Comparisons of aging services in Canada and the United States reveal similarities and differences in the structure and function of the two systems. In both countries, adult day services (ADS) is an integral component in the array of services available to older adults. In this study, I compared structural characteristics of programs, participant characteristics, and examined the National Adult Day Services Association classification model of ADS in demographically similar areas of Canada and the United States. Directors of 47 ADS programs in demographically similar provinces and states in Atlantic Canada, Maine, and Vermont responded to a mailed survey. Adult day services programs in each province and state exhibited some unique structural and participant characteristics. Statistically significant differences emerged between ADS programs in the two countries on the following structural variables: town population, center affiliation, center location, levels of government support, participant fees, organizational structure, hours of operation, months of attendance, hours attended per day, service frequency, and service provision. Participant characteristics that significantly varied between the two countries involved educational level and functional characteristics. A minority of programs exhibited a match between participant needs and services provided. However, very few programs belonged to the most mismatched category of providing core services to intensive level participants. The findings of this study support the importance of individual programs providing services appropriate to meet the needs of participants rather than adhering to a predetermined model of care. / Ph. D.

The aim of the study was to integrate economics, forage agronomy and livestock production data to determine the economic costs and benefits of management techniques that can extend the grazing season for beef production in Atlantic Canada. The results of the study show that extending the grazing season is financially and economically beneficial for both an Atlantic beef farmer and the whole Atlantic community. Extending the grazing season could be thus an alternative solution to enhance beef farm viability in Atlantic Canada. It can also contribute to the sustainable development of beef cattle production through its benefits for environmental protection. The results of this study reflect the necessity of supporting and promoting the adoption of extended grazing season practices in Atlantic beef production. This support and this promotion could involve increasing awareness, training on grazing management skills, diffusion at workshops and participatory research.

This research examined changes in culture and agriculture in the rural community of Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, with a specific interest in understanding and contextualizing (re)localization initiatives. The study employed key-informant interviews with 23 members of the agricultural community to develop a narrative of socio-agricultural transition, which was used to launch discussion on the role of agriculture during a public forum in Tatamagouche. The creamery was found to have played a central role in the community’s history, and its gradual decline coincided with the growing disuse of farmland in the area. New communities of farmers moved onto available farmland in Tatamagouche. Today, current ‘civic’ agriculture initiatives include CSAs, a local currency system, a farmers market, and a community land trust. The challenges and opportunities in the revived local agriculture community are discussed, and policy recommendations to support community-scale sustainable food systems are offered based on findings in Tatamagouche.

Childhood obesity has become an increasingly important public health concern in Canada. This paper provides an econometric analysis of the role of income and other explanatory factors on adolescent overweight and obese statuses within Canada using data from the 2009/2010 Canadian Community Health Survey. Results reveal the importance of low-income status on adolescent body weight. The effect of low income is particularly pronounced after accounting for household size. However, it does not account for much of the additional incidence of overweight and obesity in the Atlantic region of Canada.

The Atlantic Canadian provinces (Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia) have long been associated with agricultural romanticism. Economically and culturally entrenched in a stereotype of quaintness (Anne of Green Gables is just one of many examples), the region continuously falls into a cycle of inferiority. In this thesis, I argue that queer theory can be infused into performance analysis to better situate local theatre practice as a site of mobilization. Using terms and concepts from queer geographers and other scholars, particularly those who address capitalism (Gibson-Graham, Massey), this research outlines a methodology of performance analysis that looks through a queer lens in order to destabilize normative assumptions about Atlantic Canada. Three contemporary performances are studied in detail: Christian Barry, Ben Caplan, and Hannah Moscovitch's Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, Ryan Griffith's The Boat, and Xavier Gould’s digital personality “Jass-Sainte Bourque”. Combining Ric Knowles' "dramaturgy of the perverse" (The Theatre of Form 1999) with Sara Ahmed's "queer phenomenology" (Queer Phenomenology 2006) allows for a thorough queer analysis of these three performances. I argue that such an approach positions new Atlantic Canadian performances and dramaturgies as sites of aesthetic and semantic disorientation. Building on Jill Dolan's "utopian performatives" (Utopia in Performance 2005), wherein the audiences experience a collective "lifting above" of normative dramaturgical structures, my use of "queer phenomenology" fosters a plurality of unique perspectives. The process of complicating normalizing tendencies helps dismantle generalizing cultural stereotypes.

