and order. Drawing on affect studies and psychoanalysis, our examination surfaces three repeating motifs: (1) the management of the bodily 'normal' in school, (2) the appeal to childhood innocence as a refusal of affective experience, and (3) the abjection of illness as an opening to thinking about vulnerability in education. Although these memories account for a small portion of the overall collection, they linger in our minds as significant, made even more so by the current context of COVID-19. For educators, the challenge may be how to engage with children as they attempt to make sense of the turmoil they are living, all of which may require teachers to support a wide range of childhood experiences unburdened by the ideal of innocence. A study of these tropes demonstrate the affective challenges that bodies pose to education, and open critical ways to think about the relationship between illness, childhood, and education as the ethical ground to reimagine post-pandemic schooling.

In pediatric settings, the concept of hope is frequently positioned as a fundamental aspect of care and at odds with the possibility and proximity of death. This arguably fosters silence about death and dying in childhood despite evidence indicating the benefits of open communication at the end of life. In this paper, we describe the unspeakable nature of death and dying in childhood, including its conceptual and clinical causes and dimensions, its persistence, and the associated challenges for children and youth facing critical illnesses, their families, and society. We explore how the tension between hope and death can be reframed and apply our analysis to the context of medical assistance in dying for mature minors in Canada. Considering the lack of related literature, this paper offers initial reflections to form a framework for the unspeakable nature of death and dying in childhood and to advance the crucial need for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent passing of legislation decriminalizing medically assisted suicide was a landmark in Canadian history. Since the law's passage, an average of four Canadians per day have chosen to die using medical assistance. With Canadians embracing this option of death, we argue that there will be moments in Canadian schools when this topic will be brought into the classrooms. In this paper, we outline how children view death both emotionally and conceptually, as well as how teachers can discuss death in their classrooms. The purpose is to provide a brief explanation of the law, an expiation of how children view death, and a framework for how teachers may be prepared to broach the topic when raised in their classrooms.

An increase in interest in crimes against people with developmental disabilities (PWDD) has been observed in the past decade. However, little attention has been given to intrafamilial homicides of PWDD. This paper provides a preliminary description of these types of homicides as they affect PWDD. Content analysis of media accounts of intrafamilial homicides of PWDD describes the characteristics of those involved and the circumstances of the homicides. This study examined a subset of data of 1967 homicides of PWDD and found 308 cases of intrafamilial homicide representing the deaths of 314 PWDD. These homicides represented 15.96% of overall homicides of PWDD obtained in the original study. A similar number of homicides of male and female victims were reported. Compared to other family members, biological parents were most frequently implicated in the deaths of PWDD, with biological mothers, acting alone, implicated most often. Biological mothers were most frequently implicated in the deaths of daughters, while biological fathers were most frequently implicated in the deaths of sons. The majority of PWDD who were killed were four years of age or younger. Beating, shooting, neglect, asphyxia, burns, and poisoning were the most common causes of death. Discussion focuses on media representation of homicides, intrafamilial homicide, and prevention. (Contains 4 tables.)

In 2020–2021, a qualitative study was undertaken using an interpretive description methodology to identify what triggers grief in the first 2 years following the death of a beloved family member, and to gain other helpful insights about grief triggers from bereaved Canadian adult volunteers. In that study, a purposive sampling method was used to select 10 bereaved Canadian adult volunteers for in-depth, semi-structured interviews. This paper reports on the humor findings, as revealed to be a particularly complex grief trigger for many participants, as well as a periodic way for most to manage or live with their grief. Participant quotes and an extended discussion are included to illustrate the importance of these humor findings in relation to grief, and to inform bereaved people, bereavement service providers, and the general public about both helpful aspects and some cautionary considerations about humor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper reviews what is currently known about mortality among Canadians with intellectual and developmental disabilities and describes opportunities for ongoing monitoring. Methods: In-hospital mortality among adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Ontario was examined using hospital data. Mortality was compared between age-, sex- and residence area-matched groups of Manitobans with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities using linked administrative data. A retrospective cohort study of mortality among individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in a region of Ontario focused on measuring excess mortality and risk factors. Findings: There is evidence of excess mortality in persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Canada. Some of the excess is attributable to comorbidities that are more common in this population. Women may have a greater risk of death than men. Excess mortality occurs at all ages but is more pronounced in early life. Discussion: High-quality ongoing monitoring of mortality among individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities is possible in Canada. Examination of sex differences should be a priority.

