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What role do texts play in LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) parents’ experiences of disability service systems? In interviews with 15 LGBTQ parents of disabled children in Toronto, Canada, participants selected documents to be used as a focus for discussion. Parents considered how LGBTQ identity and other intersectional identities influenced their experiences of institutional texts including adoption certificates, intake forms, and assessments. Findings suggest that documentation practices can operate as forms of systemic gatekeeping. LGBTQ identity was sometimes very significant in parents’ accounts, and sometimes less central than other aspects of their families' identities and experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Addressing sexting in sexual health education classrooms is one way of supporting young people to become good sexual citizens and to emphasise respect and consent in their sexual practices and in their lives. While a fair amount of research has worked with youth to understand their motivations for sexting, less research has been conducted with in-service teachers to understand their perspectives, pedagogical approaches, and beliefs regarding young people and sexting. Set in this context, this paper discusses findings from interviews with Canadian teachers who were teaching a new Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum that included discussions of sexting. Our findings suggest that many teachers are still engaging discourses of risk, shame and blame when they talk to their students about sexting. Likewise, longstanding gender norms and stereotypical sexual scripts are evident in the ways in which many teachers both understand and teach sexting. Some teachers, however, are engaging in more promising pedagogical practices that frame sexting as having a range of uses, outcomes, and purposes, painting a more holistic picture of young people's sexting landscapes. Findings from this paper may be useful for educators and policymakers creating sexting curriculum for young people in educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada is often viewed as an oasis of multicultural inclusion where racially diverse groups could freely enjoy life in all its forms. Focusing on a group of twenty-five racialized participants working for the public sector in British Columbia (BC), this qualitative study illustrates that workplace racism is alive and prevalent in Canada. Moreover, it aims to demonstrate that this form of racism impacts not only racialized individuals who are targeted, physically and emotionally, but also their families. After presenting an outline of what constitutes racism and racialization, the article will detail and discuss findings with respect to physical, psycho-emotional and familial tolls that experiencing racial discrimination at work had exacted on racialized participants. The paper will then conclude that considering the higher expectations from public servants for not only modeling equity behavior but also upholding the rule of law, opportunities exist to more seriously address systemic racist violence against racialized workers in public sector employment contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This research examines the implementation of the Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM) in Canada to identify opportunities revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic to re-design our social eco-system to promote wellbeing. This paper has two objectives: 1) to provide a conceptual review of research that applies the bioecological model to youth substance use prevention with a focus on the concepts of time and physical space use and 2) to describe a case study that examines the implementation of the IPM in Canada within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Study data were collected through semistructured qualitative interviews with key stakeholders involved in implementing the IPM. Results: Findings are organized within three over-arching themes derived from a thematic analysis: 1) Issues that influence time and space use patterns and youth substance use, 2) Family and community cohesion and influences on developmental context and time use and 3) Opportunities presented by the pandemic that can promote youth wellbeing. Conclusion: We apply the findings to research on the IPM as well as the pandemic to examine opportunities that may support primary prevention and overall youth wellbeing. We use the concepts of time and space as a foundation to discuss implications for policy and practice going forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Rather than racism targeted toward service users, this paper adds to the sparse corpus of articles that reports on racism and microaggressions experienced by racialized social work practitioners. Based on two qualitative exploratory research studies in Canada, the findings suggest that racism continues to be a significant problem for racialized social workers. In addition to the oft-mentioned category of individual racism, four other "modern" forms of racism are explored: cultural racism, institutional racism, epistemological racism, and aversive racism. The importance of broadening the categories of racism is that these other forms are less familiar and thus are more likely to be unnoticed yet have profound effects on practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a tool to track participation in activity-based therapy (ABT) for people with spinal cord injury or disease (SCI/D) was identified as a priority of the Canadian ABT Community of Practice. The objective of this study was to understand multi-stakeholder perspectives on tracking ABT participation across the continuum of care. Forty-eight individuals from six stakeholder groups (persons living with SCI/D; hospital therapists; community trainers; administrators; researchers; and funders, advocates and policy experts) were recruited to participate in focus group interviews. Participants were asked open-ended questions concerning the importance of and parameters around tracking ABT. Transcripts were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Themes reflected the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How of tracking ABT. Participants described the importance of involving hospital therapists, community trainers and individuals with SCI/D in tracking ABT to capture both subjective and objective parameters across the continuum of care and injury trajectory. Digital tracking tools were favoured, although paper-based versions were regarded as a necessity in some circumstances. Findings highlighted the importance of tracking ABT participation for individuals with SCI/D. The information may guide the development of ABT practice guidelines and support the implementation of ABT in Canada. Tracking the details of activity-based therapy (ABT) sessions and programs across the continuum of care and injury trajectory may provide important information to support the development of ABT practice guidelines and implementation strategies. Tracking objective and subjective parameters are needed to provide a comprehensive description of an ABT session and program. Clinicians and individuals with spinal cord injury or disease (SCI/D) should both be able to track ABT to accommodate all settings and types of data. Digital tracking tools, such as an app, may provide an accessible, versatile and efficient way of tracking ABT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schizophrenia is a global concern, and, this paper, describes the caring roles of health professionals who are mothers of adult children with schizophrenia. A thematic analysis of data from a doctoral study identified a blending of expertise into an informed care model. Caring roles included: constant carer; coordinator carer; watchful bystander carer; and life coach carer. Previous research has not explored these dual roles. This paper elucidates their responsive approaches and contributions to mothering and caregiving roles. Informed by a fusion of professional and mothering knowledges, their insights into mental health care have been forged by their experiences and is an untapped resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the intersection between migration, aging and lifelong learning with the aim of expanding our understanding of how lifelong learning enhances older migrants' active aging in a foreign land. Our study also offers insights into the learning activities of older immigrants in general. In 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed a conceptual framework of active aging, which has greatly influenced aging policies and seniors' everyday practices. Yet, there is a paucity of research that explicates and fully integrates lifelong learning into active aging discourse, and focuses on senior immigrants' lifelong learning in an aging society. Based on interviews, textual materials, and participatory observation in five Chinese seniors' immigrant associations in Toronto, we explore how Chinese senior immigrants' learning has been (re)shaped and practised through re-settling in Canadian society. Five categories of learning are explored, including a) learning language and computer skills, b) learning culture and history, c) learning civic engagement, d) learning leisure, and e) learning health. We argue that 'active learning' can be used as a dynamic conceptual framework that interacts with active aging theory, demonstrating how senior immigrants actively participate in the lifelong learning project for participation and integration in Canada. This paper provides insights to the understanding of culturally sensitive policy-making on integration, health, and lifelong learning of older immigrants in Canada and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food insecurity is widely documented among people living with HIV (PLWH) worldwide, and it presents significant challenges across the spectrum of HIV care and support. In North America, the prevalence of food insecurity among PLWH exceeds 50%. In the province of British Columbia (BC), it exceeds 65%. It comes as no surprise that food has become an essential tool in supporting and engaging with PLWH. Over the past decade, however, a shift has taken place, and food has become an incentive to boost uptake and outcomes of prevention, testing, treatment, and support. To explore this practice, we drew on a qualitative case study of incentives in the care and support of PLWH. This paper presents the findings of a targeted analysis of interviews (N = 25) that discuss food incentives and explores two main themes that shed light on this practice: (1) Using food to engage versus to incentivize and (2) Food is more beneficial and more ethical. Providers perceived food more positively than other incentives, despite the goal remaining somewhat the same. Incentives, such as cash or gift cards, were considered ethically problematic and less helpful (and potentially harmful), whereas food addressed a basic need and felt more ethical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the health professions, altruism is a foundational value upon which professional privilege is built. This imperative towards self-sacrifice for the benefit of others is a key component of what it means to be professional. This paper explores how altruism operates as a coded mechanism of exclusion and oppression for disabled health professionals. Analysis is based on interviews with fifteen Canadian disabled healthcare professionals in medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, and social work about their experiences of inclusion and exclusion. Themes including the disproportionate sacrifice of time, resources, and income emerged, as did the need to manage political disclosure, often embodying the role of the 'super-crip' with patients/clients and colleagues so as to maintain others' faith in their professional competence and their professional privilege. Further discussion includes questions of how to 'crip' altruism as a professional value and the role of altruism as an ableist force within the health professions. Altruism, the idea of helping others even at cost to oneself, is an important value for health professionals. Disabled health professionals sacrifice more than non-disabled healthcare professionals to meet this obligation. Disabled healthcare professionals may work without accommodations, putting in extra time and effort to prove their altruism. Disabled healthcare professionals experience that disclosing disability may mean their colleagues will treat them as patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A social accountability mandate for Canadian medical schools formally emerged in Canada with changes to accreditation standards in 2015. However, how social accountability is defined and operationalized within medical schools has transpired independently. Key enablers of social accountability in Canadian medical schools have been largely unexplored. This paper is the first of a two part series that seeks to explore drivers of social accountability in a sample of Canadian medical schools. Nine key drivers of social accountability emerged from the data including a unified vision, committed leadership, accreditation standards, champions of social accountability, authentic community engagement, community-based learning opportunities, a supportive organizational and governance structure, diversity within medical schools, and measurement of progress and outcomes. This is the first study of its kind to examine what is driving social accountability across Canadian medical schools. An appreciative inquiry approach highlights areas of progress for future work to focus and build upon. This paper presents the findings from part one of the study – exploring the themes emerging from key informant interviews with senior leaders. A second paper will dive into the broader perspectives of faculty, staff and students, to explore more fully the varying perspectives of social accountability within colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with dementia have typically been treated as homogenous groups with little recognition of unique aspects of identities, including age and gender. The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the experiences of women living with young onset dementia which led them to take up advocacy roles as a result of their experiences. Five women from Canada who were diagnosed with young onset dementia and had then taken on advocacy roles were interviewed. Two main themes emerged–Moving In (the challenges of a diagnosis) and Moving On (into a new life). They described the challenges of a diagnosis as stopping work, being taken seriously, fighting for support, failing to meet requirements for programs and services, and changing relationships with friends. The challenges led them to move into a new life, accepting their diagnosis, and moving into new roles of advocacy and supporting others with dementia in their journey. Further research should seek to explore diversity, rather than treating people with dementia as the same. The experience of dementia is different for everyone. From getting a diagnosis to living a life with dementia, these experiences are unique. Based on interviews with five women living with dementia diagnosed before age 65, it was found that the challenges of getting a diagnosis led the women to become advocates for supporting others with dementia in their journey. The challenges of a diagnosis included stopping work, being taken seriously, fighting for support, not meeting requirements for programs and services, and