Browsing by Author "Lashewicz, Bonnie M."
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Item Open Access A Mixed Methods Study on the Barriers and Facilitators of Physical Activity Associated with Residential Relocation(2018-11-01) Salvo, Grazia; Lashewicz, Bonnie M.; Doyle-Baker, Patricia K.; McCormack, Gavin R.Despite evidence suggesting that neighbourhood characteristics are associated with physical activity, very few mixed methods studies investigate how relocating neighbourhood, and subsequent changes in the built environment, influences physical activity. This sequential mixed methods study estimates associations between changes in overall physical activity and transportation walking and cycling and changes in objectively assessed neighbourhood walkability (quantitative phase) and describes perceived barriers and facilitators to physical activity following residential relocation (qualitative phase). During the quantitative phase, self-reported changes in transportation walking, transportation cycling, and overall physical activity following residential relocation were measured using a 5-point scale: (1) a lot less now, (2) a little less now, (3) about the same, (4) a little more now, and (5) a lot more now. Walkability improvers reported a slight increase in transportation walking (mean = 3.29, standard deviation (SD) = 0.87), while walkability decliners reported little or no perceived change in their transportation walking after relocation (mean = 2.96, SD = 1.12). This difference approached statistical significance (). Furthermore, walkability decliners reported a slight decrease in transportation cycling (mean = 2.69, SD = 0.96), while walkability improvers reported little or no perceived change in their transportation cycling after relocation (mean = 3.02, SD = 0.84). This difference was statistically significant (). Change in walkability resulting from relocation was not significantly associated with perceived change in overall physical activity. Our qualitative findings suggest that moving to a neighbourhood with safe paths connecting to nearby destinations can facilitate transportation walking and cycling. Some participants describe adjusting their leisure physical activity to compensate for changes in transportation walking and cycling. Strong contributors to neighbourhood leisure physical activity included the presence of aesthetic features and availability of recreational opportunities that allow for the creation of social connections with community and family.Item Open Access The Development of a Bovine Leukemia Virus Control Program(2019-12-13) Kuczewski, Alessa Evelyn Traute; van der Meer, Frank; Orsel, Karin; Barkema, Herman W.; Mason, Steve; Erskine, Ronald J.; Fourichon, Christine; Lashewicz, Bonnie M.North American dairy herds are commonly infected with bovine leukemia virus (BLV), with production-limiting effects, reduced animal welfare and consumer concerns. The overall goal of this thesis was the development of an adaptable on-farm BLV control program. To summarize important background knowledge and understand all aspects of BLV control, I performed the following: 1) Available literature concerning BLV transmission and control was reviewed and summarized. 2) Five commercially available ELISA were evaluated and compared, using 160 serum samples from Alberta cattle. 3) Economic impacts of BLV and its control were evaluated by creating an economic model of an average Alberta dairy farm. 4) Motivators and barriers for Alberta dairy farmers to change behavior on farm and implement BLV control measures were investigated by analyzing conversations with farmers as well as veterinarians. 5) In those conversations, dairy farmers’ and veterinarians’ opinions toward various BLV control measures were sought to adjust the BLV control program. 6) Based on findings, a risk assessment tool was designed to identify and weigh on-farm behavior that could cause transmission of BLV between animals. When this risk assessment tool was used on 11 Alberta dairy farms, its results, in combination with serum test results, led to the recommendation of tailored best-management practices aimed at preventing BLV transmission between animals. Implementation, within-herd prevalence, and seroconversions were measured. 7) Finally, all findings were summarized and discussed. In conclusion, recommendations for BLV control have not changed over a long interval, as general principles remain relevant. Additionally, identification of BLV-infected animals is easy and reliable. Although BLV control relies on financial investments, it has an overall economic net benefit. Motivating farmers to implement BLV control is dependent on knowledge and control measures considered feasible by the farmer. Finally, implementation of on-farm BLV control reduced within-herd BLV prevalence for the majority of participating farms.Item Open Access Emergency Department Staff Knowledge and Practice of Caring for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities Seeking Mental Health Care(2020-09-21) Aboumrad, Mona; Lashewicz, Bonnie M.; Hughson, E. Anne; Haines-Saah, Rebecca J.; Lashewicz, Bonnie M.; Hughson, E. Anne; Haines-Saah, Rebecca J.; Estefan, Andrew; Dewey, DeborahIndividuals with intellectual disabilities have limited access to out-patient community-based mental health care. Emergency departments have become a fundamental entry for patients with intellectual disabilities to receive mental health care, leaving patients with intellectual disabilities being frequent users of the emergency department when compared to those without intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this study is to examine and unpack the knowledge, practice, and professional experience of emergency department staff regarding patients with intellectual disabilities seeking mental health care. The study aims to contribute to understandings about the ways in which emergency department staff utilize the emergency department space, time, and resources, and how this utilization impacts how responsive and supportive care is provided to patients with intellectual disabilities. Semi-structured face-to-face and phone interviews were conducted with seven emergency department social workers, registered nurses, and physicians from four emergency departments in Calgary, Canada. A qualitative descriptive study design was employed to collect, analyze, and describe and interpret findings. Emergency department staff described: the emergency department standard practice