This essay traverses back and forth across the institutionally-imposed boundary between storytelling and critical reflection to explore how the author's thinking about feminist pedagogical praxis has been irrevocably altered by the experience of losing a parent as well as facilitating mutual support groups for young adults whose parents or siblings have died. The author is documenting a piece of her growth as a learning teacher over the 2006-2007 academic year. She has taught first-year university students in a tutorial setting for the past five years as a master of arts student at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, and as a PhD candidate at York University in Toronto, Ontario. Her undergraduate and graduate degrees are all in women's studies, and she has taught within her home discipline, Social Science and Fine Arts Cultural Studies. She begins by spinning a yarn that twists together the loss of her father, teaching first year students, and facilitating a mutual support group for the first time. She reflects upon how people carry their loss histories with them into the classroom: this loss could be death, but it is more multifarious than that. This is loss in its broadest sense. Loss amplifies the effects people feel when they are perceived in cliched and discriminatory ways, so it is fundamental to acknowledge its presence in the classroom. Finally, the author concludes by discussing the transformative impact that her facilitating and teaching have had upon each other, and upon how she lives with, and invites warmly though sorrowfully, the loss and grief of herself and others whenever she is capable of doing so. Denying the existence of loss bars an opportunity that one has to recognize and work with the loneliness engendered by learning and death. This reflection has taken the author all the way back to the almost impossible-to-write final paper about loneliness and education for the first course she took during her PhD coursework, the same semester that her father was diagnosed with cancer for the second and final time. This essay returns to Deborah Britzman's pedagogy and psychoanalytic theory course at York University, which marked a pivotal moment in the author's academic career and in her life. This course made her think deeply about the links between loss, loneliness, and education and over the past four years compelled her to critically reevaluate and eventually give up some of the theories she had been working with in response to learning about psychoanalytic insights into gender.

Raphael Cohen-Almagor's article "Hate in the Classroom: Free Expression, Holocaust Denial, and Liberal Education" (2008) calls for sanctions on those K-12 public school teachers whose deployment of "hate speech"--and/or associations with others who deploy it--creates a "poisoned environment" in the classroom. While stating his belief in the role of free expression as "a fundamental right and value in democracies," Cohen-Almagor nevertheless believes that hate speech "causes immediate mental and emotional stress" and perhaps even "psychological harm" to those it targets and so has no place in the public school system, which should be guided by liberal educational principles. He illustrates his argument by reference to the cases of three Canadian teachers, each of whom has had his teaching certificate revoked, is politically on the far right, and is directly or indirectly associated with Holocaust denial. In this rejoinder, the author focuses on Cohen-Almagor's contention that public school teachers should be fired if their out-of-classroom utterances or associations cross liberal and contractual requirements. The author argues that what Cohen-Almagor presents is an illiberal educational argument in the service of putatively liberal educational principles. (Contains 25 notes.)