changing relationships with friends. As a result of their experiences, the women moved on into a new life, accepting their diagnoses, and taking on advocacy roles to create change for others living with dementia. The advocacy roles undertaken by these women demonstrate the need to recognize the unique aspects of people with dementia, in particular women with young onset dementia, without making assumptions that the experience of dementia is the same for everyone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite decades of research and education, sexual and gender-based violence remain distressingly prevalent on university and college campuses globally. The taboos associated with sex, gender inequity, and living in a patriarchal world where misogyny is glorified and criminalised are key socio-cultural determinants driving these forms of violence. Less is known about the ways in which sexual slang or terminology impact how students experience and talk about these events. This paper reports on findings from a participatory action study that explored sexual slang use among female and male undergraduate students (n = 23) with the aim of creating more responsive sexual and gender-based violence policies and practices. The terms identified (n = 59) provide a window into the daily lives of these young people, who display remarkable socio-linguistic adaptation and creativity. They also demonstrate how cultural appropriation, the exclusion of queer students, toxic masculinitycontribute to ongoing incidents of sexual and gender-based violence on campus. These findings contribute new insights into sexual terminology among post-secondary students, particularly in the Canadian context where few studies of this nature exist. They also acknowledge the critical role universities can play in making meaningful structural change to prevent traumatic events from occurring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Age-friendly initiatives often are motivated by a single funding injection from national or sub-national governments, frequently challenging human and financial resources at the community level. To address this problem, this paper examines the challenges and opportunities to sustaining age-friendly programs in the context of a Canadian age-friendly funding program. Based on a qualitative thematic content analysis of interview data with 35 age-friendly committee members drawn from 11 communities, results show that age-friendly sustainability may be conceptualized as an implementation gap between early development stages and long-term viability. Consistent over-dependence on volunteers and on committees' limited capacity may create burnout, limiting sustainability and the extent to which communities can truly become "age-friendly". To close this implementation gap while still remaining true to the grass-roots intention of the global age-friendly agenda, sustainable initiatives should include community champions, multi-disciplinary and cross-sector collaborations, and systemic municipal involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internationalization of universities and the aging of the global population are two current issues that converge and challenge undergraduate gerontology curriculum development in Canada. One response to this challenge is to envision an intercultural gerontology curriculum. What might this curriculum encompass? How might it be taught? An exploratory study was undertaken to address these two questions. This paper presents findings from this study based primarily on interviews with university-based stakeholders from Canada, the United States, and Europe. Thematic analysis of the interviews resulted in five themes: multiple perspectives on cultural diversity; the dynamic nature of cultural diversity and aging; flow of an intercultural curriculum; institutional culture and intercultural curricula; and principles and practice for intercultural gerontology. Framed by principles of gerontology theory and educational approaches, this paper focuses on the principles and practice suggested by study participants. Scaffolding learning, active learning strategies, experiential learning opportunities, teacher modelling, and internet-based learning are discussed as key to intercultural learning. An appendix includes a list of resources that may be useful to developing an intercultural gerontology curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This paper explores the role of immigrant-serving agencies in facilitating access to dementia services and supports provided by dementia service agencies (particularly the health authority and local chapters of the Alzheimer Society) through their propensity to develop trusting relationships between staff and clients. Design: Our research is a qualitative case study of Punjabi and Korean speakers living in the Lower Mainland of BC, Canada. Data are drawn from interviews with 15 dyads of persons with dementia and their family caregivers (10 Punjabi, 5 Korean), six focus groups (one focus group with each of 8–10 older men, older women, and mixed gender working age adults in each community). We also interviewed 20 managerial and frontline staff of dementia service agencies, i.e. the health authority and the local Alzheimer Society (n = 11) and two immigrant-serving agencies (n = 9), each dedicated to either Punjabi or Korean-speaking clients. We adopted the Candidacy framework for understanding access to dementia services and supports and the concept of trust as guiding precepts in this study. Results: Families of persons with dementia are pivotal to identification of a problem requiring professional help, navigation to appropriate services and acceptance of services offered. However, trust in family members should not be taken for granted, since family dynamics are complex. Alternative sources of trusted support are therefore needed. Immigrant-serving agencies are more often instrumental in establishing trusted relationships between their staff and clients, but they often lack detailed knowledge about heath conditions, their treatment and management, and they lack power to implement statutory care. Conclusions: Partnerships between mainstream mental health/dementia services and the community sector have proven successful in increasing the accessibility of specialized resources, while maximizing their combined trustworthiness, accessibility and effectiveness. Such partnerships should become fundamental components of health service strategy and provision for vulnerable and underserved immigrant older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Differences in health among migrant groups are related to the length of stay in host countries. We examined the health of people reporting Caribbean ethnic origins within and outside of Canada; and the possible associations between length of stay and poorer physical and mental health outcomes. Method: Analyses were conducted on population data collected in Canada (2000/2001, 2003, 2005), Jamaica (2005) and Guyana (2005). Physician-diagnosed and self-rated health measures were used to assess physical and mental health statuses. Results: Rates of chronic conditions were generally higher among people reporting Caribbean ethnic origins in Canada compared to those living in the Caribbean region. Self-rated fair or poor general health rates, however, were higher among participants in the Caribbean region. Higher rates of any mood disorders were also found among Caribbean region participants in comparison to those in Canada. Logistic regression analyses revealed that new Caribbean immigrants (less than 10 years since immigration) in Canada had better physical health than those who were more established. Those who immigrated more than 20 years ago showed consistently better health conditions than those who had immigrated between 11 and 20 years ago. This