and procedures, environment, conflicting demands, professional and personal experience in the emergency department, and the ways these descriptions helped or hindered their ability to provide responsive and supportive care to patients with intellectual disabilities. Guided by a critical disability theoretical framing and the author’s experience as a disability service professional, the author has unpacked descriptive findings to illuminate that: the emergency department is not the place for any patient with or without an intellectual disability to receive adequate mental health care, the emergency department prioritizes physical health over mental health, emergency department staff do not have adequate time, space, resources, and academic or clinical training to provide responsive and supportive care, further illuminating how the knowledge, practice, and professional experience of emergency department staff additionally contribute to the marginalization of individuals with intellectual disabilities in various systems and practices, particularly the emergency department.Item Open Access Exploring experiences and perceived program outcomes of low-income adults participating in the British Columbia Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program(2021-01-06) Caron-Roy, Stéphanie; Lee Olstad, Dana; Milaney, Katrina J.; Lashewicz, Bonnie M.Introduction: The British Columbia Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program (BC FMNCP) is a food subsidy program that provides low-income households coupons valued at $21/week for 16 weeks to purchase healthy foods in BC farmers’ markets, along with nutrition skill-building activities. Objectives: Two studies were conducted. The overarching purpose of these studies was to explore experiences and perceived program outcomes of low-income adults participating in the FMNCP, and provide suggestions to enhance participants’ experiences and outcomes of farmers’ market food subsidy programs. Methods: Both studies used qualitative description methodology. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with FMNCP participants during the 2019 farmers’ market season and post-program. These data were first analyzed cross-sectionally using directed content analysis. The initial coding scheme was guided by Freedman et al.’s theoretical framework, followed by inductive coding of data that did not fit within the framework. Data were then analyzed longitudinally to generate themes that described changes, differences, and similarities in participants’ experiences and perceived outcomes during and after the FMNCP. Results: Three themes emerged from the first cross-sectional analysis. The first theme was related to how the FMNCP promoted a sense of autonomy and dignity for participants. The second theme was related to how the FMNCP increased social connections and fostered a sense of community for participants. The third theme highlighted constraints experienced by participants, such as limited food variety in rural farmers’ markets and challenges with redeeming coupons. Three themes emerged from the longitudinal analysis. The first theme related to how participants’ experiences and perceived outcomes were temporary and changed after the FMNCP. The second theme outlined lasting experiences and outcomes that resulted from participating in the FMNCP. The third theme focused on participants’ suggestions to improve the FMNCP to better meet their needs. Conclusions: Participation in the FMNCP facilitated access to nutritious foods and enhanced participants’ diet quality and health. Yet, many experiences and perceived outcomes were temporary due to the time-limited nature of the program. Findings may help improve or expand farmers’ market food subsidy programs to better meet the needs of low-income households.Item Open Access “I was planning on going to an actual real school rather than a program like this”; Students with intellectual disabilities informing adult special education(2020-08) Swan, Teresa Louise; Hughson, E. Anne; Lashewicz, Bonnie M.; Milaney, Katrina J.This study is a critical ethnography exploring the experiences of four students with an intellectual disability (ID) label enrolled in an adult special education program in British Columbia, Canada. The study focused on the following broad questions: 1) How is adult special education programming at a post-secondary institution socially organized? and 2) How is knowledge and power reflected in the academic and social activities of students with ID through text? Data were collected through in-depth interviews, a focus group, observations, review of documents, and self-reflexive journaling. It was interpreted thematically, and three prominent themes were uncovered: Bureaucratic Structure: Text and Disability, Control and Compliance and Normality: “Don’t Act Like A Kid”, and Social Relations: Who Belongs Where? A main finding was that ID students are reliable and capable research participants. Another finding was that specialized programs fail to deliver an education that recognizes student’s identity, competence, learning, human rights, or sense of belonging. A further finding was that post-secondary structures subjectivized ID students as child-like, dependent, and incapable. The results of this study begin to add a critical perspective to the scholarship and practice related to intellectual disability and post-secondary education.Item Open Access Inclusive education for students with severe disabilities: illuminating the issues(2011) Mooney, Laura Rae; Marlett, Nancy J.; Lashewicz, Bonnie M.This study is an exploration of the issues surrounding students with severe disabilities in inclusive education. An instrumental case study focuses on the educational experiences of one student as viewed by his parents, teachers and administrators. The purpose of this project is to contribute in-depth knowledge about the complexities involved in moving forward the goals of inclusion for all students amid inconsistent understandings and practices of inclusive education. Issues of challenging or protecting children, teacher comfort levels with disability, attitudes towards inclusion, conditional inclusion, bureaucracy of business, and the role of education assistants (EAs) are identified and exemplified. Freire's (1970) Critical Pedagogy assists in interpreting and discussing these issues in relation to their impact on the student and on education reform. Study findings suggest a need to address teacher discomfort with disability, negative