Traffic collisions kill about 43,000 Americans a year. Worldwide, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death by injury and the ninth leading cause of all deaths. Photo Radar speed enforcement has been implemented in the United States and many other industrialized countries, yet its cost-effectiveness from a societal viewpoint, taking all significant impacts into account, has not been reported. This paper fills this gap, reporting on a Photo Radar traffic safety program introduced in 1996 in British Columbia, Canada, and incorporating the results of rigorous statistical analyses on speed and crash impacts into a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis from both societal and sponsoring-agency perspectives. The study reveals that the Rhoto Radar Program cost C$27 million per year in 2001 Canadian dollars (?US$21 million) and generated benefits valued at $142 million per year (?US$109 million), for net societal benefits of C$115 million per year (?US$88 million). It was estimated that the sponsoring agency saved C$38 million (?US$29 million) annually in claim costs. These results are robust to plausible alternate assumptions. Societal net benefits become negative only if the reduction in injuries and fatalities is one standard error below the expected value, or if private travel time is valued at or above C$15 per hour. Agency claim cost savings are greater than program costs under all scenarios tested. These results are likely applicable to jurisdictions in developed countries with similar traffic infrastructure: Greater use of highway photo radar speed enforcement would be good public policy.

Today, young children are exposed to death through various forms of media in their communities, schools, and home environments. With this inevitability of exposure, there is a need for death education in order to inform and support today's youth when facing the subject of death. Death is said to be one of the most emotional and complex matters an individual can experience during childhood. The current research report is part of an on-going study exploring educators' experiences and concerns regarding discussing death in the classroom, their self-perceived ability to approach the topic of death with children, and their attitudes regarding death education in school. As the study is on-going, the current paper discusses the results of preliminary analyses conducted with the responses of the 59 teachers who have participated thus far.

Explores approach to dealing with human death. Describes floating perspective, based on insights from Choron and Jaspers, as suggesting it is possible to deal with human death by refraining from taking ultimate position on the problem. Position encourages openness to death. Examines role of anxiety and describes possible meaningful outcomes of encounter with human death from this perspective. (Author/NB)

Patterns of linguistic and interactional behavior by people at the very end of their lives are not well described, partly because data is difficult to obtain. This paper analyzes descriptions of 486 deaths gathered from 1900 to 1904 in the first-ever clinical study of dying by noted Canadian physician, Sir William Osler. Only 16 patients were noted speaking, and only four canonical last words were reported. The most frequent observation by medical staff was that the deaths were quiet (n = 30), though range of other behaviors were noted (e.g., moaning, delirium, seeming intention to speak). Osler's problematic study left behind data whose analysis is a small step toward empirically characterizing the linguistic and interactional details of a previously under-described phenomena as well as the importance of the social context in which they occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the temporal trends in the place of death among patients in receipt of home‐based palliative care can help direct health policies and planning of health resources. This paper aims to assess the temporal trends in place of death and its determinants over the past decade for patients receiving home‐based palliative care. This paper also examines the impact of early referral to home‐based palliative care services on patient's place of death. Survey data collected in a home‐based end‐of‐life care program in Toronto, Canada from 2005 to 2015 were analysed using a multivariate logistic model. The results suggest that the place of death for patients in receipt of home‐based palliative care has changed over time, with more patients dying at home over 2006–2015 when compared to 2005. Also, early referral to home‐based palliative care services may not increase a patient's likelihood of home death. Understanding the temporal shifts of place of death and the associated factors is essential for effective improvements in home‐based palliative care programs and the development of end‐of‐life care policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies (University of Toronto Press) is the property of University of Toronto Press 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.)

Discusses children's understanding of death during early and middle childhood. Describes four basic considerations (communication, acceptance, routine, and reactions) that apply to all situations with bereaved children. Looks at situation-specific reactions to terminally ill classmate, parental death, death of sibling, death of friend or relative, suicide, and death of pet. (NB)

