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Thirty Years of ‘Emergency’ Food Aid in the US and Canada: Findings from Comparative Research to Inform UK Efforts to Tackle Food Poverty and the Need for Foodbanks
Get PDFResearch observed how food providers in the United States and Canada have made changes during the decades of neoliberal policymaking that have seen foodbanking expand across North America and beyond. These changes, in part, reflect responses to critiques of foodbanking as an inadequate solution to food insecurity. Food charities have variously attempted to improve provision through healthier procurement, choice-based distribution models, diversified programming, and advocacy for policy solutions. Better foodbanking, however, does not negate the influence of corporate donors on food charities’ capacity to foster hunger-preventative change, such as the employment practices of those same donors. Meanwhile, grassroots organisers have pushed for systemic solutions to food insecurity and food waste, whether disillusioned volunteers or mutual aid providers. These often operate with far fewer resources than the corporate donors, government agencies and philanthropists shaping foodbanking trajectories. Given the barriers to truly doing themselves out of a job, the chapter asks how far such changes address problems of institutionalised emergency food redistribution as outlined by Poppendieck’s Sweet Charity (1998), and what lessons these might yield for UK practitioners and decision-makers
Navigating Domestic Violence Service Provision for Diasporic South Asian Communities in Canada: From the Perspectives of South Asian Service Providers Using a Multi-level Systems Approach and Culture Circles
No full textIn Canada, domestic violence (DV) is a pervasive problem that impacts people regardless of their background. However, racialized communities can face additional challenges and discrimination when seeking DV resources and support, while service providers simultaneously struggle to accommodate and provide adequate and appropriate support. South Asian (SA) community members and scholars have highlighted the ongoing problems with DV conversations, policies, supports, and resources for the SA community. This study explores how SA service providers in Canada understand, interact with, and wish to improve DV supports for SA community members. This research is set within a critical-transformative paradigm and uses a qualitative research approach. Several theoretical frameworks guide this research, including a socio-ecological model, critical race theory, intersectionality, and radical imagination. Rooted in a Freirean approach to collective knowledge creation, I facilitated four culture circles with seven participants working in and from the SA community on issues of DV. These culture circles were followed by a final member check-in session. Additionally, I kept a reflective journal to document the research process. I then analyzed both the culture circles and my reflective journal as basis for this dissertation.
The overarching goal of this research was to shift harmful and individualized narratives of DV currently associated with the SA diaspora in Canada to one that focuses on structural and institutional systems, and how we, as a wider community, can address this multi-level and multi-faceted issue. Accordingly, and equally, my intention with this research is to provide a critical space in which we, as SA advocates, activists, and service providers can find space to debrief our experiences and learnings and begin to practically move towards challenging and recreating structures that no longer uphold systems that allow for violence
The Influence of a Sports Vision Training Program on Performance of Related Tasks of Visual Perception in Varsity Athletes
No full textSports Vision Training (SVT) is a re-emerging field in athlete training and development that uses protocols designed specifically to improve the visual abilities important in sport performance by creating challenging visual tasks to enhance the processing of visual information and the integration of vision for action (Erickson, 2007). The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the influence of a generalized visual software-specific SVT program on measures of visual perception related to sports performance. The SVT program consisted of 10 sessions of visual software-specific training focused on improving visual abilities related to the processing and integration of vision for movement. The training program utilized a combination of training methods used previously in research and practice, including stroboscopic training, 3D-multiple object tracking, and cognitive-motor training. Visual perception was assessed at pre-training, post-training, and a 6-week follow-up using three different instruments including the moV& dynamic visual acuity task, the Bassin Anticipation Timer, and the Senaptec Sensory Station. The study revealed significant improvements following the training protocol in the go/no-go and target capture tasks. These findings suggest that SVT may have enhanced athletes’ visual attention and visuomotor coordination/integration as they were better able to detect and recognize targets in the visual field faster and integrate visual information for quick and accurate movements. Furthermore, the improved visual abilities are important for sports and could be an effective intervention to incorporate in performance development for athletes. However, the results were not compared to a control group and were underpowered due to recruitment and technical issues, so further research is required to fully understand the effects of SVT on visual and sports performance