healthy immigration effect, however, was not present for all chronic conditions among all Caribbean origin migrant groups. Moreover, mood disorders were highest among new immigrants compared to older immigrants. Conclusions: When and where ethnic Caribbeans migrate to and emigrate from matters in health statuses. These results have implications for policies related to health and well-being in support of ethnic Caribbean origin individuals who relocate to Canada. The paper concludes with suggestions for future studies regarding the health of ethnic origin Caribbeans living within and outside their regions of birth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the preliminary results of a one and a half-year ethnographic study conducted in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The research focused on participants' experiences of their bodies in the context of yoga as a health practice—specifically how they conceptualised their musculoskeletal bodies in this practice through ideas of systems, fragments, and materiality. It argues that participants' larger narratives about health and healthy bodies inform how yoga as a health practice is embedded in discourses of body work where yoga, health, and particular notions of bodily-ness become a project for the transformation of the self into a particular idea of what a body is or should be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is threefold: firstly, to provide a brief overview of current practice in workplace mental health and introduce an emerging role for occupational therapy in this field (i.e., practicing at the organizational level where "clients" are workplaces or organizations, and not individual workers); secondly, to present the findings from a small qualitative study which describes this emerging role from the perspectives of occupational therapists who have worked in this area; and thirdly, to provide suggestions for future work which could advance this emerging role for occupational therapy world-wide. Previous research suggests that there is an increasing interest among employers to address workplace mental health through organizational initiatives and that occupational therapists are beginning to consult on the topic. Occupational therapists in our small qualitative study described their role in organizational workplace mental health as one which involves adopting a business lens, practicing in an organization-centred manner, and focusing on population health promotion. Suggestions for future work to advance this emerging role include identifying the fundamental elements of the business lens, investigating models and frameworks to guide organization-centred practice, evaluating the short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes of interventions, exploring the fit between an occupational perspective and workplace mental health, and examining the impact of COVID-19 on current practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents data from a mixed-method study on evangelical faith-based organizations in Southern Ontario, Canada. The authors sought to explore the nature and extent of faith-sharing in these organizations by using the Convergent Triangulation Design, which permitted the use of semi-structured interviews, focus groups, surveys, and document review. First, The Great Commission acts as a de facto institutional policy in the evangelical faith-based organizations sampled; The Great Commission is a Biblical injunction, strongly observed by evangelicals, which states that evangelicals are commissioned by Jesus to share and ultimately convert others to their faith. The second theme is that in seeking to realize The Great Commission these organizations tried not to be coercive in sharing their faith. In the discussion, the paper explores briefly some of the potential ethical issues that emerge from faith-sharing in social service settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the experiences of, and thoughts on, interprofessional learning and care of first year health science students at a large Canadian university within a broad socioeconomic context. We apply discourse analysis to survey data collected to evaluate an introductory interprofessional event involving first year students from a variety of health professions. Follow-up focus-group interviews were conducted to gain greater understanding of student issues and concerns emerging from the survey, providing a second source of data. A significant paper entitled, 'Education, enterprise culture and the entrepreneurial self: A Foucauldian perspective' by Peters (2001) provides an historical and theoretical framework for this paper. Peters notes the changing nature of professionalism and global crises in public institutions under neoliberalism as governments divest themselves of social responsibility, shifting it onto individuals through increased privatization and focus on entrepreneurialism. In exploring the thoughts and experiences of students through the historical lens of a shifting professional discourse and changing cultural and political environment, a unique view of professionalism and this interprofessional project comes to light. Reflective of the paradigm shift that Peters documents, there was evidence of students 'internalizing' responsibility for a sustainable health care system through acquisition of interprofessional knowledge and behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. This paper will explore the social history of the transnational migration of foreign-trained doctors to western countries in the post-WWII era, by examining, as a case study, South Asian-trained doctors who were first licensed in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia between 1961 and 1971.Design. This article draws on both quantitative and qualitative primary sources. First, we analyzed the 1966 and 1971 copies of the Canadian Medical Directories (CMD), the annual compendium of all licensed practitioners in the country (over 20,000 practitioners). These CMD entries were supplemented by the annual returns of ‘intended occupation’ (those designated as ‘physician’ or ‘surgeon’) of landed immigrants to Canada, as compiled by the federal Department of Manpower and Immigration. Secondly, we analyzed testimony of 26 oral histories and narrative accounts of foreign-trained doctors being compiled as part of an ongoing multiyear program of research on the immigration of foreign-trained doctors to Canada. We have interviewed 14 doctors who, at one point in their career, practiced in Nova Scotia, 8 of whom were South Asian-trained medical practitioners. These oral interviews provide personal reflections on the process of professional and social acculturation that occurred as these foreign doctors settled in Canada.Results.The results of this paper indicate that the social history of the immigration of South Asian-trained doctors to Canada in the 1960s must be seen within a larger and more complicated pattern of the international migration of health care professionals. Indeed, the demand for foreign-trained doctors in Britain was in part a reflection of the out-migration of British-born doctors who were leaving the National Health Service for Canada, the USA, and Australia. And the demand in Canada for doctors was itself a reaction to the drift of a certain number of Canadian-trained doctors for advanced training in the USA.Conclusions. In this way, this article sheds important historical perspectives on the globalization of health human resources and the complicated, multiple migrations that continue to animate international health human resources today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health Canada (the federal government department in Canada responsible for health issues) commissioned a research team to conduct an environmental scan and research report in order to understand interprofessional education and collaborative patient-centred practice (IECPCP). This paper presents the findings from semi-structured telephone interviews with key informants conducted as part of the environmental scan. Grounded theory analysis was employed in order to identify factors associated with interprofessional education and collaborative practice initiatives. These factors were grouped according the following themes: lack of consensus regarding terminology; the need for both champions and external support; sensitization to the effects of professional culture, and logistics of implementation. Findings are discussed related to the literature and to the other papers included in this supplement to the Journal of Interprofessional Care . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work practitioners face significant challenges in their professional lives when advocating for marginalised and disadvantaged people who face deep structural inequalities, lack of resources and inaccessibility to social and health care services. Many service users are long-suffering, dispirited, and demoralised without hope for a better future. This is particularly the case in community based mental health services where social workers provide frontline counselling and advocacy to individuals with serious and persistent mental illness. Prolonged adversity takes a toll on the resilience of the service user while social work practice, aimed at counteracting such structural adversity, takes a toll on the resilience of the practitioner. Too often, community mental health agencies fail to recognise this toll and do little to support the resilience of social work practitioners. This study looks at practitioner perspectives on resilience and explores the idea of relational resilience as a buffer against burnout and compassion fatigue. The paper identifies themes from qualitative interviews with social workers on community mental health teams (CMH) in Ireland and assertive community treatment teams (ACT) in Canada who are involved in front line mental health services. The words 'service user' and 'client' are used interchangeably to reflect common usage in the two locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the medical cannabis industry in Canada moved from a single government producer to an open market model in 2014, this paper provides insight into how entrepreneurs from illegal medical cannabis dispensaries, as well as legal licensed producers, protect their position and reputation in this 'emerging' market. On the one hand, MCDs are illegal, niche-filling entities that have historically been 'boxed out' by the legal framework, trying to survive untouched by enforcement and supported by faithful clientele. Licensed producers (LPs), on the other hand, are new legal entities that follow a strict government regulated framework, and are essentially stepping on their illegal predecessor's territory. This project draws on 63 in-depth qualitative interviews, when medical cannabis access transitioned to an open market model. In this context, we see that rather than attempts to construct a credible shared identity for legitimacy, the emphasis is on building a distinct identity narrative in the face of market competition. The emergence of legal cannabis markets and the future of cannabis legalization in Canada presents a fruitful avenue for continuing the study of both the micro and macro processes in emerging markets, organizations, and entrepreneurial activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substance use among marginalized populations has historically been constructed as a social problem to be managed, cured, and eliminated. Much social science research concerning drug use among marginalized populations focuses on risks and harms, with little attention to positive aspects of substance use. In this paper we explore positive roles of drugs/drug use among marginalized people who use drugs. We draw on in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with 50 people who use drugs in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood. Forty-three participants reported positive aspects of drug use. Participant narratives revealed four main themes regarding the role and function of drugs and drug use in their lives: (1) pain relief and management; (2) alleviating mental health issues; (3) fostering social experiences; (4) pleasurable embodied experiences. Our findings show that despite known negative consequences of substance use, in many ways drug use was beneficial for these individuals. Our study demonstrates that given the opportunity, meaningful and useful conversations that shed light on why people take drugs is possible. By understanding why marginalized individuals choose to consume the drugs they do we can begin to engage in truly helpful conversations about how to reduce drug-related harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Weather is a key source of marine risk, but relationships between fishing activity, safety, and weather remain poorly understood. Critically, the fit between available marine forecast products, fish harvesters' needs, and harvester's decision-making processes has not been rigorously assessed. This paper addresses these gaps by documenting a) weather-related decision-making by harvesters, and its relationship to forecasts across multiple regions and fisheries on Canada's East coast (Newfoundland) and b) the dynamics of forecast production priorities. Methods: A multi-disciplinary, community-engaged research approach, conducted in partnership with the Newfoundland and Labrador Fish Harvesting Safety Association (NL-FHSA). Data consist of semi-structured interviews with fish harvesters and weather forecasters, focused on marine forecast production and use. Results: Results emphasize that there is a subjective "art" to both production and use of marine forecasts. Forecasters and harvesters share several common values regarding forecasts, but different emphases: forecasters favor some combination of accuracy, consistency, and utility, while harvesters are largely concerned with utility. Finally, harvesters' decision-making is based on nuanced and contextual interpretations of a few key hazards (winds and, to a lesser extent, waves). Conclusion: This community-engaged research has triggered experimentation with forecasts tailored to fisheries utility within Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). It lays the groundwork for ongoing, mutually beneficial dialogue between forecasters and harvesters, engaging harvesters with the forecasting process while familiarizing forecasters with harvester's decision-making processes. Ongoing industry partnerships (NL-FHSA) continue to sustain momentum from this study towards further enhancing the utility of future marine forecasts for small-scale harvesters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there has been an international trend away from institutionalization to community-based care, this has not always been successful, particularly for the unique and vulnerable population diagnosed with both mental health and developmental disabilities. The challenge of meeting the needs of this population is increased in rural and remote areas. As a part of a larger study, this paper reports on the voices of service providers for people dually diagnosed as they maneuver through the considerable challenges of meeting complex needs while located in remote northern communities. The complexities of rural service provision for those with a dual diagnosis of mental illness and developmental disability is also highlighted and includes challenges of northern living, difficulties in diagnosis, and system level issues. This paper confronts the inequities in provision of effective community-based services to this population and draws attention to the need to support and develop local, integrated services in order to build inclusive communities for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that food insecurity exacerbates the harms experienced by people who use drugs (PWUD). Therefore, improving the food security status can help PWUD reduce drug-related harms. This paper identifies a knowledge gap in public health and harm reduction literatures regarding the relationship between food and harm reduction. We argue that there needs to be a more comprehensive and systematic model of food provision in harm reduction services. Our argument is based on a qualitative case study of 42 people who currently use, or have used drugs in Vancouver, Canada and of staff of 27 programs that provide harm reduction services in the city. The research demonstrates how PWUD experience the effects of drug use on their food consumption, how they access food, and how they practice self-care. It also shows how harm reduction services, while they often provide food, are unable to systematically address the dietary-related harms associated with drug use. This presents an opportunity and a challenge for these organizations and for harm reduction as a public health approach. We call for more research to be done on food as harm reduction and for stable publically funded food provision in harm reduction-oriented services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines service providers' readiness to address the social participation expectations of aging baby boomers in the context of an Age-Friendly Cities framework in a mid-sized Canadian city. A convergent mixed-methods research approach was used for this study. Data were collected using a combination of online surveys (n = 32) and face-to-face interviews (n = 20) with key informants. Closed-ended survey questions were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while open-ended survey questions and interview transcripts were analyzed for thematic content following a constant comparison method. Overall, the findings indicate that while service providers identified social participation as an important focus area, there are a number of considerations that need to be addressed in order to enhance readiness to meet the emerging social participation needs of aging baby boomers. While this study was conducted in one city in Canada, the results may help professionals elsewhere to critically reflect on the development, implementation, and assessment of their own agefriendly social participation practices, programs, and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethics education is the cornerstone of professional practice, fostering knowledge and respect for core ethical values among healthcare professionals. Ethics is also a subject well-suited for interprofessional education and collaboration. However, there are few initiatives to gather experiences and share resources among ethics educators in rehabilitation. We thus undertook a knowledge exchange project to: 1) share knowledge about ethics training across Canadian occupational and physical therapy programs, and 2) build a community of educators dedicated to improving ethics education. The objectives of this paper are to describe this interprofessional knowledge exchange project involving ethics educators (with a diversity of professional and disciplinary backgrounds) from Canadian occupational and physical therapy programs as well as analyze its outcomes based on participants’ experiences/perceptions. Two knowledge exchange strategies were employed: an interactive one-day workshop and a wiki platform. An immediate post-workshop questionnaire evaluated the degree to which participants’ expectations were met. Structured telephone interviews 9-10 months after the workshop collected participants’ perceptions on whether (and if so, how) the project influenced their teaching or led to further interprofessional collaborations. Open-ended questions from the post-workshop questionnaires and individual interviews were analyzed using qualitative methods. Of 40 ethics educators contacted, 23 participated in the workshop and 17 in the follow-up interview. Only 6 participants logged into the wiki from its launch to the end of data collection. Five themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: 1) belonging and networking; 2) sharing and collaborating; 3) changing (or not) ways of teaching ethics; 4) sustaining the network; and 5) envisioning the future of ethics education. The project attained many of its goals, despite encountering some challenges. While the wiki platform proved to be of limited benefit in advancing the project goals, the interactive format and collaborative nature of the one-day workshop were described as rewarding and effective in bringing together occupational therapy and physical therapy educators to meet, network, and share knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the professional learning needs called for by educators working to support transgender, non-binary, and gender-creative (trans) youth and makes recommendations for practice. Interviews were conducted with 26 educators (preschool to secondary) who have worked directly with trans students (any child whose behaviour does not match stereotypes for their sex category assigned at birth, or who identifies with a gender different from their sex category assigned at birth). We examine two new concepts related to professional learning and educator preparation that emerged from theorising the data and related literature: pedagogies of exposure and culture of conversation. The limits and possibilities offered by these approaches are critically examined through the research base on teacher learning. Recommendations are made for teacher preparation, professional development and related practices to better create and sustain learning environments that affirm gender diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Has your institution purchased discovery layer tools? Are you wondering how students are using them and how much return your institution is getting on that investment? Not only are there more resources available to students online than ever before, but there are also more avenues for students to discover those resources. The Royal Roads University Library puts links to Google Scholar, Summon, LibGuides, Captivate tutorials, and more onto its Web pages. This paper is an investigation of how students are using those resources and what they think of them. It presents student feedback on these discovery layers combined with empirical evidence from usage statistics. The paper explains how the library will use this evidence to inform both the electronic paths designed to lead students to its resources and the outcomes of its information literacy instructional sessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose:In Canada, two counseling services are offered to facilitate physical activity participation among persons with physical disabilities, yet both have encountered concerns related to the recruitment and retainment of clients. The purpose of this paper is to explore factors related to service adoption among nonusers, and the barriers and facilitators to maintaining service participation among adopters. Methods:Individuals who had never enrolled in the services (nonusers,n = 13) as well as current/previous service clients (adopters,n = 26) participated in interviews based on the Theoretical Domains Framework. Transcripts were subjected to deductive thematic analysis according to participant group. Results:Fifteen themes relating to service adoption within 10 of the 12 theoretical domains were identified for nonusers, while 23 themes relating to maintenence of service participation were identified across all 12 theoretical domains for adopters. Conclusions:The findings provide strategies to improve recruitment, adoption, and retention of clients in counseling services and to enhance the experiences of targeted service users. Implications for RehabiliationPeer support and education for equipment use should be built into physical activity programs to encourage participation among persons with physical disabilities.Programs that encourage physical activity among individuals with disabilities should be designed by practitioners to be responsive to a variety of needs, which are addressed in the program’s advertisements and offerings.The Theoretical Domains Framework is a useful framework for providing valuable insight about clients’ experiences of adoption and maintenance of a behavior change service, suggesting merit in other rehabilitation settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose:In this paper we examine how the intersection of various social and political influences shapes discharge planning and rehabilitation practices in ways that may not meet the espoused aims of rehabilitation programs or the preferences of older adults and their families. Methods:Taking a critical bioethics perspective, we used microethnographic case study methods to examine discharge-planning processes in a well-established older adult inpatient rehabilitation setting in Canada. The data included observations of discharge-planning family conferences and semi-structured interviews conducted with older adults facing discharge, their family members and rehabilitation professionals involved in discharge planning. Results:From the time of admission, a contextual push to focus on discharge superseded program aims of providing interventions to increase older adults’ functional capabilities. Professionals’ primary commitment to safety limited consideration of discharge options and resulted in costly and potentially unnecessary recommendations for 24-hour care. The resulting “rehabilitation” stay was more akin to an extended process of “destination triage” biased towards the promotion of physical safety than optimizing functioning. Conclusions:The resulting reduction of rehabilitation into “destination triage” has significant social, financial and occupational implications for older adults and their families, and broader implications for healthcare services and overarching healthcare systems. Implications for RehabilitationCurrent trends promoting consideration of discharge planning from the point of admission and prioritizing physical safety are shifting the focus of rehabilitation away from interventions to maximize recovery of function, which are the stated aims of rehabilitation.Such practices furthermore promote assessments to determine prognosis early in the rehabilitation stay when accurate prognosis is difficult, which can lead to overly conservative recommendations for discharge from rehabilitation services, thus further negating the impact of rehabilitation.Further work is required to examine the social, occupational and functional implications of superseding rehabilitation interventions to maximize capabilities with practices that prioritize safety over quality of life for older adults and their family members. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative research conducted in a Canadian medium-security forensic psychiatric institution. The purpose of the study was to explore the way patient subjectivities are shaped in the admissions unit of the selected facility, using nursing progress notes as a primary source of data. More detailed findings from this study were published elsewhere. In this paper, I wish to focus specifically on the way a patient's course through the admissions unit begins a particular subjectivity-forming process described by Goffman as moral career. This paper discusses evidence, in nursing progress notes, of the onset of the patient's moral career. It also explores the way disciplinary power, devised by Foucault, is useful in understanding the establishment and the unfolding of the forensic subject's moral career. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper uses qualitative interview analysis conducted online with adults to examine links between self-injury and creative writing. It concentrates on why an individual who self-injures may write creatively and what this could mean for professional practice. The research shows that writing about self-injury and associated trauma can be helpful for controlling 'internal chaos' and allowing the individual to communicate their experiences in different ways, as controlled by the writer. This creates the potential for an escape from their 'encaptive conflict', facilitating a move from pseudo-independence to forming containing relationships with professionals and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Asians are the largest and fastest-growing racialized group in Canada, yet there are limited data on various aspects of health and well-being within this population. This includes the South Asian older adults' ethnoculturally informed perceptions of ageing. The study aimed to understand how social and cultural forces impact the meaning assigned to healthy ageing amongst older South Asians in Canada. We recruited with purposeful and snowball sampling strategies in Southern Ontario. We conducted in-depth focus group and individual interviews (n = 19) in five South Asian languages, employing a multilingual and cross-cultural qualitative approach. In our analysis, we identified three central themes: (a) taking care of body (b) taking care of mind and heart and (c) healthy ageing through the integration of mind and body. Our study demonstrates that older immigrants are a diverse and heterogeneous population and that their conception of healthy ageing is strongly influenced by their country of origin. This study also demonstrates how racialized foreign-born older adults might provide distinctive perspectives on the ageing process and on social theories of ageing due to their simultaneous immersion in and belonging to global majority and global minority cultures. This research also adds to the limited body of literature on the theories of ageing, despite migration trends, still has a white-centric lens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge 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.)

In this article, we examine how injection drug users who do not attribute their HIV infection to engaging in HIV risk behaviours take up and critique discourses of individual responsibility and citizenship relating to HIV risk and HIV prevention. We draw on data from a study in Vancouver, Canada (2006–2009) in which we interviewed individuals living with HIV who had a history of injection drug use. In this paper, we focus on six cases studies of participants whodid notattribute their HIV infection to engaging in HIV risk behaviours. We found that in striving to present themselves as responsible HIV citizens who did not engage in HIV risk behaviours, these participants drew on individually focused HIV prevention discourses. By identifying themselves in these ways, they were able to present themselves as ‘deserving’ HIV citizens and avoid the blame associated with being HIV positive. However, in rejecting the view that they and their risk behaviours were to blame for their HIV infection and by developing an explanation that drew on broader social, structural and historical factors, these individuals were developing a tentative critique of focus on individual responsibility in HIV transmission as opposed to dangers of infection arising from the socio-economic environment. By framing the risk of infection in environmental rather than individual risk-behaviour terms, these individuals redistributed responsibility to reflect the social-structural realities of their lives. In this article, we reflect on the implications of these findings for public health measures such as risk prevention