Les services aux usagers des bibliothèques représentent un sujet fondamental en bibliothéconomie. Or, les usagers sont un groupe hétérogène à qui l’on doit offrir les mêmes services ou, à tout le moins, la possibilité d’obtenir des services répondant à leurs besoins en matière d’adaptation des lieux et des services. Malheureusement, les bibliothèques publiques ont parfois du mal à rendre un service adapté adéquat et les personnes concernées connaissent souvent mal les services dont elles pourraient bénéficier. Pourtant, les personnes handicapées font partie intégrante des usagers et leur présence augmente, notamment à cause du vieillissement de la population et d’une meilleure capacité d’établir des diagnostics. Notons que ces citoyens revendiquent de plus en plus leur autonomie et le fait de pouvoir profiter des mêmes services que le reste de la population. Ceci est d’autant plus vrai depuis l’apparition d’aides techniques et des outils technologiques tels les ordinateurs, les tablettes, les logiciels, etc. qui leur permettent de vivre leur vie à part entière. Aussi, les bibliothèques et leurs gestionnaires doivent impérativement s’assurer que l’accueil de ces usagers « comme les autres », mais aux besoins particuliers, sera assuré convenablement. Puisqu’il manque d’études concernant les services offerts aux personnes handicapées dans les bibliothèques publiques du Québec, nous avons décidé de procéder à une enquête, par le biais d’un questionnaire électronique administré aux employés de bibliothèques dont les fonctions sont de participer aux services aux usagers. Les réponses obtenues ont permis de dresser un portrait de la situation actuelle en matière de services aux personnes adultes handicapées dans les bibliothèques publiques québécoises et d’avancer certaines recommandations. Les résultats devraient aider les responsables de bibliothèques à déterminer où et comment concentrer leurs efforts pour rendre leurs établissements plus accueillants pour les personnes ayant des incapacités. Plus précisément, les objectifs de la recherche étaient les suivants : 1. Recenser les services offerts par les bibliothèques publiques québécoises aux usagers adultes handicapés. 2. Recenser les éléments d’accessibilité présents dans les infrastructures des bibliothèques publiques québécoises. 3. Évaluer l’impact de certaines caractéristiques des bibliothèques sur l’offre de services aux usagers adultes handicapés et les éléments reliés à l’accessibilité. 4. Comparer les résultats des enquêtes précédentes (Bibliothèque nationale du Canada 1976 ; Bergeron 1987) pour mettre en évidence les recommandations qui ont été appliquées et celles qui ne l’ont pas été. / Services offered to library users are important to librarianship. However, users form an heterogeneous group and the same services should be offered or, at least, be made available to all members of the community. Unfortunately, public libraries sometimes are experiencing difficulties to provide adequate and adapted services to people have disabilities those, often, are not aware of the services they could benefit from. In addition, these individuals are often not aware pf the services that are offered to them. However, people with disabilities are part of the community and their number is increasing due to the aging of the population and better diagnostic capabilities. We should also mention that those people claim their autonomy more than before as well as the right to be able to enjoy the same services as the rest of the population. This has become even more true since the introduction of different technical and technological aids and services that allow them to live their lives to the fullest. For all these reasons, library managers must ensure that the reception of these users with special needs will be adequately insured, thus enabling them to become users “like the others”. As there is a lack of studies on the subject, we have decided to examine the situation through an electronic questionnaire sent to public library employees responsible for user services. The results collected have enabled us to draw a picture of the current state of disability services in public libraries in Quebec and to provide certain recommendations. The results should help library managers to establish where and how to focus their efforts to make their institutions more welcoming to this category of users. Specifically, the research objectives were: 1. Identify services offered by public libraries in Quebec to adult users with disabilities. 2. Identify current accessibility elements present in Quebec public libraries’ infrastructure. 3. Avaluate the impact of the presence or absence of accessibility measures on the supply of services for adult users with disabilities and items related to accessibility. 4. Compare the results with those of previous surveys (Bibliothèque nationale du Canada 1976 ; Bergeron 1987) to highlight the recommendations that have been applied and those that have not.