This study investigates how socially and economically disadvantaged young people, living in a semi-rural, post-industrial Atlantic Canadian community, experience and perceive social and economic health -- defined as participants' sense of comfort and security that their social and economic needs are, and will continue to be, met in their community. I argue that social and educational policies and practices must reflect the realities of local citizens if they aim to interrupt regional health disparities. A key objective of this research is to expose and challenge gender, class, and regional inequalities through an analysis of young adults' social and economic health experiences and perceptions. Drawing primarily upon Pierre Bourdieu's (1990b; 2001)concepts -- habitus, field, and symbolic domination -- relations between gender, class,and historical circumstances theoretically inform this research. Employing a critical ethnographic methodological framework (Madison, 2005),experiences and perceptions of ten economically disadvantaged youth -- five women and five men, ages 19-30 -- were gathered through focus groups, individual interviews, participant observation, critical dialogue (using media to stimulate dialogue among participants), and an adaptation of photovoice (a technique combining photography and narrative). Results suggest that the social and economic health needs of economically disadvantaged young adults are not being met. They confirm Bourdieu's (1999a)assertion of an interrelationship between physical place and the positioning of agents in social fields. Participants navigate economic, cultural, and social fields, aware of their social positioning as they 'work' the fields in order to secure enough capital to 'get by'. Their struggles are examples of symbolic domination and suggest a significant psycho-social cost to young adults seeking social and economic health through various fields. Analyses of their experiences suggest a disjuncture between gendered identities ascribed to participants through historically-rooted habitus and contemporary social fields. Recommendations call for gender, class, and regional inequalities to be addressed through structural interventions and investment in long term community-based education that is integrated with local economic development initiatives. Furthermore, this research calls attention to how research agendas and procedures can actually reinforce marginalization, making it difficult for the voices of disadvantaged communities to enter into dominant public discourse.

A historical approach to preserving biodiversity throughout the world is the establishment of protected areas, with the underlying philosophy that the greatest public benefit is achieved by protecting natural resources, despite exclusion of affected human communities. Consequently, protected areas can become arenas of struggle between local communities and state conservation agendas. Some suggest socio-ecological sustainability is gained by shifting to decentralized governance structures and interjurisdictional arrangements. Biosphere reserves allow for policies, management and institutional arrangements that integrate social, economic, political and environmental issues and better aligns them with decision-making processes, place-based governance and dynamic socio-ecological systems. This research project explores the real-life experiences and unanticipated outcomes of public participation in conservation projects and compares them against the scholarly discourse to examine our understanding of public participation and place-based governance in two Atlantic Canada protected areas. Using case studies of South West Nova Biosphere Region, Nova Scotia and Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve region, Newfoundland and Labrador, this study assesses levels of public participation by various stakeholder groups within the two case studies, examines the credibility of the public participation criteria and explores the challenges and opportunities of implementing community-based conservation projects. The case studies were assessed against eight criteria for effective public participation, focusing on public engagement (strategic, inclusive, transparent), the decision-making process (enabling, respectful, constructive) and desired outcomes (instrumental and meaningful). Based on semi-structured interviews, participant observation and a literature review, results suggest that open and public deliberative activities seeking and incorporating public interests into decision-making processes throughout an initiative contributes to local legitimacy, credibility and fairness. The case studies provide insight into the value of the public participation criteria, the long-term regional commitment required, the complexity in shifting to place-based governance arrangements and the importance of linking individual and collective identity with public participation. The primary research findings advocate a comprehensive, flexible, pluralistic, bioregional and contextually responsive approach to public participation and place-based governance.

A historical approach to preserving biodiversity throughout the world is the establishment of protected areas, with the underlying philosophy that the greatest public benefit is achieved by protecting natural resources, despite exclusion of affected human communities. Consequently, protected areas can become arenas of struggle between local communities and state conservation agendas. Some suggest socio-ecological sustainability is gained by shifting to decentralized governance structures and interjurisdictional arrangements. Biosphere reserves allow for policies, management and institutional arrangements that integrate social, economic, political and environmental issues and better aligns them with decision-making processes, place-based governance and dynamic socio-ecological systems. This research project explores the real-life experiences and unanticipated outcomes of public participation in conservation projects and compares them against the scholarly discourse to examine our understanding of public participation and place-based governance in two Atlantic Canada protected areas. Using case studies of South West Nova Biosphere Region, Nova Scotia and Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve region, Newfoundland and Labrador, this study assesses levels of public participation by various stakeholder groups within the two case studies, examines the credibility of the public participation criteria and explores the challenges and opportunities of implementing community-based conservation projects. The case studies were assessed against eight criteria for effective public participation, focusing on public engagement (strategic, inclusive, transparent), the decision-making process (enabling, respectful, constructive) and desired outcomes (instrumental and meaningful). Based on semi-structured interviews, participant observation and a literature review, results suggest that open and public deliberative activities seeking and incorporating public interests into decision-making processes throughout an initiative contributes to local legitimacy, credibility and fairness. The case studies provide insight into the value of the public participation criteria, the long-term regional commitment required, the complexity in shifting to place-based governance arrangements and the importance of linking individual and collective identity with public participation. The primary research findings advocate a comprehensive, flexible, pluralistic, bioregional and contextually responsive approach to public participation and place-based governance.

