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The Twisting and (Re)Connecting of Conducting Research During COVID-19
Full text linkThis presentation is driven from my on-going doctoral research on examining the use of children’s literature in English-Chinese bilingual education in the Canadian context. However, instead of demonstrating some potential findings and implications, it more focused on my experience of the twisting and (re)connecting in the process of conducting the research during the pandemic of COVID-19. Underpinned by sociocultural perspectives on literacy (Kress 2000; New London Group 1996; Perry 2012; Unrau and Alvermann 2013), and the continua of biliteracy (Hornberger and Skilton-Sylvester 2003), my research first examined what type of children’s literature that teachers and parents often or prefer to use with bilingual children. Secondly, it investigated what role children’s literature plays in bilingual children’s language and literacy development. Finally, it explored how teachers’ and parents’ experiences and perspectives with children’s literature may impact their pedagogical practices in bilingual education
Honouring Inuit Women’s Educational and Employment Experiences through Indigenous Storywork Methodology
Full text linkThe legacy of the Arctic Residential School system is still present in Nunavut education today. Inuit in Nunavut continue to receive a westernized education that does not fully encompass traditional Inuit learning principles. However, a group of Inuit women, enrolled in a Northern College Early Childhood Education (ECE) Diploma Program from 2015-2017, uniquely blended a child-centred educational approach with traditional Inuit learning methods. Through the Inuit women’s practicum placements completed at a preschool, they developed self-confidence and a skill set that led to their employment and self-reliance.
The Oxford dictionary defines self-reliance as “the ability to do or decide things by yourself, rather than depending on other people for help” (Oxford University Press 2021). This definition does not fully capture the essence of self-reliance from Inuit women’s perspectives. Their self-reliance is greatly tied to a combination of domestic work, wage work, and land-related work that forms a unique framework to capture the specificity of northern women’s self-reliance. My research study will explore the personal experiences of these Inuit women graduates. The study intends to inform institutional decision-making, determine how to best support the Inuit women’s educational access and success, contribute to the scholarly work in the field of education and advance future Inuit training and employment initiatives.
My research questions are: What does self-reliance look like from an Inuit woman’s point of view? How did participating in the 2015-2017 ECE Diploma Program influence the Inuit women’s lives?
Indigenous Storywork is grounded in Indigenous Research Framework (Lavallée 2009) which allows for connections between people, their ancestors, and the natural world. Indigenous Storywork guides my study theoretically and methodologically. I will use Storywork to engage in holistic meaning-making that involves the heart (emotions), mind (intellect), body (physical actions), and spirit (spirituality) (Archibald et al. 2019).
Storywork is essentially a three-part framework: story-making, storytelling, and connecting with specific cultures and peoples experiences through stories (Archibald et al. 2019). This framework honours distinctive traditional Inuit knowledge and these Inuit women’s holistic identity regarding their relationships with themselves, family, community, land, environment, and the wider society. Indigenous Storywork methodology creates space for my participants to share dreams, visions, spiritual encounters, and lived experience stories through interviews. My research honours the Storywork of Inuit women through their culturally responsive and unique educational opportunities.
 
Enhancing community health through patient navigation, advocacy, and social support: A community health navigator pilot study
Full text linkBackground: The healthcare system is complex and difficult to navigate, particularly for patients with multiple chronic conditions and complex care plans. Patient adherence to care plans and patient health outcomes can be negatively impacted by language, financial, and other social barriers. Community Health Navigators (CHNs) are community members that are hired and trained to navigate the healthcare system, who work with patients to overcome barriers to care and support patient self-management by providing services tailored to needs. While these types of interventions can improve access to care in other settings, they are not well studied in Canada nor in Canadian primary care settings.
Objective: For this pilot study, we aimed to determine the feasibility of a CHN intervention for patients with multiple chronic conditions. Our secondary objective was to assess the potential impact of a CHN intervention on patient-reported outcome measures.
Methods: We used an observational single arm pre-post study design. Using interviewer-administered patient surveys, we assessed patient-reported outcomes at baseline (pre-enrolment), and 6-months and 12-months post-enrolment. The survey included instruments to assess quality of life (EQ-5D-5L), patient chronic disease care experience (PACIC), social support (mMOS-SS), and cost-related adherence to care (i.e. financial security to pay for care-related costs). Descriptive analysis was performed on survey data, and the sample was restricted to participants who completed both follow-up surveys (6- and 12-month).
Results: Of the 21 participants enrolled in our pilot study, the mean age was 61.3 years, 56% had an annual household income below $30,000, and 68% were born outside of Canada. The three most common conditions reported were hypertension (77%), diabetes (59%), and back problems (55%). The mean number of conditions a patient reported was 5.4 (SD 2.3, range 3-11).
