One in seven Canadian women lives in poverty. There is a considerable body of research on the factors that cause women’s poverty in Canada and on how poverty affects women’s lives. There are also a number of programs and organizations that help women living in poverty. However, there is a lack of research that examines the meanings and experiences women have with these programs and the role these programs may play in their lives. This study has attempted to fill this gap by examining an innovative training and employment program for women living in poverty. A qualitative approach was taken, which included in-depth, semi-structured interviews with eight women who had recently completed the program, as well as an informal interview with the program director. The interviews explored the women’s experiences with the program, the meanings they associated with the program, and the ways in which participation in the program had influenced their lives. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze the interview data, and socialist feminist theory provided a lens to guide the study as a whole. The analysis led to the development of a number of themes and sub-themes. Safety, stability and connections with others were found to be particularly meaningful and important components of the program. These features enabled the participants to discover a new sense of self through the development of skills, confidence and empowerment. These findings suggest the importance of providing a holistic program, and one that addresses the broad range of challenges and concerns that affect the lives of women in poverty. Programs that focus narrowly on employment and job training may be insufficient. The implications of this research are discussed in terms of the diverse needs of women living in poverty and the range of barriers that they face. Community programs such as the one studied can help women make significant gains in their lives, which can, in turn, contribute to overcoming poverty and achieving economic independence.

For hundreds of years, supporters of the traditional Martial Arts have spoken of the ability to promote the personal development of the practitioner through serious training practices (Lu, 2008). The connection between personal development and mind-body training practices is illustrated in the Japanese concept of budo, which applies generally to “those Martial Arts that have more than a combat dimension” (Lawler, 1996, p.9). While the physical training is similar to other forms of combat (such as boxing or military training), it is the philosophical focus of the training as a form of personal development that makes budo a unique characteristic of certain forms of Martial Arts practice. The current study attempts to examine the way in which training in the Martial Arts affects the overall lifestyle of the individual. Understanding the main relationship between Martial Arts participation and personal wellbeing, and how this is influenced by the identity of the participant, represents the central focus of the current study. While the main relationship being studied is the one between Martial Arts participation and well-being, there are several l factors at play in influencing this central relationship. Given the unique connection of mind and body in the practice of the Martial Arts, one factor that influences the relationship between Martial Arts participation and well-being is the spirituality of the individual practitioner. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between Martial Arts participation and well-being, and to investigate how this central relationship is influenced by the associated concepts of identity, spirituality, serious leisure, motivation, and involvement. This study found that although Martial Arts participation displayed significant power in predicting wellbeing scores, the psycho-social factors associated with the training experience heavily shaped this relationship. The results of this study also suggest that it is not the style of Martial Arts participation, but the way the individual engages with the act of training and incorporates it into their daily life that separates individuals.

Traumas such as experiences of military combat, violent personal assault, natural disasters, severe vehicle accidents, being taken as hostage or prisoner, and diagnosis of life threating disease (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) impact every aspect and facet of the lives of trauma survivors including the physical, social, mental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual aspects of well-being. Trauma results in avoidance and dissociation, hyperarousal, and intrusion and constriction (Herman, 1997). Trauma may also lead individuals to anxiety, depression, somatization and cognitive distortions (Briere, 2004), disconnection from their bodies (Ogden el al. 2006; van der Kolk, 2006), and getting stuck in the past (van der Kolk et al., 1996). In leisure contexts, trauma may lead to experiencing avoidance, re-enactment in leisure, and the tendency to isolate and fear emotional and physical intimacy with others (Arai, Griffin, Miatello, & Greig, 2008). The foundation of trauma healing is establishing safety, mourning and reconnection with ordinary life (Herman, 1997), reconnection with the body, and being present (Levine, 2010). While cognitive therapy plays a role in trauma healing, somatic approaches provide additional support to reconnection of body and mind. Somatically-oriented therapies support trauma survivors to acquire a sense of safety and mastery over their bodies and to heal disconnection that results from trauma exposure (van der Kolk, 2003). The promise of interventions integrating body-mind in healing and support various mental health issues are growing and research is showing positive results. There is growing evidence of the role of physically-active leisure in healing trauma (Arai, Mock & Gallant, 2011). Yoga has been supported by a number of studies as a therapeutic intervention for both psychological and physiological conditions associated with trauma (Emerson & Hopper, 2011; Emerson, Sharma, Chaudhry, & Turner, 2009; The Trauma Centre, 2013; van der Kolk, 2012; Ware, 2007) and posttraumatic stress disorder (Descilo et al., 2007; Emerson et al., 2009; van der Kolk, 2012). Yoga originated over 5000 years ago in India and is a holistic and comprehensive system of practice and wellbeing that creates individuality, space, and opening allowing the self to be in the body without judgment. According to Iyengar (2002), yoga lifts up from clutches of pain and sorrow, and enables to live fully, taking a delight in life. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the meanings and experiences of yoga for trauma survivors. Phenomenology attempts to capture participants’ perception of lived experience, plunging deep into the nature of being to embrace a mindful wondering about a project of life, of living, of what it means to live a life (van Manen, 2001). The study engaged thirteen individuals who experienced trauma and had been practicing yoga for at least five years in phenomenological interviews using open and active interview questions. Research questions guiding my study were: What is the nature of the yoga experience? What meanings do people who have experienced trauma make of this experience? What happens in the yoga experience that is healing? The findings emerged in the form of four essences describing the yoga experiences of participants: moving from the darkness of trauma into the light of yoga and living, entering into safe and sacred spaces, letting go into yoga and returning to embodiment of self, and embracing creativity and connection beyond the mat. Through the light that yoga brought into the darkness of the lives of the participants, they realized they are far more than just the trauma they experienced. This light allowed them know and touch the light within, feel safe again, reclaim their connection with self, befriending their bodies while being present in the moment and know the trauma has already happened and they do not have to stay there.