Introduction: Several regions in Canada have recently experienced sharp increases in opioid overdoses and related hospitalizations and deaths. This paper describes opioidrelated mortality and disability from opioid use disorder in Canada from 1990 to 2014 using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. Methods: We used data from the GBD study to describe temporal trends (1990-2014) in opioid-related mortality and disability from opioid use disorder using common metrics: disability-adjusted life years (DALY), deaths, years of life lost (YLL) and years lived with disability (YLD). We also compared age-standardized YLL and DALY rates per 100 000 population between Canada, the USA and other regions. Results: The age-standardized opioid-related DALY rate in Canada was 355.5 per 100 000 population in 2014, which was higher than the global rate of 193.2, but lower than the rate of 767.9 in the United States. Between 1990 and 2014, the age-standardized opioid-related YLL rate in Canada increased by 142.2%, while globally this rate decreased by 10.1%. In comparison with YLL, YLD accounted for a larger proportion of the overall opioid-related burden across all age groups. Health loss was greater for males than females, and highest among those aged 25 to 29 years. Conclusion: The health burden associated with opioid-related mortality and disability from opioid use disorder in Canada is significant and has increased dramatically from 1990 to 2014. These data point to a need for public health action including enhanced monitoring of a range of opioid-related harms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, 231,840 American women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. This figure represents mothers, wives, or sisters diagnosed with cancer, a diagnosis which has the potential to affect those closest to them, especially their immediate family. This research aimed to examine the lived experience of a family unit that lost their spouse/mother/sister-in-law to invasive breast cancer. A phenomenological case study was utilized to guide this research. One family unit, consisting of a spouse, daughter, son, and sister-in-law to the deceased were recruited from Southern Ontario, Canada. Background questionnaires and one-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted. The following themes emerged: (1) negatives, describing struggles with balancing care, faith, and living after a death in the family and (2) silver linings, depicting the strength that Nancy, the deceased, maintained during her illness, and the family's hope and optimism for the future. This paper only addresses the theme 'Negatives,' while the last theme is addressed in Part II of this research. Within the theme 'Negatives,' there were four sub-themes: (1) What About the Kids? (2) The Balancing Act, (3) Why Would He Do This? and (4) Life After Mom. Each will be discussed in turn. This research study provides valuable information regarding the lived experiences of families coping with a parental/spousal cancer diagnosis. It may assist other individuals in similar situations by providing comfort knowing that they are not the only ones encountering this journey. The participants' voices may also allow others to develop strength by understanding the effect of cancer on a family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Law & Society/Revue Canadienne Droit et Societe (University of Toronto Press) is the property of University of Toronto Press 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.)

