Introduction: The lifespan of Mi’kmaq First Nations men continues to be eight years less than that of other Canadian men. Therefore, this study examined the intersecting relationships between the social determinants of gender, health practices and other factors on the health of Mi’kmaq boys and men living in Elsipogtog First Nation. Goal: To promote the health of Mi’kmaq men living in Elsipogtog First Nation and to decrease the health disparities among Mi’kmaq men and other Canadian men. Objectives: (a) To explore how Mi’kmaq men construct their masculinities across the lifespan within Mi’kmaq culture; (b) To examine Mi’kmaq men’s perceptions of health and health practices and how their practices of masculinity influence these practices; (c) To explore how the experiences of illness and health influence Mi’kmaq men’s perceptions of their masculinity and the configuration of its practices; (d) To contribute to the scholarship of masculinities, health, culture, race, and inequity; (f) To build research capacity among members of the community of Elsipogtog; and (e) To identify strategies or programs that will support the health of Mi’kmaq men and their ability to care for their own health. Method: A community based participatory action research study based on an Indigenist critical social theoretical approach was used to gather and analyze the data. A research team of four Mi’kmaq people worked with me to analyze the data from an Indigenous perspective. A community advisory committee advised the research team regarding recruitment issues and the findings of the study. Thirty Mi’kmaq men and seven women were interviewed. Findings: The masculinities practices of Mi’kmaq men were: (a) respecting women, (b) fathering their children, (c) providing for their families, (d) caring for the environment, (e) respecting self and others, and (f) respecting sexually diverse family friends and self. During their lifetimes, many participants dealt with multiple losses, addiction, racism, sexual abuse, suicide attempts, and poverty. Their masculinity practices, culture, and spiritual health practices served as resiliency factors that contributed to their health status and practices Conclusions: The masculinity practices of Mi’kmaq men were strengths in their health.

The objective of this study was to use a Community Based Participatory Approach and the results of a needs assessment conducted in previous research to develop videos on the topic of consuming fish during pregnancy. Phase one entailed conducting two small discussion groups with Chinese-Canadian women (n=28) to verify that the data collected in the needs assessment was still valid and to obtain more specific information about the preferred style of the videos. In phase two, researchers developed two scripts and filmed the videos. In phase three, researchers showed the videos to a sample of Chinese-Canadian women (n=20) in Peer Nutrition Program groups to gather preliminary feedback and to obtain a general sense of what the Chinese-Canadian women found most valuable in the videos. In general, the videos were well-received and the practical video made a greater impression on the women than the scientific information.

Community Based Natural Resource Management has been espoused by many as a way to move global environmental agendas for biodiversity protection forward. CBNRM places the locus of control and management of resources closer to the communities that depend on them. This idealized view of community based resource management has often proven to be challenging to implement. In this thesis the CBNRM literature is reviewed and a framework developed identifying the main criteria for successful CBNRM and the main explanations of failure in CBNRM. I then look at the role of CBNRM as a tool for rural economic development and wildlife conservation in Botswana with a case study of the village of Xai Xai. I spent approximately one year in Botswana, gaining a greater understanding of the implications of CBNRM in the country as a whole. I conclude overall, that CBNRM has not been successful in promoting either biodiversity protection or local economic development though there are certain exceptions throughout the country. I spent over three months in Xai Xai conducting interviews. I conclude that the project has led to limited wildlife conservation (or it is impossible to tell as there is no data), and has contributed in only a limited way to rural economic development and empowerment of the Basarwa. But the project has potentially led to increasing hostilities and declining cooperation and relationships within and among the ethnic groups in the village. This thesis shows through a specific case study, that there are many complexities at play when implementing a CBNRM project. The local context, knowledge and perspective must be taken into consideration or the success of the project may be doomed from the start. Possibly the premise of CBNRM may not be a realistic approach to begin with and other options should be considered.

Given the importance placed on participation and empowerment in global health initiatives, the perspective of young people with disabilities has emerged as a vital field of study. This critical ethnographic study gained insight into the perspectives of adolescents with disabilities aged 12 to 18 years who were affiliated with a community-based rehabilitation program in the urban slums of North India. The purpose of this research was to highlight the collective voices of adolescents with disabilities about their rehabilitation challenges, to explore how the culture influenced the rehabilitation challenges faced by adolescents, and to support collaborative work among adolescents with and without disabilities that would inform organizational activities. Fieldwork was conducted from January to May 2005 and October 2006 to March 2007 with 21 adolescents with disabilities, 11 adolescents without disability, and 10 community-based rehabilitation team members. Multiple data collection methods were utilized to ensure that participants could comfortably express their views. A conceptual framework called the ‘Adolescent Group Empowerment Pyramid’ was developed that illustrates one process for empowering adolescents with disabilities and their peers without disabilities within a community setting. Group empowerment involves adolescents with disabilities working towards assuming greater ownership over their rehabilitation while collaborating with their peers. The ‘group’ concept provided the foundation for the framework because adolescents viewed the group setting as enjoyable and effective. Three areas associated with meaningful group empowerment included: group participation, group demonstration, and group recognition. Three external support factors and ten areas for nurturing the group empowerment process are also described. Participants promoted a more liberal approach to empowering adolescents that embraced the notion of collaboration (rather than competition), interdependence (rather than independence), shared benefits (rather than individual gain), and the interaction of community groups. This approach promotes a harmonious balance between empowerment and the community, rather than an aggressive approach to gaining power over or from other marginalized individuals. Group empowerment, achieved through enabling group-centered occupations, encourages adolescents to collectively work for social and occupational justice. To ensure the sustainability of community-based rehabilitation initiatives, programs must be aware of personally meaningful factors that empower and maintain the interest of the target population. / Thesis (Ph.D, Rehabilitation Science) -- Queen's University, 2009-08-05 15:30:32.786