The literature has stated that all adults with Down syndrome (DS) develop the physiological signs of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but that the behavioural changes may not occur until many years later. While there has been a fair bit of literature on the benefits of leisure in reducing the risk, or delaying the development, of AD in adults without DS, this literature is almost non-existent for the DS population. The purpose of the present study was two-fold. First, this study investigated the differences in cognition, language, and literacy skills, and leisure activity participation in younger and older adults with DS. Second, this study examined leisure activity participation as a predictor of cognitive, language, and literacy abilities. Results showed that older participants (age 46-60) tended to score more poorly on measures of cognition, language, and literacy than younger participants (age 20-45). These age-related differences may, in part, be due to AD. Leisure activity participation was also found to vary with age, such that older adults engaged in fewer physical, cognitive, and social leisure activities and worked more hours than the younger adults. Differences in leisure activity participation may be due to AD or to the participant's place of residence, where participants living in a group home tended to work more and were involved in less leisure than participants living with their parents. Finally, leisure activity participation was not found to predict cognitive, language and literacy scores, with the exception of watching television, which negatively predicted oral expression scores. While true of all adults, adults with DS should be encouraged to dedicate more time to positive leisure activities at all ages, and more specifically to cognitive leisure activities, and dedicate less time to television watching, to help delay the onset of declines associated with AD.

The four studies of this thesis provide an overview of the epidemiology of physical activity in Canada. In the first study two methods of coding activities used in estimating leisure-time physical activity energy expenditure (LTPAEE), from a questionnaire including 21 specific activities, and up to three “other” activities were compared. The authors assessed whether the assignment of activity intensity for “other” activities has an effect on LTPAEE and the classification of respondents as physically active versus inactive. The results indicate that the population classification of activity level is not affected by the intensity code; however, individual level LTPAEE is under-estimated from light and vigorous activities and over-estimated from moderate activities using the current method. In study two the proportion of Canadians meeting Canada’s physical activity guidelines for moderate and vigorous activities was estimated. The prevalence of adults reporting no activity has not changed since 1994/95 and the prevalence of meeting the guidelines has increased by about 11%. Men, younger adults, those with higher income and lower body mass index (BMI) meet the guidelines more often than their peers. The epidemiology of walking among Canadians between 1994 and 2007 was assessed in the third study. Walking was the most popular activity, regardless of age, sex, BMI or income group; however, only 30% of walkers walked regularly. Women, older adults, those with lower BMI and lower household income walk regularly more often than their counterparts. Women, older adults and lower income Canadians tended to derive 100% of their total LTPAEE from walking. An evaluation of whether meeting the guidelines for physical activity was associated with lower odds of chronic conditions and reporting fair/poor health was undertaken in study four. After adjustment for covariates, the odds of type 2 diabetes, obesity and reporting fair/poor health were significantly higher among those not meeting the guidelines for both sexes and for high blood pressure among women. Together these findings provide an understanding of the limitations of estimating LTPAEE, provide estimates of the proportion of Canadians meeting the guidelines for physical activity and provide insight into the relationship between meeting the guidelines and chronic conditions. / Thesis (Ph.D, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2009-06-18 16:18:44.998