This paper addresses the relationship between mobility, ageing and death in an urban housing market from a material culture perspective. It examines a divestment ritual performed by elderly people in Montreal (Canada) on the occasion of a move from a home on their own to a care environment. This move which is often a move into a smaller place and a smaller set of things is also accompanied by the compulsion for the people to divest themselves of some of their belongings, a process that is called 'casser maison', literally 'breaking the house'. This ethnographic paper reveals that 'casser maison' is not only a matter of getting separated from some, if not most, of one's posses-sions, however. It is also a matter of placing those possessions among the kin or other potential recipients. In this respect, 'casser maison' pertains to a ritualized form of construction of the self through the emptying of the place. It proceeds from the wish to ancestralize oneself; the capacity to place one's possessions is taken to guarantee the survival of the subject and of his or her memory. As such, this paper demonstrates that, through the use of personal belongings, the divestment of the self becomes a form of investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research was to examine the lived experience of a family unit that lost their spouse/mother/sister-in-law to cancer. A phenomenological case study was used to guide this research. Four participants, or one family unit consisting of one spouse, one daughter, one son, and one sister-in-law to the deceased, were recruited from Southern Ontario. Background questionnaires and one-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with each family member. The following themes emerged: (1) Negatives and (2) Silver Linings. This paper only addresses the theme 'Silver Linings'; the first theme was addressed in Part I of this research. Within the theme 'Silver Linings,' there were two sub-themes: (1) '...She was remarkable' and (2) Hope for the future. Each will be discussed in turn. Overall, the research study revealed some silver linings that may come from a diagnosis of cancer in a family unit. The family found it difficult to find positives in the loss of their loved one; however, they were able to acknowledge that they have a heightened appreciation for others. This research study provides insight regarding the lived experiences of families coping with the cancer journey of a loved one. It may allow readers to develop a greater sense of appreciation for their health and family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying patients during the end of life is important, as it has the potential to lead to improvements in care for the dying. For patients who die after a controlled withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies in the intensive care unit, information about the natural history of death and the process of removing life support has additionally led to advances in practice for deceased organ donation. However, this unique population of severely critically ill and imminently dying patients has been difficult to study, largely due to assumptions made by research teams and ethics boards alike about the logistical difficulties of obtaining consent and completing research procedures before or during the process of withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies. In this paper, we describe the ethics substudy of the first prospective observational research study in Canada to obtain consent and collect clinical data on patients during the process of withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies in the intensive care unit. We describe in detail the process of protocol development, review by five institutional research ethics boards and bedside staff satisfaction with the study. We conclude that prospective research on a critically ill and imminently dying population is feasible and can be conducted in an ethical manner. Further information is needed about the experiences and motivations of families and substitute decision makers who provide consent for research on critically ill intensive care unit patients at the end of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A provocative question has emerged since the Supreme Court of Canada's decision on assisted dying: Should Canadians who request, and are granted, an assisted death be considered a legitimate source of transplantable organs? A related question is addressed in this paper: is controlled organ donation after assisted death (cDAD) more or less ethically-problematic than standard, controlled organ donation after circulatory determination of death (cDCDD)? Controversial, ethics-related dimensions of cDCD that are of relevance to this research question are explored, and morally-relevant distinctions between cDAD and cDCD are identified. In addition, a set of morally-relevant advantages of one practice over the other is uncovered, and a few potential, theoretical issues specifically related to cDAD practice are articulated. Despite these concerns, the analysis suggests a counterintuitive conclusion: cDAD is, overall, less ethically-problematic than cDCDD. The former practice better respects the autonomy interests of the potential donor, and a claim regarding irreversibility of cessation of the donor's circulatory function in the cDAD context can be supported. Further, with cDAD, there is no possibility that the donor will have negative sensory experiences during organ procurement surgery. Although the development of appropriate policy-decision and regulatory approaches in this domain will be complex and challenging, the comparative ethical analysis of these two organ donation practices has the potential to constructively inform the deliberations of relevant stakeholders, resource persons and decision makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health is the property of Canadian Periodical for Community Studies Inc. 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.)

Presents an eulogy for Ioan Davies, a professor in York University in Toronto, Ontario. Death of Davies; Dream for an international solidarity; Contents of 'The New Internationale(?)', a paper wrote by Davies.

Objective: The controversy regarding death determination in the context of organ donation after cardiocirculatory death requires investigation. We sought to describe the manner in which Canadian adult and pediatric intensive care physicians report death determination after cardiac arrest., Design: Pilot-tested paper survey., Setting: Mail out between June and November 2009., Subjects: Canadian adult and pediatric intensive care physicians., Intervention: Paper-based survey., Main Results: Forty-nine percent of 501 Canadian intensive care physicians responded. Eighty-five percent practiced in tertiary care, university-affiliated centers, and 26% were from pediatric centers. Physicians had a median of 10 yrs (range 0-35) experience. Physicians reported that they performed determination of death after cardiac arrest a median of seven (range 0-60) times per year. Of 11 tests or procedures used, the absence of heart sounds by auscultation, palpable pulse, and breath sounds were the most common, although there was high variability in practice. No diagnostic test/procedure was uniformly performed or omitted. Sixty-five percent of respondents believed autoresuscitation exists and 37% of physicians reported to have seen a possible case during their career. Forty-eight percent had formal training for determining death after cardiac arrest and 22% used guidelines. The majority of respondents agreed that standardized methods for determination of death after cardiac arrest are required in general (69%) and specifically for donation after cardiocirculatory death (91%)., Conclusions: Intensive care physicians in Canada report: 1) variability in the practice of determining death after cardiac arrest; 2) the existence of autoresuscitation; and 3) a need for standardization of practice. The results of this survey support the need to develop more robust education, guidelines, and standards for the determination of death after cardiac arrest, in general, as well as within the context of donation after cardiocirculatory death.

