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Relational resilience in a digital workplace : a human resource inquiry
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people work together, particularly how colleagues communicate with one another in a remote work setting. With the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, all organisations in Canada were mandated to move their employees to work from home to slow the spread of the virus. This resulted in the work from home phenomenon (WFH) and a transposition of the social aspects of work and relations between colleagues. This study investigates the WFH phenomenon through the lens of workplace communication and applies the findings to the practice of HR and organisational leadership.
Through the use of adaptive structuration theory (AST), which proposes the idea of soft technological determinism, the study explains the introduction and utilisation of information and communication technologies in the workplace, particularly for a workforce with low digital literacy. The study reveals the absence of organisational policies and legislation on remote work, while acknowledging the challenges created by differences between organisations, unique features of various communication software, and varying individual preferences. Furthermore, the results demonstrate the importance of workplace relationships in organisational resilience and the role that HR and organisational leaders play in supporting a culture that promotes flexibility and openness
Rethinking public engagement in the development approvals process
No full textIn a report published by the Provincial Government in 2019 public hearings were identified to be hindering the success of the development approvals process. However, public participation is not the issue, it is the systems in place that render it ineffective. Public participation should still be considered an essential part of development planning as it allows opportunities for the public to have a say in how their cities are built. This research aims to identify alternative and supplemental options to improve the public hearing process to better engage the public, while minimizing additional delays or costs. Results from interviews with local government planners and a literature review concluded that public hearings are flawed, but planners want to see them improved upon rather than removed all together. Nine recommendations, along with an Engagement Framework are presented as a deliverable for local government planners to implement improved public engagement.https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/27325/AdamsThesis.pdf?sequence=3Thesis/major project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Community Planning in the Department of Community Planning, Faculty of Social Sciences, Vancouver Island University
Elder abuse in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender plus communities
No full textThis knowledge synthesis reports on the literature on the abuse of older adults who identify as 2SLGBT+ (Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer plus) published in the past decade (2013-2023). Although there is not a great deal of literature prior to 2013, what we do have indicates that 2SLGBT+ older adults face particular vulnerabilities that can make them experience elder abuse in ways that are specific to their communities and that can present additional barriers to their health and well-being.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council; Women and Gender Equality Canad
From exploitation to education to efficacy : Indigenous experiences of motherhood
No full textThis dissertation explores the experiences of Indigenous women and their evolving feelings of parental efficacy while they attended a one-year post-secondary program for individuals who experienced sexual exploitation, as well as reflections from graduates of the program. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of seventeen Indigenous women who attended the program – five current students and twelve alumnae. Two talking circles were held with a total of four alumnae of the program. Through thematic analysis, the impacts of this post-secondary education program on evolving feelings of parental efficacy became clear. Participants reported improved feelings of parental efficacy following graduation from this program, as well as an increased awareness of the intergenerational impact of colonization on families. Further, the program became more than an educational opportunity – it became a proxy family, with meaningful connections continuing long after graduation. Going forward, best practices for supporting these students, alumnae, and their families include ensuring staff and instructors provide not only the typical academic support needed, but also ongoing social, emotional, and spiritual support and guidance, running an alumnae group to allow the proxy family experience to continue in a formal way, and securing long-term financial support. These findings are useful not only in developing effective educational opportunities that allow for Indigenous women to attain a college education and employment, but also in addressing the overrepresentation of children in the child welfare system, as graduates enhance their parental efficacy, thus ensuring the next generation of Indigenous children will grow up in a balanced home environment within their own community
Plan Canada - Volume 63, Number 2 (Summer 2023)
No full textFeeding a changing world|Nourrir un monde en évolution -- Dilys Huang & Devin Husk -- Planning for sustainable food systems in Canada: Findings from a survey of Canadian planners and practitioners / Emily Hansen, Kristi Tatebe, Naomi Robert, Kaelan Watson, & Kent Mullinix -- Newcomers' unique experience with food insecurity: What needs to be done? / Wallapak Polasub, Beth Clark, Emily Burkholder, & Anastasia Gaisenok -- Planning for community-based food security / Christine Callihoo, Theresa Healy, & Annie L. Booth -- Cultural food assets: Evolutions in food system planning / Janine de la Salle -- Food for reconciliation: Lessons on Indigenous food sovereignty from Northern Ontario / Natasha Gaudio Harrison & Shanley Weston -- Protecting agricultural land is important, but farmers also need access to markets / Glenn Miller -- The role of planners in planning for food systems resilience: School food meets local food in British Columbia / Tammara Soma, Elina Blomley, Hafsa Salihue, & Dina Sadeghi -- c̓əlisələm: Tsawwassen First Nation's endeavor to achieve food security and sovereignty / Rasika Acharya -- Waste planning, environmental racism and disparities in cancer incidence and outcomes in an African Nova Scotian community / Charles Hostovsky & Ella Gindi -- Approaching changing food systems|Approcher les systèmes alimentaires en evolution / Mark Holland & Rob Buchan -- Planner's bookshelf|L'étagère du planificateur -- Planning research digest|Condensé de recherches en urbanismeFood|AlimentationFeeding a changing world|Nourrir un monde en évolution -- Dilys Huang & Devin Husk -- Planning for sustainable food systems in Canada: Findings from a survey of Canadian planners and practitioners / Emily Hansen, Kristi Tatebe, Naomi Robert, Kaelan Watson, & Kent Mullinix -- Newcomers' unique experience with food insecurity: What needs to be done? / Wallapak Polasub, Beth Clark, Emily Burkholder, & Anastasia Gaisenok -- Planning for community-based food security / Christine Callihoo, Theresa Healy, & Annie L. Booth -- Cultural food assets: Evolutions in food system planning / Janine de la Salle -- Food for reconciliation: Lessons on Indigenous food sovereignty from Northern Ontario / Natasha Gaudio Harrison & Shanley Weston -- Protecting agricultural land is important, but farmers also need access to markets / Glenn Miller -- The role of planners in planning for food systems resilience: School food meets local food in British Columbia / Tammara Soma, Elina Blomley, Hafsa Salihue, & Dina Sadeghi -- c̓əlisələm: Tsawwassen First Nation's endeavor to achieve food security and sovereignty / Rasika Acharya -- Waste planning, environmental racism and disparities in cancer incidence and outcomes in an African Nova Scotian community / Charles Hostovsky & Ella Gindi -- Approaching changing food systems|Approcher les systèmes alimentaires en evolution / Mark Holland & Rob Buchan -- Planner's bookshelf|L'étagère du planificateur -- Planning research digest|Condensé de recherches en urbanism
Plan Canada - Volume 63, Number 1 (Spring 2023)
No full textA primary need for all citizens|Un besoin vital pour tous les citoyens / Tatsuyuki Setta & Kristen Harrison -- Lessons learned for establishing an affordable homeownership program in Vancouver / Julia Bahen & Kevin Green -- Modelling affordability outcomes of housing targets / Sean Nash & Indro Bhattacharyya -- CAHDCO toolbox: Increasing non-profit affordable housing development capacity / Stephanie Cantlay & Graeme Hussey -- Planners' role in bending the curve of the emerging asocial society / Meg Holden, Robyn Lee, & Sara Emami -- Improving the evaluation of local government housing policy / Marina Jozipovic -- Unlocking the power of land: How community land trusts can meet housing needs / Gavin Williamson -- Planning for energy: The role of professional planners in achieving net-zero / Michael Kvern -- Private firms and Indigenous planning / Alex Hallbom & Joelle McNeill -- Indigenous planning and online community engagement: Insights from Michipicoten First Nation's land use planning process / Skylar Niehaus -- Electrifying transportation on two-wheels: Why electric bikes are critical for helping meet climate targets / Tim Shah, Jimin Park, & Filippos Gkekas -- Ideas to promote housing choice and affordability|Idées pour promouvoir le choix et l'abordabilité du logement / Michael Geller -- Recognizing the passing of three fellows in 2022|Hommage