I am a community support worker who supports people with intellectual disabilities to live full lives with dignity in the community. This is a role that can trace its heritage to the 1980s when large institutions in BC closed in favour of community group homes. Current scholarship suggests that the requisite full lives promised at the time the institutions closed have not materialized in the years since. Further, this scholarship suggests that it is the community support worker who has failed to deliver on important social goals. As a worker I can attest that I do at times feel unsettled in my work, like my mere presence is problematic, as if I fail by showing up. Based on the premise that I can learn about the worker of present by looking at how she was first imagined, in this genealogical study I explore how the community support worker of the 1980s was produced in archival documents of groups involved in the development of community group homes after the closure of Woodlands in New Westminster, BC. My findings suggest that the community support worker role served many interests, and that her purpose was not solely trained to the social needs of the people she supported. A confluence of economic rationalities, family concerns, and regulatory demands shaped her as an invisible domestic idealized as a temporary solution to a problem that was expected to dissipate through the increased independence of people with disabilities, and the participation of a welcoming community that steps up to help when needed. The ongoing presence of the worker calls into question her original mandate. / Graduate / 0630 / 0452 / pcambiazo@telus.net

This content analysis examined presence of 47 public relations community support variables on a systematic random sample of 166 Fortune 500 corporate web pages. Three hypotheses and two research questions guided the analysis. Hypotheses predicted (1) the increased implementation of community support gateway links on corporate web sites since 2000, (2) that corporate industry type influences the Web presence of community support, and (3) that corporate rank influences the Web presence of community support. Research questions analyzed one-way and two-way tool presence as well as community support presence at local, national, and global community levels. Results supported corporate rank as an indicator of community support on corporate web pages; however, results did not support corporate industry as an indicator of community support or the increase of community support presence on corporate web sites. Analysis includes discussion regarding reasons for lack of community support and two-way communication tool presence on corporate web sites. The thesis concludes with recommendations for implementation of two-way public relations community support tools in order to facilitate mutual understanding, trust, and dialogue between a corporation and its local, national, and global communities. / Master of Arts

There is the desire amongst elderly Canadians to remain living at home, maintaining their independence. As the population ages, the health care system is faced with the challenge of allocating limited resources. Home care in Ontario is provided through Community Care Access Centres (CCAC) or Community Support Agencies (CSA). This study made comparisons among CSA clients (using the interRAI-Community Health Assessment, n=796), a sub-population of CCAC clients with lighter-care needs (n=8163) and all other CCAC clients (n=31,078), both using the Minimum Data Set-Home Care (MDS HC). The majority of clients in all groups were female, widowed, and spoke English as their primary language. CCAC clients had more health conditions than did CSA clients. Light-care CCAC clients received less hours of formal support than other CCAC clients and were less likely to have informal support caregivers who reported caregiver burden. Between 1998 and 2005, Ontario provided services to an increasingly impaired home care population, although overall impairment among home care client remained low. For the purposes of benchmarking, MDS HC data from Ontario was compared with MDS HC data from 11 European countries and was found to fall within the range of the other countries in terms of average impairment level of home care clients. Logistic regression was used to predict the likelihood of receiving CCAC services. Not being self-reliant, having decline in activities of daily living, having experienced falls, self-reporting one's health to be poor and reporting less loneliness were all correlates for CCAC service use. Implications and direction for future research were discussed.

Social support has been identified as an important component of planning for careers among high school students. Lent, Brown, and Hackett (2000) advocated for the importance of this support within Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). These authors identified a need for further research with better measurement for examining contextual support and its connection to career decision-making. Ali et al. (2011) developed a set of measures to address this need for better measurement, but identified the need for more nuanced examination of specific types of contextual support. The current study was designed to assess the importance of nuanced measuring of different types of support in career-decision making. Specifically, two scales, School Personnel and Community, from the Contextual Support of Post Secondary Planning Scales (CSPSPS) are analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis to force the scales into the factor structures proposed by Ali et al. (2011). Additionally, exploratory factor analysis was used to further examine the school personnel scale. Finally, interventions to aid School Personnel and Community in ways to support students in career decision-making are considered.