Background: The meaning of dying and death are underexplored concepts for Canadian children. Subsequently, it is unclear how children and stakeholders make meaning of children's holistic health needs at the end of life. Methods: A scoping review of the international scholarly literature was conducted. Thirteen data sources were searched to search the scholarly literature without date limits until January 2022. Studies were included on the basis of population: children (aged 0–19 years), families and caregivers; setting (in Canada and end-of-life or dying phases of living) and concepts of interest (dying and death). Results: Of the 7377 studies identified, 12 were included for data extraction and content thematic analysis. The themes and subthemes include: 1) valuing the whole person; 2) living while dying; 3) authentic death talk; 4) a supportive approach (with lack and presence of support as subthemes); and, 5) a personalist approach. Conclusions: There is a pressing need for research into the meaning of dying and death for children, their carers and families in Canada. Lack of holistic care, authentic death talk, specialized pediatric palliative care providers, a personalist approach and communities of support present major gaps in care for Canadian children. Research is urgently needed to address these knowledge gaps to generate policy and support practice for dying children in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent Canada–US ‘Beyond the Border’ negotiations have been accompanied by a highlighting of the issue of unauthorised crossings at the Canada–US border. In this paper, I offer some grounded contextualisation of this current politicisation by drawing upon press reports and interviews to document Canadian border-resident and press constructions of unauthorised crossings in one Canada–US border region in the late 1990s to mid-2000s. The evidence suggests that there is widespread local awareness of these crossings, including the dangers and sometimes death faced by would-be migrants. The analysis explores why this knowledge has not served to challenge still-dominant constructions of a ‘benign’ Canada–US border and/or ongoing projects of border securitisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Based on a pilot evaluation of Canada's recently introduced Compassionate Care Benefit (CCB), the purpose of this paper is to highlight the experiences of family caregivers caring for people with non-malignant advanced chronic illness. Design: Using Patton's (1997) utilization-focused evaluation approach, 25 telephone interviews were conducted with three groups of family caregivers: Those who had successfully applied for the CCB; Those who were unsuccessful in their applications Those who had never applied for the benefit. Findings: The CCB has a number of limitations, particularly for caregivers of patients diagnosed with non-malignant advanced chronic illness. The central limitations are: Difficulties associated with accurate prognostication Limited definition of ‘family member’ Unsufficient length of the funding period. Conclusion: By modelling similar programmes internationally, such as those in Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands, Canada would likely find the CCB to have greater relevance and accessibility to Canadian caregivers, particularly those caring for people with non-malignant advanced chronic illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the associations between clinical dementia and underlying cause of death (UCD) in a population-based sample of seniors who took part in the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA). Cause-of-death data were obtained via death certificates for 2,924 of 2,982 deceased subjects. Among the decedents were 823 clinically demented and 670 clinically non-demented participants. Using logistic regression we examined factors associated with a particular UCD in the overall group and also in the subgroup of demented seniors. Dementia was found to be associated with an increased risk of death from pneumonia. Both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia appear to decrease the risk of mortality from neoplasm. To our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind that combines a large, representative sample with thorough clinical assessment of cognitive status. Copyright © 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with events that were the subject of an inquest (The report of the Manitoba pediatric cardiac surgery inquest: an inquiry into twelve deaths at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre in 1994, Provincial Court of Manitoba, Winnipeg) into the deaths of 12 children who died while undergoing or shortly after having undergone cardiac surgery at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre, Man., Canada, during 1994. A notable finding of this inquest was that nurses involved with the pediatric cardiac surgery program were concerned about the competence of the surgeon and made sustained efforts throughout 1994 to have these concerns addressed. That the nurses’ concerns were not taken seriously is the central problem of this paper. The work of Foucault is used to set out a ground for thinking about this problem. In this case, knowledge practices, specifically those concerning who can claim status as a credible knower, produced limits for nurses. Such limits are neither good nor bad in themselves, but rather have effects with which we must be concerned. In this case, the limits produced by certain knowledge practices had the effect of rendering the nurses’ concerns irrelevant and this is significant in itself and also because it was an important part of how patient care was allowed to be compromised. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Economist Torn Asimakopulos Asimakopulos died after a long and courageous fight against leukemia, at Montreal, Quebec Province, on May 25, 1990. His wife writes that Asimakopulos was a fighter. She said he would never give up, and he did not, typically characteristic of a nevertheless gender man noted for his honesty, integrity and determination. He faced the last years of his life with cheerfulness, an almost detached analysis of his condition, and consideration and concern, allied with his usual efficiency and order in practical matters, for his much-loved family.