messages. We argue that it is important that such messages are not restricted to individual risk prevention but also include a focus of broader shared responsibilities of HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young bisexual women experience worse mental and sexual health outcomes in comparison to their heterosexual and lesbian peers. These disparities are associated with stigma and devaluation of bisexual identities. The current paper addresses a community-based focus group project in which participants discussed bisexual stigma in regard to bisexual erasure and other stereotypes. Specifically, participants detailed experiences of feeling pressured to provide evidence of their bisexual identity, modifying their relationship or sexual behavior to conform to these expectations, as well as feeling excluded from queer community. Further, participants discussed how these experiences were related to decreased mental and sexual health. Future research should further investigate the relationship between bisexual stigma, pressure to provide evidence of bisexual identity, and negative mental and sexual health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge 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.)

Aims: This study provides an examination of normalization trends associated with the use of cannabis and tobacco, and whether and to what extent health concerns and legal contexts appear to modify the tolerance displayed to users.Methods: Data for this paper are drawn from a mixed methods interview study involving 202 respondents who reported being regular users of cannabis (alonen = 100 or in conjunction with tobaccon = 67) or tobacco only users (n = 35), in four Canadian cities (Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver).Findings: While participants commonly attributed serious health risks to the use of tobacco, cannabis was viewed as relatively low risk. All groups described cannabis laws as too punitive, while most agreed with the regulatory controls for tobacco. Drawing on norms around appropriate context for use, cannabis users illustrate the expansion of normalization, with varying degrees of acceptability in different spaces. In contrast, tobacco users’ heightened awareness of the dangers of smoking leads them to engage in a reflexive process-limiting appropriate venues and contexts for use.Conclusions: These findings suggest that perceptions of health risk shape users’ experience of normalization (and denormalization) and help to contextualize the larger societal processes where both drugs are in a stage of societal re-evaluation. Much can be learned about the cannabis future from the tobacco past. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aims: To critically investigate the extent of normalisation of the use of cannabis by undergraduate students. To examine the extent of peer accommodation, this paper focuses on attitudes of students who abstain. It sheds light on social meanings of the practice by exploring non-users’ reasons for abstaining in addition to their attitudes, perceptions and experiences of use among their peers.Methods: Respondents were recruited to participate in interviews through an online survey of undergraduate students in social science classes at three Canadian universities.Findings: Peer accommodation of the use of cannabis requires that users exercise due caution and discretion and be respectful of the choices of non-users not to use. Non-users’ attitudes, however, still reflect longstanding cultural assumptions about drug use as a deviant behaviour. Attitudes towards the use of cannabis reflect norms and expectations about gender among other culturally constructed social statuses and roles.Conclusions: Future research should continue to investigate nuances of the differentiated normalisation process. A better understanding of the cultural transformation of cannabis, and other drugs in common use by youth, requires more exploration of the emerging social context and attitudes of users and non-users of the drug. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Among Canada’s visible-minority population 65 years of age or older, nearly four out of ten are Chinese. However, little research has been devoted to the examination of the role of the housing environment in building social capital for older Chinese despite the increase in this population and related social issues. The purpose of this paper is to examine Chinese elders’ experience of social capital and how it is affected by their residential environment in a Canadian context. In this qualitative study, forty-three Chinese elders in a Canadian context were interviewed with a focus group approach. Findings indicate that the environments in which these older adults lived either hindered or assisted them in building or increasing their social capital. A culturally and linguistically homogeneous residential environment does not necessarily provide positive support to older Chinese for their acquisition of social capital. Adversities in the environment, such as maltreatment or lack of support from their immediate micro environment (family), tended to motivate older adults to improve their social capital for problem-solving. The study offers implications from research findings to social work practice and concludes with an analysis of limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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

In Canada, there has been a rise in criminal HIV non-disclosure cases where public health records have been subpoenaed for use in police investigations and criminal court proceedings. In particular, public health nurses’ written counseling notes, originally collected for the purposes of creating a record of treatment and a plan of care, have been used as evidence against their clients. This article engages sociologically with this issue by analyzing whether and how this criminal law development has affected public health nurses’ reasoning and documentary practices in settings of HIV post-test counseling sessions. The paper argues that variations in nurses’ inscription styles result in part from considerations about the criminal law, which indicates the influence of ‘medico-legal’ relations that connect health care and the criminal justice system. Implications for nursing practice and the broader goals of HIV prevention are discussed. Data are drawn from interviews with thirty nurses working at four public health units in Ontario. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recently in Canada the issue of police encounters among persons living with a mental health issue has received considerable public attention; however, the focus has been primarily on the experiences of adults and not of children and youth. In this paper, we explore police encounters in child and youth mental health by presenting the outcomes of 14 qualitative interviews conducted with seven caregivers and seven siblings and two focus groups conducted with eight caregivers about their experiences of having a child/sibling, 13–21 years old, living with a mental health issue. There were two main themes identified: (1) the need for police support to deescalate a high conflict situation involving a distressed child/sibling, and (2) the stigmatisation and criminalisation of the distressed child, parents and families. Based on these outcomes, a model of support is proposed whereby parents would be provided with crisis intervention training informed by an understanding of the stigma of mental illness as a structural condition of their personal experiences. Such training could provide caregivers with support for identifying and responding to crisis and for developing safety plans that may or may not involve police, but could minimise and/or divert the need for their involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]