Of the sample enrolled, 14 (67%) patients completed both follow-up surveys. Mean social support (scale: 0-100), was 56, 68, and 75 at baseline, 6, and 12 months, respectively—indicating a potential increase in social support after the intervention. Mean self-ranked health (scale: 0-100) did not change over time. Mean patient experience with chronic disease care (scale: 1-3) was 2.01 at baseline; 2.24 at 6 months, and 1.89 at 12 months. The proportion of patients who reported no difficulty paying for medical expenses increased from 36% at baseline to 79% at 6 months and 86% at 12 months. In other words, fewer patients reported difficulty paying for medical expenses at 6 months and at 12 months. Results presented here are preliminary; further analysis is underway which will include analysis of health outcomes using administrative data, statistical tests of survey data (where appropriate), and qualitative analysis of interview data.
Conclusions: CHNs may improve patients’ social and financial support and satisfaction with care. Our pilot study demonstrates that a CHN intervention is feasible to implement in primary care for patients with multiple chronic conditions. These findings informed a large ongoing cluster-randomized pragmatic trial
Adolescents’ perspectives on environmental and individual factors influencing their health behaviours
Full text linkAdolescence is an important life phase in which future patterns of adult health are established. Therefore, there is a need to understand the barriers and enhancers of adolescents’ health to better support their development. We explored adolescents’ perspectives on factors influencing their health behaviours using a qualitative descriptive approach. In-depth interviews were conducted with 22 junior high and high school students in Northern Alberta, who had participated in a 2015/16 Youth Health Survey. Thematic analyses revealed three themes: 1) knowledge, 2) contextual factors (home environment and school environment) and 3) individual factors (self-motivation and personal responsibility). Overall, the students were extensive in their description of healthy lifestyles, but their use of this knowledge was dependent on contextual and individual factors. They described the importance of the home and school environment in supporting healthy lifestyles, particularly by providing the right kind of knowledge and opportunities to cultivate and maintain a healthy lifestyle. They also identified self-motivation and personal responsibility as individual factors of influence on their health behaviours and practices. The students placed a great emphasis on personal responsibility for their health behaviours, despite the necessity of environmental and social supports for encouraging healthy lifestyles. School-based health promotion programs, which take a comprehensive health approach fosters a supportive environment for healthy lifestyle behaviours
Examining the Usefulness of Patient Documentation Forms as a Tool for Community Health Navigators: Findings from the ENCOMPASS Pilot Study
Full text linkIntroduction | Effective documentation of patient encounters may influence Community Health Navigators’ (CHNs) success in providing support to patients as well as provide a data source to examine CHN practices. The ENhancing COMmunity health through Patient navigation, Advocacy, and Social Support (ENCOMPASS) study, based in partnership between the University of Calgary and the Mosaic Primary Care Network (MPCN) is evaluating a CHN program to determine whether CHNs improve outcomes for patients with multiple chronic conditions. CHNs support their patients by helping them navigate the health system, connect to community resources, and access culturally appropriate support. The purpose of this study was to examine the quality and usefulness of CHN-patient documentation forms used in the ENCOMPASS pilot study (i.e., Initial Action Planning Form, Follow-up Action Planning Form, Patient Encounter Form, all implemented on the REDCap platform) and revise the documentation process using co-design with the end user.
Methods | An iterative co-design quality improvement process was employed across three phases. First, content analyses were conducted on the Patient Encounter Form notes to examine how CHNs were using the forms and how they were documenting their activities. Second, a survey was distributed to CHNs to gather their perspectives about their experiences with the REDCap platform and the three forms. Third, a working group, consisting of four CHNs, met twice with research team members to discuss barriers to use and opportunities for improvement.
Results | The REDCap platform and the three CHN-patient encounter forms did not adequately meet the needs of the CHNs. Content analysis revealed significant variation in how the Patient Encounter Form was utilized and various form sections were not completed as intended. In the survey, CHNs reported that the documentation experience was not satisfactory and the training that they had received to date was insufficient. The CHN working group suggested changes to the interface with the REDCap platform and form structure. Revisions were made based on these suggestions, and approved by the working group.