Investigating The Role Of The Mammalian dsRNAi Pathway In Preventing Infection By Respiratory Syncytial Virus And Human Coronavirus
No full textdsRNA interference (dsRNAi) is an antiviral innate immune response that uses long dsRNA (\u3e40bp) to inhibit gene expression through the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. dsRNAi is an important antiviral defense mechanism in plants, invertebrates, and fungi. However, its use as an antiviral mechanism in vertebrates is not well understood. Evidence proving the significance of dsRNAi in vertebrate cells does exist, but there is still a lack of research in this area, particularly with the use of long dsRNA. Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are two single stranded RNA (ssRNA) viruses that infect airway cells. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the dsRNAi pathway as an antiviral response against both RSV and HCoVs using a single dsRNA molecule in human lung fibroblast (HEL-299) cells. Before exploring the effects of dsRNAi, the growing conditions of RSV expressing GFP (RSV-GFP) were optimized in HEL-299 cells. Cell viability and replication kinetic experiments demonstrated that HEL-299 cells are permissive to RSV. To induce the dsRNAi response, in vitro transcribed dsRNA coding for RSV and HCoV gene sequences were synthesized and the optimal concentrations of dsRNA too low to induce the IFN response were determined. Using TCID50 assays to quantify viral titres, it was found that soaking cells with sequence-specific dsRNA could significantly inhibit both RSV and HCoV replication. Additionally, multi-target dsRNA molecules containing sequences from both RSV and HCoV did mediate knockdown of both viruses, with effects comparable to the single-gene target dsRNAs. The results of this study provide fundamental insights into the dsRNAi response, which will be used to improve long dsRNA design and maximize dsRNAi efficiency. Further, this could aid in the development of dsRNAi-based therapeutics to improve human health
ASSESSING ROAD DUST IMPACTS ON MACROINVERTEBRATES COMMUNITY STRUCTURE IN CANADIAN ARCTIC LAKES
Get PDFIn the Canadian Arctic, unpaved gravel roads are essential for regional accessibility but are also potential sources of road dust runoff. My study investigated the impacts of road dust from the Dempster and Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highways on adjacent freshwater ecosystems, focusing on water quality parameters and macroinvertebrate communities. Using a stratified random sampling design, 18 lakes were studied across two regions (boreal forest and tundra) and three distance categories from the road (0-300 m, 300-600 m, and \u3e 600 m). Contrary to my initial hypotheses, findings revealed no significant differences in water quality or invertebrate communities relative to distance from the road. However, differences were noted in dissolved nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon levels between boreal and tundra lakes, as well as in macroinvertebrate community composition. Dust trap experiments confirmed dust dispersal up to at least 300 meters from the road, with higher deposition in tundra areas. The discrepancy between dust movement and lack of observable impacts on lakes suggests that other factors, such as lake morphometry, watershed characteristics, and regional variability, may overshadow potential road dust effects. My study highlights the intrinsic complexity of Arctic freshwater ecosystems and emphasizes the need for long-term, multi-seasonal studies to better distinguish between anthropogenic influences and natural variability
Navigating Dementia Together: The Perceived Effects of the Minds in Motion Program on Individuals with Dementia and their Caregivers
No full textNavigating Dementia Together: The Perceived Effects of the Minds in Motion Program on Individuals with Dementia and their Caregivers, explores the impact of the Minds in Motion (MiM) program on individuals with dementia (IWD) and their caregivers (CGs). Through a phenomenological lens, this research examines how the MiM program fosters connections, promotes wellness, and supports social engagement. The study captures the lived experiences of participants, highlighting the dual benefits of physical activity and social interactions. The findings underscore the value of non-pharmacological treatments like MiM in enhancing the quality of life for both IWD and CGs. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on dementia care and offers insights into the potential benefits of programs that combine physical and cognitive activities for this population