attitudes towards inclusion, and the role of EAs when supporting students with severe disabilities in inclusive classrooms.Item Open Access Poetry as a Framework for Understanding Embodied Experiences of Bipolar Disorder(OMICS Group Corporation, 2013-02-15) Lashewicz, Bonnie M.; Ajmal, Syed IrfanItem Open Access Post-secondary students with disabilities share stories of belonging(2019-01-11) Foy, Patricia; Hughson, E. Anne; Lashewicz, Bonnie M.; Kawalilak, ColleenThis study examined a sense of belonging as integral to inclusion for students with disabilities within a post-secondary context. Grounded in a critical disability lens, coupled with identity theories, a narrative research approach was used. Nine students with disabilities from a small, Canadian, rural college shared stories of belonging and of the significance they ascribe to belonging in their overall post-secondary experience. Three prominent themes, narratives of becoming a student, narratives of engagement and narratives of barriers to belonging were uncovered. Narratives of becoming a student relate to the development of a student identity and its reciprocal relationship to the development of a sense of belonging. Narratives of engagement capture the positive and/or negative interactions of students with faculty and peers and the impact on belongingness. Narratives of barriers to belonging highlight the environmental, physical, systemic and attitudinal obstacles encountered by students. Analyzing narrative accounts through critical disability and identity frameworks revealed in-depth understandings of students’ belonging experiences. Results of this study offer both theoretical and practical implications for institutions to consider in their commitment to cultivating belonging-centred campuses. Further, I suggest including disability as part of institutional diversity and also the use of a multifaceted critical lens of identity and disability in which to view stories of belonging.Item Open Access Raising Children with Disabilities: A Critical Understanding of the Lived Experiences of Chinese Immigrant Parents in Canada(2020-07-07) Fang, Xiao Yang; Hughson, E. Anne; Milaney, Katrina J.; Lashewicz, Bonnie M.; Nelson, Fiona; McConnell, David B.; El-Lahib, YahyaPeople with disabilities are widely disadvantaged and often excluded from participating fully in society and its major institutions. Negative societal attitudes towards disabilities as well as restrictive social policies and practices frequently lead people with disabilities, as well as their families, to experience stigma and social isolation. Little is known about the experiences of immigrant parents raising children with disabilities, whose marginalization may be compounded by the additional challenges faced in the process of transition and adapting to a new country and culture. Through the examination of lived experiences of first-generation Chinese immigrant parents raising children with disabilities in Calgary, Canada, this qualitative study provides a deeper understanding of the complexity of the immigrant disability experience and how it is related to the ways in which dominant political ideologies and related policies and practices respond to and manage disability. Using hermeneutic phenomenology and in-depth interviews with 11 Chinese immigrant parents, I explore meaning- and decision-making as these parents navigate the social processes and structures of assessment, diagnosis, intervention, and service provision for their children. Employing a critical social theory lens in my analysis, I unpack the question, “how does dominant neoliberal ideology and a medically-informed view of disability systemically influence the lives of Chinese immigrant parents raising children with disabilities?” The phenomenological experience of being a Chinese immigrant parent to children with disabilities manifests itself through the themes of transformation, capacity for choice, and hope. In essence, becoming a parent to a child with a disability is a transformative experience that has significant impacts on the choices that parents are subsequently forced to make and the hopes they have for what will become of their children. Critical analysis further reveals that structural processes exclude parents from acquiring knowledge and power regarding how diagnoses are performed and how access to services is negotiated. Silently and invisibly, Chinese immigrant parents are wilfully assimilated into a new language and culture of understanding and responding to disability, and subsequently of understanding their children. Findings from this interpretive investigation offer insights into the struggles and sacrifices that Chinese immigrant parents raising children with disabilities experience and provides suggestions for more inclusive future directions.Item Open Access ‘To Have a Paddle and a Rudder’: A Postmodern Narrative Study of the Lives of Families with Disability(2020-09-15) Crawford, Suzanna C.; Estefan, Andrew; Lashewicz, Bonnie M.; Ginn, Carla S.This is a narrative study of daily lives for families who have a member with a disability (families with disability). Families with disability are often studied in a way that centralizes disability rather than personhood. The medical model and social models of disability work to create a framework of how disability might be viewed. However, these models are problematic because they have a tendency to cover over the smaller, more subjective stories of disability. Stories told by families with disability are important to tell, hear, and understand because they provide new and alternative ways of looking at life with disability. In this study, I interviewed families (being any group of people that consider themselves to be family) with disability. I conducted interviews with two or more members of five families who have a member with disability. Narrative analysis of data resulted in the writing of three stories that tell of daily life for families with disability. The stories are then further analyzed to reveal conventional and unconventional readings. Conventional readings show how dominant narratives shape understanding of family life with disability. Unconventional readings were derived using a postmodern lens. These readings uncover lesser heard, as well as difficult to tell and hear stories. The dissertation concludes with recommendations and suggestions for health and social care providers that work with families with disability or in other disability-related contexts.