Despite our theoretical commitment to community development (CD) approaches in occupational therapy, current practice models focus on individual interventions, rather than identifying how occupational therapists (OTs) can contribute at a community level. Consequently, OTs attempting to work with communities may not have clear guidance on methods of community engagement or strategies for addressing community level issues. This research examined three cases of OTs working in CD in different regions of Canada in order to 1) generate in-depth interpretive case descriptions of CD practice; and 2) conceptualize CD from the perspective and practices of occupational therapy. Data collection in each case occurred over three weeks and included approximately 30 hours of observations, document reviews and 14 interviews with health professionals and program participants. Constructivist grounded theory informed data analysis. The conceptual framework generated from the cross-case analysis describes the context of CD in which the OTs bridged the health and community sectors. The OTs were in community-focused positions located within regional health authorities. The OTs strategically used both professional and personal self to enable more equitable power sharing between health services, community agencies and consumers, creating opportunities for meaningful engagement with and in communities. Four main CD strategies contributed to this power shift: 1) building consumer and community capacity, 2) nurturing community partnerships, 3) influencing the health care system, and 4) linking sectors and resources. These OTs focused on a set of core values while drawing on their professional experiences. Individual, organizational and community-level changes resulted from these CD initiatives. The conceptualizations developed in this study can inform the practice of OTs by identifying potential CD strategies for enabling occupations with communities and sensitizing OTs to historical contextual tensions and power inequities. From this, the applicability of current occupational therapy models to communities can be extended, enhancing reflexive CD practice. / Thesis (Ph.D, Rehabilitation Science) -- Queen's University, 2010-03-04 13:35:42.337

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No description available.

Social-ecological systems of traditional pastoralists are adapted to deal with shocks and stresses such as droughts and livestock disease that characterize their environment. However, inappropriate policies have undermined the resilience of pastoralist social-ecological systems at a time when stresses from new challenges, such as growth in the human population and global climate change are increasing. Many pastoralist groups such as the Gabra of north-central Kenya now regularly require emergency relief. There is an urgent need to take deliberate steps to rebuild the resilience of pastoralist social-ecological systems. One lever that external actors such as NGOs and government agencies have that could help them to do so relates to structures and processes of participation and decision-making. The purpose of this research, therefore, was to examine ways in which the approaches to public participation used by agencies involved in water resources management can affect the collective capacity of pastoralist institutions and communities to influence social-ecological resilience. The research revolved around a single case study: the Kenyan NGO Pastoralist Integrated Support Programme (PISP) together with the Gabra communities where PISP works. The research found that the capacity to influence resilience resides in the network of vertical and horizontal institutional linkages as much as it does in any particular organization or institution. This implies the need for a radical paradigm shift in the way that NGOs and other formal sector actors think of participation and of their role. An examination of the Gabra approach to decision-making and PISP's approach to participation point to an alternative way of thinking about participation. This alternative rationale for participation would call on formal sector actors to promote participation and inclusivity of decision-making at multiple levels of social organization through an array of interconnected processes and institutions, to foster deliberation processes that are nested across levels, and to help create and strengthen vertical institutional linkages for their beneficiary communities. These proposed strategies relate to a key contribution of this research, which is to suggest building a resilience-based theory of participation and to provide a glimpse of what such a theory might entail.

Many immigrant (minority language) parents send their children to heritage language programs in hopes of helping their children maintain connections to their mother cultures and languages. This case study aims to explore the challenges minority language parents may encounter with decisions related to heritage language retention through community-based heritage language programs in a Canadian Chinese diaspora community. Five parent participants were recruited based on their diverse geographical and linguistic backgrounds. From interviews with these parents five themes emerged. These are 1) the nature of parental expectations regarding the function of heritage education, 2) the differences between heritage education and mainstream education, 3) varying perceptions of being part of a cultural minority, 4) manners of negotiating ethnic identity, and 5) the issue of diaspora values. The findings may shed light on how heritage education may be further developed, and also provide educators and policy makers with a better understanding of the importance of heritage education from the parents’ perspective.

Community arts are potentially valuable tools in building community and regenerating distressed neighbourhoods. Community-based art organizations exist in most major cities across North America and abroad. These groups are concerned with social and environmental community issues (e.g., youth poverty, sustainability, racism) and use art as a medium for social change through community empowerment and personal development. Many of these organizations operate on limited funding and are required to complete program evaluations to demonstrate the merit of their programs. While some program evaluation literature touches on the role of arts-based research methods, very little focuses specifically on using these methods with community-based art organizations—particularly organizations with programming intended for children and youth. This Major Degree Project seeks to address this gap and explore the role of creative, arts-based evaluation methods for community-based art organizations’ program evaluation.