Background: At the end of life, people experiencing structural vulnerability (e.g. homelessness, poverty, stigmatization) rely on community service workers to fill gaps in access to traditional palliative services. Although high levels of burnout are reported, little is known about these workers' experiences of grief. Aim: To explore community service workers' experiences of grief to identify ways of providing more tailored, meaningful, and equitable supports. Design: A community-based participatory action research methodology, informed by equity perspectives, was employed. Setting/participants: In an urban center in western Canada, community service worker (primary) participants (n = 18) were engaged as members of an action team. A series of 18 action cycles took place, with secondary participants (n = 48) (e.g. palliative, social care, housing support, etc.) being recruited throughout the research process. Focus groups (n = 5) and evaluative interviews (n = 13) with participants were conducted. Structured observational field notes (n = 34) were collected during all team meetings and community interventions. Interpretive thematic analysis ensued through a collaborative and iterative process. Results: During initial meetings, action team participants described experiences of compounding distress, grief, and multiple loss. Analysis showed workers are: (1) grieving as family, not just providers; (2) experiencing complex layers of compounded grief; and (3) are fearful to open the "floodgates" to grief. Conclusions: Findings contribute to our understanding on the inequitable distribution of grief across society. A collective and material response is needed, including witnessing, acknowledging and valuing the grief process; facilitating community wellness, collective grieving, and advocacy; and providing training and tools in a palliative approach to care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Eating disorders (ED) may be associated with an increased prevalence of non‐suicidal self‐injury (NSSI) and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) relative to healthy (HC) and psychiatric (PC) controls. However, precise estimates of differences in prevalence between individuals with EDs and controls are unclear. We compared the prevalence of NSSI, suicidal ideation (SI), suicide attempts (SA), and deaths by suicide in controls and individuals with EDs. Method: We searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and CINAHL for peer‐reviewed publications reporting the prevalence of NSSI and/or STBs in EDs and HC or PC group (PROSPERO: CRD42021286754). A series of random‐effects meta‐analyses were conducted to estimate pooled odds ratios (ORs) for NSSI, SI, SA, and death by suicide in EDs. Results: Across 32 studies, individuals with an ED had a significantly increased prevalence of NSSI (HC: OR = 6.85 [95% CI: 3.60, 13.04]; PC: OR = 2.74 [95% CI: 1.49, 5.06]), SI (HC: OR = 3.63 [95% CI: 2.43, 5.41]; PC: OR = 3.10 [95% CI: 2.01, 4.78]), and SA (HC: OR = 5.16 [95% CI: 4.27, 6.24]; PC: OR = 1.37 [95% CI: 0.37, 4.99]) relative to HC and PC groups. A 2.93‐times increased odd of death by suicide did not achieve statistical significance. There was a high‐level of heterogeneity between studies. Discussion: Our findings indicate that ED populations have an increased prevalence of NSSI, SI, and SA but not death by suicide compared to controls and emphasize the need for effective clinical strategies to address these behaviors in ED populations. Public Significance: This review provides evidence for an increased prevalence of non‐suicidal self‐injury, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts in populations with eating disorders compared to controls. Our findings emphasize the need for effective clinical strategies to address these behaviors in patients with eating disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]