There is the desire amongst elderly Canadians to remain living at home, maintaining their independence. As the population ages, the health care system is faced with the challenge of allocating limited resources. Home care in Ontario is provided through Community Care Access Centres (CCAC) or Community Support Agencies (CSA). This study made comparisons among CSA clients (using the interRAI-Community Health Assessment, n=796), a sub-population of CCAC clients with lighter-care needs (n=8163) and all other CCAC clients (n=31,078), both using the Minimum Data Set-Home Care (MDS HC). The majority of clients in all groups were female, widowed, and spoke English as their primary language. CCAC clients had more health conditions than did CSA clients. Light-care CCAC clients received less hours of formal support than other CCAC clients and were less likely to have informal support caregivers who reported caregiver burden. Between 1998 and 2005, Ontario provided services to an increasingly impaired home care population, although overall impairment among home care client remained low. For the purposes of benchmarking, MDS HC data from Ontario was compared with MDS HC data from 11 European countries and was found to fall within the range of the other countries in terms of average impairment level of home care clients. Logistic regression was used to predict the likelihood of receiving CCAC services. Not being self-reliant, having decline in activities of daily living, having experienced falls, self-reporting one's health to be poor and reporting less loneliness were all correlates for CCAC service use. Implications and direction for future research were discussed.

Objective: This research explores the critical need for individualized care planning to ensure maximum cost savings by providing a balance between individuals’ care needs and care wishes. The primary objective of this research is to identify common goals of care (GoC) expressed by long-term care residents (using the interRAI LTCF) and clients receiving community supportive services (using the interRAI CHA) or community mental health services (using the interRAI CMH). Methods: Three interRAI datasets were used to perform data analyses. The responses to the open-ended GoC item were quantified and grouped into common goal categories, which were then examined against the interRAI outcome measures and Clinical Assessment Protocols (CAPs). Demographic and clinical characterisitics were compared across the sample populations using the chi-square test. Logistic regression models were created to reveal variables that are predictive of not having a GoC recorded within each care setting. Results: Twenty-five GoC categories were created. Although the GoC responses were very diverse, many persons had no goal recorded. Nearly 70% of long-term care (LTC) residents and community support service (CSS) clients were unable to state a GoC. Different populations in different service settings had distinct GoC but had some commonalities as well such as goals that focused on general physical or mental health issues. GoC varied with the CAPs- the triggering of a CAP did not necessarily mean a corresponding GoC was noted. Each care sector had different predictor variables that were strongly associated with not having a GoC. Conclusions: There is not a “one size fits all” solution to care planning. The same goals and outcome measures are not appropriate or realistic for all persons. It is critical to incorporate self-reported goals into the development of effective and individualized care plans to ultimately improve one’s quality of life, satisfaction with care, and success in achieving desired outcomes of care.

Šią magistro baigiamojo darbo temą pasirinkome todėl, kad ji yra nauja, įdomi ir mažai išnagrinėta. Be to, ji yra artima patiems darbo autoriams. Mes atlikome Europos Sąjungos paramos panaudojimo Lietuvos žemės ūkyje analizę tam, kad sužinotume, kaip ši parama yra skirstoma ir įsisavinama. Aišku, realus paramos poveikis žemės ūkiui bus matomas tik po kelerių metų, tačiau pirmuosius šios paramos panaudojimo rezultatus jau galime pamatyti. Problema yra ta, kad ne visa ši parama yra paskirstoma ir panaudojama. Egzistuoja nemažai problemų, kurios šią problemą ir įtakoja. Mūsų darbo tyrimo objektas yra visos Lietuvos žemės ūkis. Darbo tikslas – išanalizuoti, kokią įtaką Europos Sąjungos parama daro šalies žemės ūkiui. Šiame darbe mes išsiaiškinome Lietuvos žemės ūkio pokyčius, išanalizavome žemės ūkio politikos vykdymo teisingumą ir efektyvumą, apžvelgėme Lietuvos žemdirbių aktyvumą, parodėme teigiamus ir neigiamus paramos lėšų panaudojimo aspektus. / This subject of master thesis was chosen because of its newness, relevance and lack of researches. Moreover the subject is relevant for both of the authors. We performed analysis how European Community support for the Lithuanian agricultural sector is distributed and absorbed. It is evident, that the real impact will be seen after several years, but initial results of use already can be seen. The main problem is that not all given support is distributed and used appropriately. The object this master thesis is whole Lithuanian agricultural sector. The primary objective is to comprehensively analyse the impact of European Community support for the Lithuanian agricultural sector. We researched the changes of Lithuanian agriculture, analysed the efficiency and equity of implemented policy, overlooked the activity of farmers and tried to define positive and negative aspects of support use. To reach the objective of this master thesis and to collect the initial data for the analysis we used scientific literature, documents and statistic data provided by support administrating institutions and the method of comparison. The first part of the analysis covers the main aspects of implemented policy of European Community and Lithuania, the second part gives the analysis of SAPARD, BPD fourth priority programme and the draft of expansion of rural areas for 2004-2006 support use, short overview of the changes of Lithuanian agriculture and guidelines for the new period of 2007-2013 year... [to full text]