Conclusions | The approved changes to REDCap and the three forms will be implemented and introduced to the CHN team. The research team will develop a patient encounter documentation guidelines document and will provide all members of the CHN team with the opportunity to receive re-training. These changes will be reviewed with the CHNs to continue the iterative quality improvement process. Prior to final implementation, consultation with the Clinical Research Unit administrators on the feasibility of the revisions made to the forms and interface with the REDCap platform will be held. The results of this study have the potential to provide a better overall experience for CHNs in the ENCOMPASS program and enhance their work with patients
Small fibre neuropathy in sarcoidosis
Full text linkSarcoidosis is characterized by multisystem granulomatous formation particularly in the chest. In this case report, we present an uncommon case highlighting significant peripheral nerve involvement, a phenomenon that is not well recognized in sarcoidosis. The patient presented with severe incapacitating pain. Sarcoidosis as being the underlying cause was only established after extensive investigations. This case highlights the importance of recognizing small fibre peripheral polyneuropathy as a possible presentation of sarcoidosis. This could help to direct appropriate medical intervention
Manual versus automatic identification of black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) vocalizations
Full text linkOne time-consuming aspect of bioacoustic research is identifying vocalizations from long audio recordings. SongScope (version 4.1.5. Wildlife Acoustics, Inc.) is a computer program capable of developing acoustic recognizers that can identify wildlife vocalizations. The goal of the current study was to compare the effectiveness of manual identification of black-capped chickadee vocalizations to identification by SongScope recognizers. A recognizer was developed for each main chickadee vocalization by providing previously annotated audio of chickadees. Six chickadees (three male, three female) were recorded in one-hour intervals with and without anthropogenic (i.e., man-made) noise to provide a variety of samples to test the recognizer. These recordings were analyzed via the recognizer and two human coders, with an additional third coder reviewing a random subset of recordings for reliability. Strong agreement was found between the human coders, κ = 0.76, p < 0.00. Agreement between human coders and the recognizer was moderate for fee songs, κ = 0.46, p < 0.00, and strong for fee-bee songs, κ = 0.77, p < 0.00, as well as for chick-a-dee calls, κ = 0.82, p < 0.00. Results showed that male chickadees produced more tseet calls in silence and females produced more gargle calls during noise. No differences were found in vocalizations based on time of day. Our observations also suggest that the chick-a-dee recognizer was capable of identifying gargle and tseet calls along with the intended chick-a-dee calls. Overall, SongScope was effective at identifying fee-bee songs and chick-a-dee calls, but not as effective for identifying fee songs. These recognizers can allow for faster acoustic analyses (by approximately four times) and be continuously improved for greater accuracy
Regional Symmetry of the Pelvis
Full text linkUnderstanding the left-right symmetry of the pelvis can assist with the virtual reconstruction of fractured pelvises in the future. Further specifying the different regions can give more information regarding the anatomy of the bone. CT scans of intact pelvises are turned into 3D models using a computer program called Mimics. The femurs and spine are removed manually to isolate the bone. The model can then be analyzed and the regions defined. The pelvis is split into three pieces using the program Geomagic, the iliac, acetabular, and pubic rami regions. The two cuts are made based around the highest and lowest points of the acetabular cup. From here each cut piece can be mirrored and aligned with the opposing side of the pelvis. Colour deviation maps can then be generated to visualize the asymmetry, as well as the RMS value and the percentage of points within a 2 mm deviation threshold. The average RMS values are below 2 mm and the percentage of points within 2 mm is high. My research reflects that the pelvis is symmetrical and may be used to assist in the surgical planning process of pelvic fractures
Design of a Braided Composite Badminton Racket on Solidworks
Full text linkCurrent badminton rackets are typically made out of steel, aluminium, or carbon fibre. Although these materials perform acceptably, there are some downsides to their properties. However, these non-ideal characteristics of badminton rackets may be overcome with the usage of different manufacturing materials, specifically braided composites. An example of a braided material is KevlarⓇ. Kevlar is a heat resistant and high strength synthetic fibre that can be manufactured into braids using a maypole braiding system. These Kevlar braids can then be manipulated to a preferred shape for the curing process. In order to come up with a feasible design to base the prototype, a 3D modelling software (SolidWorksTM) is used. This ensures geometrical viability and possible to manufacture of the prototype. Modeling a badminton racket on Solidworks required the modelling of a racket head, and handle. The head was created using 2 ellipses, one of which acted as a skeleton, or mould for the Kevlar braid, and the other was a hollow ellipse which encompassed the mold and acted as the Kevlar braid. The solid ellipse was created in two halves, each having either an extrusion or a hole in the ends. This allowed them to easily attach to form a full ellipse. Once modeled, the solid ellipse was 3D printed to act as the curing mandrel, an internal skeleton for the Kevlar braids. In order to attach the head to the handle, a three-part connector piece was created and 3D printed. The rod of the racket was not created with an internal skeleton because the flexibility would falter. Instead, the Kevlar braids were slid off the material after curing and attached to the racket heads connector piece. In order to have a balanced weight ratio throughout the racket, the grip was created with an internal 3D printed skeleton. This structure allowed for a feasible, flexible, and strong Kevlar based product
That which fits the mold: a braided composite wing
Full text linkIn this design study, a model airplane wing, partially constructed from braided composite panels, was made for the purpose of demonstrating the applications of braided composites for aerospace components. Fibres of Kevlar® were braided together along a tubular surface, then subsequently cut and unrolled to form two planar sheets of interlaced yarns that could be laid down in a 3D printed mold to later be coated in resin. The mold consisted of four parts: two female parts to shape the composite wing panels and two male parts to compress the composite. When connected together they form a fused core. A fibre sheet was draped over each female part, and its extraneous edges were folded inward to form a second layer as reinforcement. Each sheet was then laid up with Ecopoxy® resin and allowed to cure while sandwiched between the female mold and its corresponding male component. Upon disassembly of the mold system, a braided composite wing panel had formed upon both halves of the 3D printed core. The external portion of each panel was found to be smooth with few irregularities that could potentially compromise their aerodynamic performance. The mold was constructed to facilitate the process of cold-curing rather than curing at an elevated temperature. For heated cure process, the use of metal would be recommended because it generally deforms negligibly through heating and cooling. A metal mold would also be used to ease the process of debonding from the composite materials. Care should be taken to ensure that fibre orientation is consistent. The results illustrate how a mold can be fabricated to facilitate the process of curing braided composites, and can serve to improve the quality of products that require a higher strength to weight ratio.