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Architecture / Huston Gibson / National monument to national park re-designation can be identified as a controversial issue that poses an array of implications for surrounding communities. These perceived implications have the ability to create or change policies, regulations, economic development, marketing, quality of life and other direct or indirect impacts to communities. In 2010, Grand Junction, Colorado proposed re-designation of the Colorado National Monument to a national park. The community expressed split views on the issue expressing concerns on issues such as the preservation, traffic, regulated uses, restrictions, government imposition, property values, infrastructure, costs, economic prosperity and other impacts that might occur from re-designation. A multiple case study was conducted in order to determine if there were any significant impacts to other communities that had gone through similar re-designation efforts. The Community Capital Framework was used in determining the assets investigated for the years of 2000 and 2010. The findings of this study suggest that there are no substantial apparent impacts within the locations of past re-designation. Grand Junction had somewhat parallel findings to the other sites, even without the presence of re-designation. Suggesting, the re-designation efforts should be focused less on the community impacts and more on the short-term vs long-term park/monument effects.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Timothy D. Keane / Papago Park is an extraordinary urban space that has a rich history in the development of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The park was settled by pre-historic civilizations and has since been a significant recreation space for more recent generations. Although the park has been treasured among locals for ages, the development of large tourist attractions and other program elements have not been part of a cohesive park design. The park lacks a sense of unity and a strong local identity. Papago is unique in the fact that it is the only major urban park that showcases the native Sonoran Desert ecosystem. Conservation of these limited areas of native landscape is important. There is great potential for Papago to better respond to the environmental, educational, and recreational needs of the public. With this master plan, development of Papago Park is guided in order to unify park elements and strengthen its identity. It is intended that a cohesive park design which focuses on conservation of native landscape with an integrated social program will help Papago Park gain proper recognition on a regional and national scale.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Geography / Bimal K. Paul / Medical tourism comprises a phenomenon where over five million patients a year are traveling across international borders to obtain various forms of health care. Most of these patients travel from developed countries to developing countries, seeking highly invasive medical treatments to less invasive and recreational medical procedures. By the year 2012, the medical tourism industry generated over $100 billion with over 50 countries making it a priority in trade for their country. With active government promotions, India has become one of the leading destinations for medical tourism. The objective of this research was to answer the questions: 1) how do the attitudes and behaviors of patients towards the concept of medical tourism influence their decision to become a medical tourist; 2) why do medical tourists seek treatment in India; and 3) what are the issues and challenges they face before coming to India as well as while in India. Interviews of thirty-four foreign patients were conducted in six sites spread across the South-Indian cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai which revealed useful information in addressing the research objectives. The three most important reasons that these medical tourists chose India for their treatments were: 1) the high quality of the doctors and medical facilities in India, 2) the affordable cost of treatments, and 3) the availability of specific treatments that might not have been available in their home countries. Patients also researched the topic thoroughly before they came to India. Knowledge was gained primarily from the Internet, print media, television shows and friends. Overall, the patients had very positive attitudes towards medical tourism. Most of them felt that they could get treatment because of their positive opinion on medical tourism, their ability to get treatment if they desired, and support from their families and loved ones.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Katie Kingery-Page / Experiences in natural environments are perceived as a human necessity. Additionally, prior studies show that nature access has emotional, cognitive, and psychological benefits for children. Nature is defined as a space comprised mostly of vegetation that allows an individual to escape common surroundings. Access is defined as the ability to interact with high-quality nature by walking or biking in close proximity to one’s place of residence. This geospatial analysis employs Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology and site analysis to assess whether or not socioeconomic factors, and their relationship to housing choice, affect a child’s access to nature. The study includes measures of socioeconomic status and how these factors influence a child’s access to nature within parks and school facilities. The results show that including qualitative factors enhances the traditional model of measuring “distance as access.” There was no inequality in access found in the study area when qualitative factors are included. The project implication is that communities can focus public resources and planning efforts in areas lacking access to nature for children. This leads to geographically less segregated neighborhoods and improved equity in nature access across a community.