à trois fellows disparus en 2022 -- Planner's bookshelf|L'étagère du planificateur -- Planning research digest|Condensé de recherches en urbanismeHousing choice and affordability|Choix et abordabilité du logementA primary need for all citizens|Un besoin vital pour tous les citoyens / Tatsuyuki Setta & Kristen Harrison -- Lessons learned for establishing an affordable homeownership program in Vancouver / Julia Bahen & Kevin Green -- Modelling affordability outcomes of housing targets / Sean Nash & Indro Bhattacharyya -- CAHDCO toolbox: Increasing non-profit affordable housing development capacity / Stephanie Cantlay & Graeme Hussey -- Planners' role in bending the curve of the emerging asocial society / Meg Holden, Robyn Lee, & Sara Emami -- Improving the evaluation of local government housing policy / Marina Jozipovic -- Unlocking the power of land: How community land trusts can meet housing needs / Gavin Williamson -- Planning for energy: The role of professional planners in achieving net-zero / Michael Kvern -- Private firms and Indigenous planning / Alex Hallbom & Joelle McNeill -- Indigenous planning and online community engagement: Insights from Michipicoten First Nation's land use planning process / Skylar Niehaus -- Electrifying transportation on two-wheels: Why electric bikes are critical for helping meet climate targets / Tim Shah, Jimin Park, & Filippos Gkekas -- Ideas to promote housing choice and affordability|Idées pour promouvoir le choix et l'abordabilité du logement / Michael Geller -- Recognizing the passing of three fellows in 2022|Hommage à trois fellows disparus en 2022 -- Planner's bookshelf|L'étagère du planificateur -- Planning research digest|Condensé de recherches en urbanism
Evaluation and improvement of a miniature mass spectrometry system for quantitative harm reduction drug checking
No full textThis is an accepted manuscript version of an article published as: Laxton, J.-C., Monaghan, J., Wallace, B., Hore, D., Wang, N., & Gill, C.G. (2023). Evaluation and improvement of a miniature mass spectrometry system for quantitative harm reduction drug checking. International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 484, Article 116976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijms.2022.116976.
©2022. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-MC-ND 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0.The increasing variability of the illicit drug market has imposed serious health risks for people who use drugs (PWUD), particularly due to the increasing co-occurrence of opioids and etizolam (or other benzodiazepines) in some jurisdictions. A miniature mass spectrometer (MS) equipped with paper capillary spray ionization was evaluated for its ability to quantify fentanyl, fluorofentanyl, carfentanil, and etizolam in illicit drug samples. Prior to testing actual drug samples, inter- and intra-day reproducibility, calibration linearity, and analytical sensitivity were assessed. The development of a continuous spray solvent delivery system improved MS/MS quantitation by prolonging ionization stability. A simple, rapid and quantitative tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and employed for the analysis of real-world illicit drug samples provided by PWUD at a harm reduction site in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Limits of detection ranged from 0.001 to 0.24% w/w of illicit analyte in the original solid drug samples. Target analytes were detected and quantified via the miniature MS system for samples where conventional on-site drug checking technologies were not always effective. These promising results demonstrate the potential role for miniature mass spectrometer systems for on-site drug checking services that can be both sensitive to trace, toxic levels as well as adaptable/selective for new drug threats as they appear in the illicit drug supply.This work was supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant Program funding (RGPIN-2021-02981). The authors acknowledge Health Canada Substance Use and Addiction Program under grant SUAP: 1819-HQ-000042, as well as the University of Victoria and Vancouver Island University
for their ongoing support of our research and students.Accepted Manuscrip
Factors impacting vaccine hesitant parents of young children in Northern British Columbia: a qualitative study from a health care communicator’s lens