This study explores fatherhood in contemporary Canadian society by drawing on the experiences of nine full-time care-giving fathers in Vancouver, Canada. Using a social constructionist epistemology, the study explored how fathers who are primary caregivers to their young children construct masculinity, how they enact primary care-giving, and how they can be better supported within communities. Fathers were recruited through posters in community centres and through snowball sampling and volunteered to participate in interviews lasting between one and three hours. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed and analysed using pragmatic thematic analysis. Three key themes were constructed to represent the fathers’ self-reported experiences: fathers’ enactment of primary care-giving; fathers’ constructions of masculinity within dominant discourses of masculinity and care; and father’s support needs. Findings suggest that for these primary care-giving fathers, care-giving is active and adventurous, and egalitarian beliefs and roles regarding child care and domestic responsibility predominate within their co-parenting relationship. Traditional Euro-western masculine ideology tends to give way to a “hybrid” ideology that emphasizes affection, emotional intelligence, and caring for one’s family as a whole. Fathers indicated a preference for supports that are self-sought such as the internet and support from partners, and informal supports such as community events and time with peers to structured supports provided by community programs. Fathers who reported benefits from formal community programs offered insight into father-friendly practices. Stigma about primary care-giving by fathers was a significant theme constructed from the data. Implications for community programs for families and primary care-giving fathers in particular are discussed. / Graduate

Objective: This research explores the critical need for individualized care planning to ensure maximum cost savings by providing a balance between individuals’ care needs and care wishes. The primary objective of this research is to identify common goals of care (GoC) expressed by long-term care residents (using the interRAI LTCF) and clients receiving community supportive services (using the interRAI CHA) or community mental health services (using the interRAI CMH). Methods: Three interRAI datasets were used to perform data analyses. The responses to the open-ended GoC item were quantified and grouped into common goal categories, which were then examined against the interRAI outcome measures and Clinical Assessment Protocols (CAPs). Demographic and clinical characterisitics were compared across the sample populations using the chi-square test. Logistic regression models were created to reveal variables that are predictive of not having a GoC recorded within each care setting. Results: Twenty-five GoC categories were created. Although the GoC responses were very diverse, many persons had no goal recorded. Nearly 70% of long-term care (LTC) residents and community support service (CSS) clients were unable to state a GoC. Different populations in different service settings had distinct GoC but had some commonalities as well such as goals that focused on general physical or mental health issues. GoC varied with the CAPs- the triggering of a CAP did not necessarily mean a corresponding GoC was noted. Each care sector had different predictor variables that were strongly associated with not having a GoC. Conclusions: There is not a “one size fits all” solution to care planning. The same goals and outcome measures are not appropriate or realistic for all persons. It is critical to incorporate self-reported goals into the development of effective and individualized care plans to ultimately improve one’s quality of life, satisfaction with care, and success in achieving desired outcomes of care.

This qualitative study sought to explore low income working mother's perceptions of community support for exclusive breastfeeding after returning to work. The results from 12 indepth semi-structured interviews conducted with low income mothers, working full-time in a clothing factory located in the Cape Flats area, were analysed using thematic analysis. Three key themes emerged. The mothers generally expressed that they received informational support for breastfeeding from various members of their community, however there was a lack of emotional, instrumental, and appraisal support for these working mothers to continue to exclusively breastfeed after returning to work. Furthermore, the mothers come from communities in which there is a shared responsibility for raising babies. They are often given instructions and advice on how to feed their babies by different people and this advice often contradicts the World Health Organization's breastfeeding recommendations. Lastly, the mothers expressed that breastfeeding is an act that is usually reserved for stay at home mothers. Working mothers' breastfeeding intentions are generally not supported within their communities and working mothers are often encouraged to give their babies formula and other feeds as early as possible. It is important for organisations employing low-income mothers to understand the community context when designing workplace policies and interventions aimed at promoting exclusive breastfeeding. This will allow organizations to address their employees breastfeeding challenges in a culturally sensitive ways.