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Stephanie A. Rolley / Complex issues and exciting opportunities lie at the intersection of public health and park design. One component of the recently emerging field of design for active living explores the relationship between design and physical activity as part of a transdisciplinary area of study. This study provides the opportunity to view the design strategies that landscape architects have used to design parks through a lens of promoting physical activity. The purpose of this study is to understand design strategies incorporated in two fitness parks in Louisville, Kentucky assist in meeting public health goals for the citizens of Louisville. Two topical areas were explored: the physical design strategies used in the parks; and the collaborative efforts among stakeholders to further the public health agenda for promoting physical activity in the parks. A case study of two community scale fitness parks profiled the characteristics and design philosophies engaged in park development. The methodology, based on qualitative procedures incorporated three types of investigation: 1) collection of background data and documentation of Louisville’s parks and Mayor’s Healthy Hometown Movement; 2) interviews with key stakeholders from public agencies, private non-profit foundations, and selected consultants who have completed parks design work in Louisville; and 3) a case study analysis of two of the fitness parks in the city, based on the background data and input from subject interviews, and an identification of physical design strategies in each park. Identification of design strategies was based on a conceptual framework developed from the disciplines of public health promotion and landscape architecture, and input from local agency stakeholders. A physical activity design strategy inventory form was developed to aid in analysis. Anticipated results were two-fold: 1. Presentation of information to assist landscape architects in designing parks that intentionally provide engaging opportunities for physical activity; and 2. Contribution to the dialogue between landscape architects and public health professionals, informing collaboration on design projects and community programs. Findings revealed that the two parks studied incorporated several physical design strategies that promote physical activity, reflecting the mature park culture in Louisville, Kentucky, home to one of five designed Olmsted Parks and Parkways systems in the United States. The physical activity design strategy inventory form developed in this study as an audit tool warrants additional study as a potential audit and design tool to engage landscape architects designing for physical activity and informing others of ways that park design can play a role in physical activity.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Deborah D. Canter / SooCheong Jang / Senior casino gaming has been appearing as a leisure activity for the senior population as well as a research topic for many researchers from various academic disciplines. Finding out important reasons or motivations for older adults spending time in casino gaming will be the one of the fundamental ways to determine their future casino patronage intention. Accordingly, this study identifies a comprehensive inventory of senior casino gaming motivations by way of an exploratory approach. Followed Churchill’s (1979) scale development procedure, the study generated a to find five distinctive senior casino gaming motivation dimensions: winning and thrill, socialization, escape, enjoyment, and curiosity. Ultimately, confirmatory factor estimates supported that the finalized measure was unidimensional, reliable, and valid while the measurement scale was parsimonious and captured various dimensions of senior casino gaming motivation. The second part of this study investigated the applicability of an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) with motivation component attached in context of senior casino gaming behavior. Seniors’ past casino visit was also tested for a moderator effect between the major predictor variables (attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and motivation) and seniors’ casino behavioral intention. The findings of a structural equation modeling suggested that all predictable variables of TPB had positive effects on seniors’ casino gaming intention. Among senior casino gaming motivation, ‘winning and thrill’ and ‘enjoyment’ had direct positive effects on behavioral intention. The results of metric invariance test for moderating role of past casino visit showed that there was no indication of seniors’ past casino visit having any influence on their intention to participate in casino gaming. The overall study results suggested that the proposed extended model is a useful tool to use in studying of senior casino gaming behavior. In conclusion, theoretical and practical implications of the study findings were discussed.

