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Background: The Life-Space Assessment (LSA) can compliment traditional physical performance measures of mobility by accounting for the interaction between individuals and their environment. However, there are no studies that have generated percentile curves showing sex-stratified reference values in a large population-based sample of community-dwelling adults, making its interpretation difficult. Therefore, this study aimed to establish sex-stratified reference values for the LSA in middle-aged and older Canadians. Methods: Baseline data for participants aged 45–84 years old from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) were used (n = 22,154). Quantile regression was used to estimate specific percentiles, with age as the independent variable and LSA scores as the dependent variable. Models were run for the whole sample, then separately for males and females. The models were cross-validated to assess their reliability. CLSA inflation and analytic weights were applied. Results: On average, the sample was 62.5 ± 10.0 y.o. (51.1% males), with a weighted mean LSA score of 89.2 ± 17.0. There was also a decrease in LSA scores with age, where scores were lower for older age groups compared to younger groups, and LSA scores were lower for females relative to males. Discussion and conclusions: Reference data will aid in interpreting, comparing, and making inferences related to LSA scores obtained in clinical and research settings for Canadian adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work in Ontario (Canada) revealed that adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities experience higher rates of frailty and use of aging care services at earlier ages than the general population, and that the subset aged 65+ years is increasing. This paper describes the reaction of knowledge users to study findings and implications for policy and practice. A knowledge transfer webinar was held with nearly 200 people representing different regions of the province, participant types (family members, service providers, decision makers, researchers), and sectors (health and developmental services). Most participants viewed health and developmental services systems as not ready for the aging population with intellectual and developmental disabilities for two main reasons: insufficient cross-sector expertise and inadequate funding. The need for healthcare, challenged informal supports, lack of services, and the desire for independence were thought to drive higher use of home care among younger adults, while inadequacies within the developmental services sector, challenged informal supports, medical and care needs, lack of community supports, and the need for coordinated cross-sector services were noted as contributing to admissions to long-term care. There is a lack of evidence-based information on aging and intellectual and developmental disabilities. Ongoing access to quality, population-level data on the number and needs of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities is needed to improve policies and practices to support aging in the community. Persons working in health and developmental services had a shared understanding of the need for system reform, better collaboration, and integration of resources. Both sectors also viewed admission to long-term care as particularly problematic. The province-wide webinar brought together persons with various levels of responsibility from different sectors. Future exchanges should focus on identifying and promoting best practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to inequalities in health that stem from biological differences brought about by age or genetics, social inequalities in health are mutable and avoidable as they are affected by public policies. In recognition of the importance of these social influences on population health and inequalities, the World Health Organization adopted, in 2012, resolution WHA62.14 endorsing the Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health. With this resolution, member states recognize the existence of social determinants of health (SDH) and pledge to implement actions outlined in the Rio declaration, including to "monitor progress and increase accountability to inform policies on SDH." From 7 to 9 May 2014, the Quebec Inter-University Centre for Social Statistics held an international conference in Montreal. "Social Policy and Health Inequalities: An International Perspective" had as its primary objective showcasing leading-edge international research on the impact of social policies and programs on health inequalities in high-income countries. More specifically, the conference aimed to encourage international exchanges in order to demonstrate the range of research practices and outputs as well as to stimulate debate among the key stakeholders in this research process: organizations that produce statistics, researchers, and knowledge users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors argue that population-level data should be used to advance interdisciplinary research about community effects on early development. These data permit the identification of neighborhoods in which development patterns deviate from predictions based on local socioeconomic status (SES). So-called 'off-diagonal' places signal where researchers are likely to discover processes that either deflect the risks of low SES or dampen the salutary impact of favorable SES. Since such neighborhoods will be best understood relative to nearby 'on-diagonal' neighborhoods where macro-economic and/or public policy factors are constant, the authors present a methodology for illuminating these regional clusters. The method is deployed in British Columbia, Canada, where a team has collected developmental observations from two censuses of kindergarten children (n = 82,632). The article discusses how these clusters can be used to coordinate sampling decisions among academics representing the range of disciplines needed to study child development from cell-through-society, as is recommended in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parent and teacher data for 14,990 children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth were used in multilevel analyses to examine the relationship between ethnicity, children's aggression and emotional problems, and parenting. Using parent and teacher report, relationships between ethnicity and child behavior were present but modest. The association between parental harshness and child aggression differed between ethnic groups and across informants. Using teacher report of outcomes, parental harshness was positively related to child aggression in European Canadian families but negatively related in South Asian Canadian families. For all ethnic groups, parental harshness was positively related to children's aggression when parent report of outcomes was used, but relationships varied in strength across ethnic groups. The relationship of parental harshness with child emotional problems did not differ across groups, irrespective of informant. The results are discussed within the context of an ecological model of parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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