No full textIn 2019 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared vaccine hesitancy as a top threat to global health while highlighting the concerning resurgence of vaccine preventable diseases. In the Northern British Columbia region, which is under the jurisdiction of the Northern Health Authority, there are lower routine child vaccination rates than the rest of the province, however, these rates do not tell us why parents may be vaccine hesitant. As a communications professional working in healthcare, I conducted this qualitative research to better understand the local barriers and drivers of vaccination for Northern BC parents. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two key audiences: parents of young children (five years and younger) and immunizers (nurses) who administer routine child vaccinations. The interview data were analyzed using discourse analysis to develop vaccination-related themes. Unexpected results included the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on increasing parental vaccine hesitancy, the impact of the pandemic on increasing general vaccine awareness, the experience of first-time parents, and the impact of family dynamics in small communities. This research also revealed the extreme difficulty in recruiting participants in the vaccine-hesitant parent population. In accordance with the WHO’s Tailoring Immunization Programmes approach of not guessing why populations may be hesitant but determining the root cause, this research sheds light on several reasons why Northern BC parents may be vaccine-hesitant, and it goes one step further by offering strategic communication recommendations informed by the Behaviour Change Wheel to help increase vaccine uptake for young children in the region
Marine plastic debris - exploring sources & transport in coastal British Columbia
No full textPlastic debris, which enters the marine environment through a variety of anthropogenic sources or means and can cause harm to marine species and ecosystems, is an increasingly urgent environmental problem. This research explored the marine plastic debris problem in coastal British Columbia (BC) through the following research question: “What are the source locations and ages of marine plastic debris, specifically plastic bottles, accumulating on Triangle Island and the central BC coast, and what might be their oceanic pathways to these points of accumulation?” Sampling sites range from south to north coast of BC. I found bottles from 27 countries (156 brands), from <1-17 years old. I compared inner and outer coast locations and found there to be a significant difference (χ2 (7, N = 2798) = 20.96, p = 0.004) in source countries of bottles. I used an open-source ocean circulation model to predict travel times from source locations via ocean current patterns. For bottles where I could identify both age and source country, 53% did not comply with the ocean circulation model, indicating arrival through expedited means such as disposal overboard ships. When comparing proportion of bottles that do not comply with ocean circulation model oceanic travel times between sampling locations, I found that sampling location was not a significant influencing factor (H(5) = 1.53, p = 0.91). There was no significant difference in age distributions between domestic and international bottles (Mann-Whitney U = 4334.5, N = 503, p = 0.76). Guided by these findings, I conducted a review of existing international plastic mitigation measures, focusing on where BC stands in a global context; priorities should be plastic end-of-life disposal accountability, strengthening domestic recycling regulations and international collaboration, addressing knowledge and inequality gaps in waste management research, and minimizing, where possible, virgin plastics creation
Decolonizing our food systems: narrative inquiry into the barriers to accessing foods that reverse chronic disease
No full textThe purpose of this study is to highlight the barriers that Indigenous People and People of Colour face when accessing health care for chronic diseases. With the rise of diagnoses of chronic degenerative lifestyle diseases over the past sixty years, a disproportionate amount of these are people of BIPOC communities.
This study involved interviewing BIPOC people who have experience dealing with the healthcare system in relation to chronic illnesses. It was made very clear by these discussions that not only is there a lack of education for indigenous health, but also a huge injustice relating to food for chronic disease reversal.
The root causes of these diseases are not due to what Canadian and USA agencies have identified as age, race, gender, obesity etc. but much more complex and systemic issues. This study indicates that these diseases stem from a history of colonization and trauma and the displacement of BIPOC people from their lands, ancestors, culture and knowledge.
The findings of this study emphasize the importance of adopting a holistic, systemic approach to chronic disease prevention and management. Instead of relying on individual-level risk factors, it is crucial to identify and address the complex historical and ongoing processes attributed to chronic diseases in the first place. By doing so, this study outlines the possibility of reducing the rise of these diseases and promoting health equity for BIPOC communities.
Keywords: BIPOC, Indigenous Peoples, Chronic Disease, Food as Medicine, Plant-strong
Wholefoods, Reversible Chronic Diseases, Colonization, Risk Factor