«Bien dans mes Baskets» (BdmB) est un programme d’intervention psychosociale utilisant le basketball parascolaire comme outil de prévention du décrochage scolaire et de la délinquance chez des adolescents en difficulté ou présentant plusieurs facteurs de risque. Le programme a comme objectifs généraux de prévenir le décrochage scolaire, la délinquance et l’exclusion sociale. La présente étude a comme principaux objectifs d’explorer le processus de construction du sentiment d’appartenance à l’équipe et à l’école des athlètes-étudiants participant au programme BdmB et d’examiner le lien entre le sentiment d’appartenance à l’équipe et à l’école chez ces derniers. Des entretiens semi-directifs ont été réalisés auprès d’un échantillon aléatoire de 21 athlètes-étudiants de sexe masculin inscrits dans le programme BdmB. Nous avons choisis au hasard sept athlètes-étudiants dans trois équipes de catégories d’âge différentes (atome, cadet et juvénile) afin de mettre en évidence la progression potentielle du sentiment d’appartenance dans le temps. Le verbatim des entretiens enregistrés a été transcrit afin de procéder à une analyse inspirée de la théorisation ancrée. Les résultats permettent l’identification de trois conditions qui paraissent jouer un rôle déterminant dans la construction du sentiment d’appartenance, soit : 1) le partage d’expériences communes significatives, 2) la valorisation de la pratique du basketball au sein de BdmB, et 3) le climat de l’équipe et du programme. Ces conditions découlent de l’interaction et du cumul de nombreux facteurs individuels et interpersonnels ainsi que de facteurs liés au programme. Pour certains athlètes-étudiants, le basketball parascolaire semble même favoriser la motivation scolaire. Pour plusieurs, le sentiment d’appartenance à l’équipe est indissociable du sentiment d’appartenance à l’école. / "Bien dans mes Baskets" (BdmB) is a psychosocial intervention program using basketball as a tool to prevent school dropout and delinquency among adolescents in difficulty or at risk. The general goals of the program are to prevent school dropout, delinquency and social exclusion. This study has two main objectives: 1) investigate the construction process of a sense of belonging to the team and to the school among athlete-students participating in BdmB, and 2) explore the potential connection between the basketball players' sense of team belonging and sense of school belonging. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 21 male student-athletes enrolled in the program BdmB. We randomly selected seven student-athletes in three teams of different age categories (atome, cadet and juvénile) to highlight the potential progression of the sense of belonging over time. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim in order to conduct an analysis inspired by grounded theory. The results allow the identification of three conditions that appear to play a key role in the construction of a sense of belonging: 1) the sharing of meaningful group experiences, 2) the valorization of playing basketball in BdmB, and 3) the team and program climate. These conditions arise from the interaction and combination of many individual factors, interpersonal factors and program factors. For some athlete-students, afterschool basketball seems to encourage academic motivation. For most of the athlete-students, their sense of team belonging is tantamount to their sense of school belonging.

