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Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to investigate how neighborhoods and neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage impact school readiness over time. School readiness was measured using the Early Development Instrument (EDI) for 3 populations of kindergartners in 2001, 2003, and 2005 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. EDI results revealed that mean scores for the EDI domains of (a) physical health and well-being and (b) communication and general knowledge have been decreasing over time, although this varied according to neighborhood. A derived summary measure of socioeconomic disadvantage at the neighborhood level was significantly associated with declining scores in the EDI domain of physical health and well-being. Practice or Policy: These findings suggest a need for policy and programs that address the underlying determinants of poor school readiness scores, such as socioeconomic disadvantage at the neighborhood level. (Contains 8 tables, 4 footnotes, and 4 figures.)

The purpose of this research was to examine the characteristics of older Canadians with dementia (compared to those without dementia), their use of health care services, and the impact of place (rural/urban) on use of services. Andersen and Newman's Behavioural Model of Health Services Use (1973) guided the study. A cross-sectional design used data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) Cycle 1.1 (N 1/4 49,995 older Canadians; those with dementia 1/4 313). Results indicated that among Canadian females between the ages of 50 and 64, those with dementia were more likely than those without dementia to live in rural areas. Among females 80 years of age and over, those with dementia had higher levels of education and income than those without dementia. In addition, a higher proportion of white than of visible minority Canadians was afflicted with dementia. The results further suggest that Canadians with dementia primarily required support services and that they were more likely than persons without dementia to report that their health care needs were unmet. It is recommended that publicly funded national home care programs be expanded to ensure that the supportive services needed by this population are available.

Abstract Background A large body of international research reveals that single mothers experience poorer mental health than their partnered counterparts, with socioeconomic disadvantage identified as an important contributory factor in understanding this health disparity. Much less research, however, has focused specifically on the psychological well-being of single mothers who are employed, despite their growing presence in the labor force. Of the research which has considered employment, the focus has been on employment status per se rather than on other important work-related factors which may impact psychological health, such as psychosocial work quality and work-family conflict. The aim of this study was to: (1) compare employed single mothers and employed partnered mothers on measures of psychological distress, psychosocial work quality and work-family conflict; and (2) explore the potential role of work-family conflict and psychosocial work quality as explanations for any observed differences in psychological distress based on partner status. Method Analysis of data obtained from a cross-sectional telephone survey of employed parents in a mid-sized Western Canadian city. Analyses were based on 674 employed mothers (438 partnered and 236 single), who were 25-50 years old, with at least one child in the household. Results Compared to employed single mothers, employed partnered mothers were older, had more education and reported fewer hours of paid work. Single mothers reported higher levels of psychological distress, financial hardship, work-family conflict and poor psychosocial work quality. Statistical adjustment for income adequacy, psychosocial work quality and work-family conflict each independently resulted in single motherhood no longer being associated with psychological distress. Conclusions While single employed mothers did experience higher levels of psychological distress than their partnered counterparts, differences between these groups of women in income adequacy, psychosocial work quality, and work-family conflict were found to explain this relationship. Future research employing a longitudinal design and subject to lower selection biases is required to tease out the interrelationship of these three life strains and to point to the most appropriate economic and social policies to support single mothers in the workforce.

The purpose of this study was to examine individual determinants of use of publicly funded home-care nursing and housework assistance by Canadians 18 years and older from 1994 to 1999. Andersen and Newman's Behavioural Model of Health Services Use guided the selection of variables, analyses, and interpretation of the findings. Descriptive, correlation, and multiple logistic regression analyses were completed in each of the first 3 cross-sectional cycles of Statistics Canada's National Population Health Surveys. The determinants of use of housework assistance were older age, female, living alone, lower income, activity restriction, needing help with housework, not hospitalized in the previous year, and having at least 1 chronic condition. The determinants for home nursing tended to be the opposite of those for housework assistance. Between 1994 and 1999, use of housework assistance appeared to decrease and use of nursing services appeared to remain relatively stable. The findings underscore the need to target these 2 discrete subgroups of home-care users and ensure that funding is directed at support services as well as nursing services.