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The overall purpose of this study was to better understand why youth travellers are visiting Manitoba. A web-survey was administered to visitors of the Hostelling International - Canada, Manitoba Region website. Youth leisure travellers planning to visit Manitoba were found to be between 24 and 28 years of age, mostly from Canada and Australia, not students, but educated and employed, with between $501 and $3,500 available for travel purposes. Respondents’ travel plans were found to include; travel alone or with one other person, an average stay of 5 days planned for Manitoba, travel by rented vehicle or by bus, and the use of the internet, guidebooks and family and friends as information sources prior to travel. Dominant motives for travel to Manitoba were uncovered, and relationships of Manitoba specific travel motives were found with several demographic and travel characteristics. The results of this study can be used by the Manitoba tourism sector to market Manitoba travel experiences and to emphasize how they cater to one or more dominant travel motives. This will enable them to better attract and satisfy their customers.

In the global marketplace of the twenty-first century a proliferation of festivals, or festivalisation, has produced an increasingly pressurised and politicized environment for international arts festivals. Through a case study of the Edinburgh International Festival the thesis explores what strategies the Festival is adopting to maintain its lead position in this increasingly competitive international landscape. It examines recent cultural policy development in Scotland and the UK exploring how creative industry theory promotes the argument for ‘investment’ in cultural festivals as economic drivers and city or region profile boosters. Edinburgh’s cultural policy is to brand itself the Festival City and it has supported the establishment of a number of competing festivals in the city. The case study investigates how the Edinburgh International Festival is managing a range of new initiatives at a time of rapid political change in Scotland. These include: exploiting changing technology to assist marketing and audience development; establishing partnerships and collaborations with a growing range of non-cultural public and private bodies, and cultural diplomacy – the development of international initiatives on behalf of the Scottish and UK Governments. The case study also explores a unique model of co-opetition which has developed between the Edinburgh International Festival and rival festivals, producing new strategic cultural organizations. The thesis establishes how current cultural policies in Scotland and the UK require international arts festivals to engage in non-cultural roles in order to create profile and advantage for themselves and their stakeholders in addition to fulfilling their cultural remit and in an environment of dwindling public and private sector support. In conclusion, it considers the opportunities and risks for arts organizations of an instrumental approach to cultural policy.

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Divorce can be seen as one of the major causes of single-parent households (Janzen & Harris, 1997:134). Among the obvious difficulties families face as a result of divorce, other difficulties such as lack of time for family bonding and family leisure directly affect the well-being of the entire single-parent family (Arnold et al., 2008:84; Hornberger et al., 2010:158). Families form the foundation of society and the most important relationship in a family is that between the parents. If this relationship is strong, the rest of the relationships in the family will fall into place (Fields & Casper, 2001; Hornberger et al., 2010:143). It is important for the parents to have a strong relationship with each other, since this is a child’s first example of what a healthy relationship should be like. Therefore the relationship between parents could be seen as the base for the relationship between parent and child (Leman, 2000:164). Shaw and Dawson (2001:228) conclude that some parents do not participate in leisure activities for enjoyment, nor is it intrinsically motivated; parents see it as a responsibility and duty while they are feeling frustrated by doing something they wish not to. Therefore the purpose of this study was to firstly review the literature to determine whether it supports the usage of a leisure-based programme to strengthen the relationship between divorced single parents and their children; secondly, to explore and describe the role of a leisure-based programme in developing attitudes as well as in strengthening relationships between single parents and their children. The two-fold research objectives were studied by means of two different strategies. The first was a literature review done to analyse the research problem. Books, journals, dissertations, theses and Internet sources published between 1993 and 2011 were used to give a theoretical exposition of this study. Research concluded that leisure programmes have the potential of developing parent-child relationships. A qualitative research method was applied to research the second purpose of this study. Two divorced single-parent families participated in this ethnographic research study. Data was gathered by means of participant observation, field-notes and a semi-structured interview with each individual family member (De Vos, 2005:296; Veal, 2006:386). The researcher worked through the process of open-coding and then two main themes were identified during content analysis. The first was attitudes which had its own set of categories, namely self-esteem and self-empowerment and motivation. The second theme was relationships consisting of communication, problem solving, respect and trust. It could be concluded that if the elements in the themes are developed it would lead to the enhancement of the main theme. As a result of families participating in the leisure-based programme it was established that the development of self-esteem and self-empowerment as well as motivation led to the improvement of attitudes. Similarly, the enhancement of communication, problem solving, respect and trust contributed to the improvement of relationships. / Thesis (MA (Recreational Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.