Au Vietnam, les informations sur la contamination de la viande de volaille par les salmonelles sont presque limitées. L’étude cherche à comparer la prévalence des salmonelles entre les marchés traditionnels et les supermarchés ainsi qu’entre les carcasses fraîches et congelées en plus de mesurer la température interne au moment de l’achat. Deux cent quarante-cinq carcasses de poulets entiers ont été achetées des marchés et des supermarchés dans sept arrondissements de la ville de Hanoi au Vietnam de juin à juillet 2011. L’échantillonnage a inclu 110 carcasses fraîches de marchés traditionnels (F/M), 109 carcasses fraîches des supermarchés (F/SM) et 26 carcasses congelées des supermarchés (FZ/SM). La température intérieure des carcasses a été évalué au moment de l’achat des carcasses. Salmonella a été isolé à partir de rinçage de carcasses et les isolats ont été sérotypés. La prévalence de carcasses positives pour Salmonella était de 66,5% (163/245) et variait entre les trois catégories : 84,55% (93/110) de F/M, 59,63% (65/109) de F/SM et 19,23% (5/26) de FZ/SM (P<0.05). Pour un total de 25 sérovars détectés, le sérovar principal fut Agona (24,78%) suivi de Albany (20,43%) et enfin Corvallis (10%). Deux des sérovars repérés se retrouvaient sur les mêmes carcasses pour 66 échantillons (26,9%). La température interne des carcasses des marchés traditionnels et des supermarchés était associé une différence significative (P < 0.05) avec une température moyenne de 27,3°C et 15,8°C respectivement. Cette étude dévoile une prévalence élevée de Salmonellaspp.des carcasses de poulets à Hanoi et démontre une difficulté partagée par tous les types de marchés à maintenir une température adéquate des carcasses. / In Vietnam, the data on the prevalence of Salmonella contamination in retail chicken meat is limited. We wanted to compare that prevalence at traditional and modern supermarkets, as well as in fresh versus frozen carcasses, and to verify the inner carcass temperatures at time of purchase. A collection of 245 whole chicken carcasses were purchased from traditional markets and supermarkets, in seven urban district areas of Hanoi in June and July, 2011. Sampling plan included 110 fresh chickens from traditional markets (F/M), 109 fresh chickens from supermarkets (F/SM) and 26 frozen chickens from supermarkets (FZ/SM). The inner carcass temperature was measured at the time of purchase. Salmonella was isolated from carcass rinses and isolates were serotyped. The overall prevalence of Salmonella-positive carcasses was 66.5% (163/245). The Salmonella prevalence in the three types of chickens varied significantly, 84.55% (93/110) from F/M, 59.63% (65/109) from F/SM and 19.23% (5/26) from FZ/SM (P< 0.05). A total of 25 serovars were recovered. The predominant serovars were Agona (24.78%), Albany (20.43%) and Corvallis (10%). Two different serovars were isolated and coexisted on the same carcass in 66 samples (26.9%). The inner carcass temperatures of fresh samples from traditional markets and supermarkets were significantly different (P <0.05) with a mean inner carcass temperature of 27.3oC and 15.8oC respectively. This study revealed a high prevalence of Salmonella sp. from retail chickens in Hanoi and uncovered the difficulty encountered by all market types to store broiler chicken carcasses at a safe temperature.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Mary Catherine (Katie) Kingery-Page / In the United States, minorities are less physically active and in turn at higher risk for heart disease, diabetes and obesity. The purpose of my study is to examine the factors that influence physical activity in neighborhood parks and to answer: What aspects of park design and programming discourage physical activity participation in African American women? My goal is to identify barriers to physical activity and make recommendations for improving design and programming of a neighborhood park. The results of my research are relevant to the planning profession because planners can use public policy to combat inequality in the built environment. Many studies have related recreation access to socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, age, and gender. While African American women are not the only disadvantaged population when it comes to access to recreation, they do have a higher risk for obesity. In trying to answer why African American women have higher rates of obesity, some studies have found that while willingness to participate in physical activity does not differ in white and black women, duration of physical activity does. My research employs a mixed methods approach to understand the barriers to physical activity experienced by African American women, in context of a neighborhood park. This study uses a physical assessment of James Mulligan Park and the surrounding neighborhood within Alexandria, Virginia. Following the physical assessment I piloted a survey to gather information on the barriers to physical activity. The pilot guided a final survey of seventeen participating African American women in the neighborhood. I hypothesized that the perception of park safety will have an effect on the rate of physical activity in African American women. This hypothesis points to a general barrier for all women. Based on literature review, I also expected to find barriers unique to African American women. The study concluded that African American women in this neighborhood share some barriers with all women and they also expressed some barriers unique to African American women. I found that personal barriers like “exercise tires me” was the most common, rather than perceptions of safety. In addition, I found culturally specific barriers, such as “exercising is not my cultural activity” and “I avoid exercise to protect my hairstyle.” Based on my analysis of the setting and surveys I make several recommendations for the park and neighborhood.