Is Trust a Zero-Sum Game? What Happens When Institutional Sources Get It Wrong
Get PDFIn the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, trust in mainstream institutions is on the decline while people are increasingly turning to alternative media and conspiracy theories. Previous research has suggested that these trends may be linked, but the exact nature of the relationship is unclear. In a fractured informational environment, is trust a neutral process, where each source is judged independently, or is it in fact a zero-sum competition, where a loss for one side is a gain for the other? Across three experimental studies (N = 2,951) we examined how people react when a source makes a serious error, testing several potential models of trust dynamics. We found that regardless of whether the outlet is mainstream, counter-mainstream, or neutral, trust drops for the erring source but does not rise for its competitors. This was the case in the context of both food regulations and COVID-19 precautions. Such a pattern suggest that each source may be judged independently of others. However, in several cases, an error made by one source led to a loss of trust in all sources, suggesting that rather than just choosing sides between competing sources, people are also judging the media landscape as a whole to discern if it is feasible to find trustworthy information. However, correlational data did also find that the more people saw a source as politicized, the less they trusted that source and the more they trusted its competitors. Accordingly, future research may investigate the impact of perceived political influence as well as the possibility that a zero-sum trust competition between partisan outlets may emerge over a longer timeframe not fully captured by the acute effects of our experiments
A Labour of Love : Caregiver Perspectives of Aging in Place with Dementia
No full textObjective: The majority (69%) of persons with dementia (PwD) in Canada reside at home, relying on support from family and/or friends that act as caregivers (CGs), a particularly stressful and time-consuming role (CIHI, 2018). While PwD wish to age in place, this group is at high risk of long-term care admission (Wiles et al., 2011; Huyer et al., 2020). This research examines the lived experiences of PwD and their CGs who are aging in place, using the social ecological model to provide a comprehensive understanding of the barriers to aging in place.
Methods: Phenomenology was the theoretical orientation used to guide this research to present an accurate depiction of lived experience. Backgrounds questionnaires were administered to prior for one-on-one semi-structured interviews, which were transcribed verbatim for analysis. Field notes, member checks, and triangulation were used to enhance the credibility of the study.
Results: Participants emphasized individuality associated with caregiving and dementia journeys. CGs cited positive and negative aspects of aging in place. Through analysis, three themes were developed: (1) “Pivot, pivot, pivot”, (2) They don’t make it easy, and (3) “Balancing act”.
Implications: Interviews provided knowledge concerning unmet needs and systematic issues faced by CGs and PwD, and their subsequent effect on care provision. Their stories provide a unique perspective of aging in place with dementia from those who experience it firsthand. Overall, these findings shed light on the need for reform in health care policies to address systemic barriers and sincerely promote aging in place for all persons
“Are We Truly Disruptors?” A Thematic Analysis of Two Canadian Teachers Disrupting the Status Quo in their Classrooms
Get PDFThis critical qualitative study looked to better understand the education system as an oppressive force, as well as highlight the strategies current Canadian teachers use to resist racism and colonialism in their classrooms. Using an inductive thematic analysis framework, my data sample consisted of 9 episodes from the podcast series The Chey and Pav Show: Teachers Talking Teaching featuring Toronto-based educators Chey Cheney and Pav (Pawan) Wander. The analysis identified two overarching themes pertaining to Pedagogy and Subject Content. The findings indicated that the educators have undergone a personal journey of social justice learning consisting of reflectivity and accountability, which in turn allowed them to employ transformative teaching strategies and build authentic relationships with students. Further, the results of the study demonstrated how the educators challenged Eurocentrism in the subject matter they taught with the use of anti-racist, anti-colonial, and culturally responsive approaches. These findings address the existing gap in the literature pertaining to the methods used by Canadian public education teachers to create more socially just and anti-oppressive classrooms