This study investigates how socially and economically disadvantaged young people, living in a semi-rural, post-industrial Atlantic Canadian community, experience and perceive social and economic health -- defined as participants' sense of comfort and security that their social and economic needs are, and will continue to be, met in their community. I argue that social and educational policies and practices must reflect the realities of local citizens if they aim to interrupt regional health disparities. A key objective of this research is to expose and challenge gender, class, and regional inequalities through an analysis of young adults' social and economic health experiences and perceptions. Drawing primarily upon Pierre Bourdieu's (1990b; 2001)concepts -- habitus, field, and symbolic domination -- relations between gender, class,and historical circumstances theoretically inform this research. Employing a critical ethnographic methodological framework (Madison, 2005),experiences and perceptions of ten economically disadvantaged youth -- five women and five men, ages 19-30 -- were gathered through focus groups, individual interviews, participant observation, critical dialogue (using media to stimulate dialogue among participants), and an adaptation of photovoice (a technique combining photography and narrative). Results suggest that the social and economic health needs of economically disadvantaged young adults are not being met. They confirm Bourdieu's (1999a)assertion of an interrelationship between physical place and the positioning of agents in social fields. Participants navigate economic, cultural, and social fields, aware of their social positioning as they 'work' the fields in order to secure enough capital to 'get by'. Their struggles are examples of symbolic domination and suggest a significant psycho-social cost to young adults seeking social and economic health through various fields. Analyses of their experiences suggest a disjuncture between gendered identities ascribed to participants through historically-rooted habitus and contemporary social fields. Recommendations call for gender, class, and regional inequalities to be addressed through structural interventions and investment in long term community-based education that is integrated with local economic development initiatives. Furthermore, this research calls attention to how research agendas and procedures can actually reinforce marginalization, making it difficult for the voices of disadvantaged communities to enter into dominant public discourse.

This study investigates how socially and economically disadvantaged young people, living in a semi-rural, post-industrial Atlantic Canadian community, experience and perceive social and economic health -- defined as participants' sense of comfort and security that their social and economic needs are, and will continue to be, met in their community. I argue that social and educational policies and practices must reflect the realities of local citizens if they aim to interrupt regional health disparities. A key objective of this research is to expose and challenge gender, class, and regional inequalities through an analysis of young adults' social and economic health experiences and perceptions. Drawing primarily upon Pierre Bourdieu's (1990b; 2001)concepts -- habitus, field, and symbolic domination -- relations between gender, class,and historical circumstances theoretically inform this research. Employing a critical ethnographic methodological framework (Madison, 2005),experiences and perceptions of ten economically disadvantaged youth -- five women and five men, ages 19-30 -- were gathered through focus groups, individual interviews, participant observation, critical dialogue (using media to stimulate dialogue among participants), and an adaptation of photovoice (a technique combining photography and narrative). Results suggest that the social and economic health needs of economically disadvantaged young adults are not being met. They confirm Bourdieu's (1999a)assertion of an interrelationship between physical place and the positioning of agents in social fields. Participants navigate economic, cultural, and social fields, aware of their social positioning as they 'work' the fields in order to secure enough capital to 'get by'. Their struggles are examples of symbolic domination and suggest a significant psycho-social cost to young adults seeking social and economic health through various fields. Analyses of their experiences suggest a disjuncture between gendered identities ascribed to participants through historically-rooted habitus and contemporary social fields. Recommendations call for gender, class, and regional inequalities to be addressed through structural interventions and investment in long term community-based education that is integrated with local economic development initiatives. Furthermore, this research calls attention to how research agendas and procedures can actually reinforce marginalization, making it difficult for the voices of disadvantaged communities to enter into dominant public discourse. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate