The overall aim of this Participatory Action Research (PAR; Chevalier & Buckles, 2013; Lewin, 1946) project was to design, implement, and evaluate a specialized sport-focused mental health service delivery model for competitive and high-performance athletes, integrated within a broader Canadian Centre for Mental Health and Sport (CCMHS). A transformative mixed methods research design (Cresswell, 2014) guided by the PAR approach was employed across three phases during which (a) a sport-specific mental health service delivery model for competitive and high-performance athletes was collaboratively designed by stakeholders (Design Phase [Study 1]), (b) the model was pilot-tested within the CCMHS (Implementation Phase [Study 2]), and (c) the model was evaluated to understand whether practitioners and service-users perceived the care delivered / received within the model to be acceptable and appropriate (Evaluation Phase [Study 3]). Design Phase (Study 1). The purpose of study 1 was to (a) perform an environmental scan of the Canadian mental health care and sport contexts, and (b) design a sport-focused mental health service delivery model for competitive and high-performance athletes within a broader CCMHS. To meet these objectives, 20 stakeholders from the sport and mental health sectors explored (a) the availability and effectiveness of mental health care for competitive and high-performance Canadian athletes, and (b) the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with creating a CCMHS, via two iterations of stakeholder-led focus groups (Rio-Roberts, 2011). The resulting data informed a subsequent Group Concept Mapping (GCM; Burke et al., 2005; Kane & Trochim, 2007; Rosas & Kane, 2012) activity undertaken by stakeholders, which produced an actionable framework (i.e., concept map) organized into six clusters that visually represented the elements (e.g., services, personnel, organizational structures) that stakeholders deemed important to include in the sport-focused mental health care model (e.g., bilingual services, a triage system, sport-specialized practitioners). In addition, the results revealed that misconceptions about the competitive and high-performance population’s mental health and experience of mental illness were widespread and required clarification before significant advances could be made. This led the group to develop six principles designed to establish a common language and understanding upon which to build effective models of mental health care, improved programming, and strategic education for Canada’s competitive and high-performance athletes, coaches, and organizations (Article 1). The framework that emerged from the GCM activity served to guide the remainder of the project, and supported actions (e.g., develop eligibility criteria to access services, hire a team of mental health practitioners with sport competencies [i.e., CCMHS Care Team]) to build the CCMHS and test the model during the Implementation Phase (Article 2). Implementation Phase (Study 2). The purpose of study 2 was to pilot test the mental health service delivery model designed during the first phase of the research project. To do so, an illustrative case study (Keegan et al., 2017; Stake, 1995, 2005) was carried out to demonstrate how (i.e., intake, referral, and service delivery processes) the CCMHS Care Team provided mental health care to a high-performance athlete, and what outcomes resulted from this process. Data to inform the case study was gathered through a review of the service-user’s clinical documents (e.g., intake summary, session notes), and qualitative interviews (n = 2) with the athlete’s Collaborative Care Team lead and the CCMHS Care Coordinator. Document analysis (Bowen, 2009) was used to organize the details of the case found within clinical documents under the categories of the case study framework (i.e., intake and referral process, service-user description, integrated care plan, and outcomes), while a conventional descriptive content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) served to extract salient data from the interviews to further build out the case study. Results revealed that sport significantly influenced the onset and experience of mental illness for the athlete service-user. The lead practitioner’s sport-specific knowledge played a significant role in the diagnosis, treatment and recovery of this athlete given the nature of the athlete’s concerns and high athletic identity. Findings support the notion that specialized mental health care models and teams are necessary to address sport-related factors that can pose unique threats to the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in athletes (Article 3). Implementation Phase (Study 3). The purpose of study 3 was to evaluate the acceptability and appropriateness of the mental health service delivery model designed during Phase 1 and implemented during Phase 2. Qualitative data from three sources (CCMHS practitioners, CCMHS service-users, and CCMHS stakeholders) were collected and analyzed using a multi-step, multi-method process, including16 one-on-one semi-structured interviews with CCMHS practitioners (n = 10) and service-users (n = 6), and a meeting with CCMHS stakeholders (captured via meeting minutes). In addition, 47 documents (e.g., clinical, procedural) created during the implementation phase of the project by CCMHS team members (i.e., practitioners, stakeholders, members of the board of directors) were used to triangulate the other data (Carter, Bryant-Lukosius, DiCenso, Blythe, and Neville, 2014). The Framework Method (Gale et al., 2013; Ritchie and Spencer, 1994) was used to analyze, synthesize, integrate, and interpret the dataset. The deductive data analysis approach taken was guided by the seven components of acceptability developed by Sekhon and colleagues (2017), and the Canadian Medical Association’s definition of appropriate care. Findings showed that the care provided and received within the CCMHS service delivery model was perceived to be acceptable and appropriate, and each component of the model uniquely contributed to practitioner and service-user experiences. For example, the collaborative interdisciplinary approach contributed to the ethicality of the model, promoted the professional development of team members, and enabled Pan-Canadian service provision. The sport-centered nature of care was perceived to enhance the ethicality of services delivered, effectiveness of care, and affective experience of service-users. Implications for further research and practice were discussed in light of areas of the model that emerged as needing improvement (e.g., prohibitive cost of care, practitioner burden from collaborative processes and procedures). Overall, the findings of the research project demonstrate that collaborative approaches to inquiry and practice can be successfully applied in sport to guide stakeholders in developing and testing novel models to improve the health outcomes of sport participants. The research also shows that an interdisciplinary team of practitioners can successfully deliver sport-focused mental health care that is acceptable and appropriate to service-users. Lastly, the project provides data on the first known empirical project to design, implement and evaluate a specialized mental health service delivery model applied nationwide in person and virtually with competitive and high-performance athletes experiencing mental health challenges and symptoms of mental illness.

Marine debris is an ever growing environmental and human health concern. Beach litter is a major contributor to the issue of marine debris, especially in the Global South where lack of awareness and successful policy are factors in the continuous accumulation of debris on beaches and in coastal communities. Under the community-based, participatory action framework, this study will explore beach users’ and other key stakeholders in the local government and non-governmental organization sectors’ knowledge of waste in their environment and potential solutions to the issue of plastic marine pollution. It will also examine the waste composition on a local beach in São Sebastião, Brazil by collecting, quantifying and characterizing the waste to determine the major polluters. The study will explore ways of improving awareness and environmental education of beach users, as well as investigating ways to reduce littering of waste on beaches. Results from this research will help to provide suggestions for local decision makers to improve policy that addresses marine debris and beach littering. / Graduate / 2022-04-15

The purpose of this study is to explore the beliefs of students, teachers and parents regarding new students’ experiences in a Sheltered Immersion/Newcomers Program in a K-8 school district to provide recommendations and implications for other schools who are or wish to develop similar programs. The participants were given opportunities to reflect and dialogue about their experiences in this type of bilingual program through the implementation of Participatory Action Research (PAR). The research questions inquire about how language learners make sense of their experience of becoming bilingual and the factors that encourage or inhibit their engagement.

The most common goal of professional sociology is to describe and or explain the social world. However, recognizing the performative aspects of science, and in keeping with Burawoy’s (2005) emphasis on “organic public sociology,” I ague that there is latitude within the discipline to design research with the aim of linking knowledge production and social change. I also argue that the discipline’s understanding of effecting change need not be limited to outcomes such as teaching, publication, or the creation of policy; the research process itself has social effects (Hesse-Biber, Leavy, and Yaiser 2004). Importing a performative research design from human geography (Community Economies Collective 2001, Cameron and Gibson 2001, 2005, Gibson-Graham 2006b), I co-designed a participatory action research (PAR) project with a graduate student in Geography. We hired 23 artists and artisans from Franklin County, Massachusetts forming a research team. Our goal was to act on the world in real-time through the use of peer-to-peer interviewing. In this paper I explore the outcomes, including the challenges, of researching from this approach. The research design and the ensuing process—training members of the research team, conducting interviews, and collaborating on projects—is the focus of my analysis. I discuss how aiming for transformation shaped our research decisions. Through my analysis of the research process, and in contrast to decision-making processes from a common sense epistemology, I argue that the interactions and connections engendered by the process itself matter just as much as the ensuing sociological understanding.

This research seeks to explore the origins and values of participatory action research, as well as its role in transforming possibilities to knowledge production and shaping equal relationships between research participants. Drawing from the theoretical frameworks of intersectionality and decoloniality and with a focus on the experience of the asylum interview, the research seeks to explore the ways that those epistemological paradigms intertwine with participatory research to deconstruct the dichotomy between researcher and research subject (expert/community) and re-balance the power differentials embedded within academia, canonical knowledge production and traditional research methodologies, to initiate change.On one hand, the research documents the tangible difficulties and practical obstacles that young researchers may come across when employing participatory and inclusive approaches to research, discussing with honesty and self-reflectivity the limitations and shortcomings of this effort. More importantly though, it provides the space and framework for a young woman who navigated the European asylum system, to voice, without mediation and within academia, her narrative and lived experience, and discuss ways towards fairer and more humane asylum systems. As such, it is also a testament to what PAR can offer when conducted with respect and reference to its ontological and epistemological origins, within universities that can sustain it.

Background: In general, it is very complicated to build submarines. There are many parts and equipment that must be in place, and there are tight spaces on the boat. As submarine development progresses and new modern concepts take shape, the installation of new equipment on board becomes more complex, placing higher demands on well-defined interfaces, both geometrically and logically. The approach to electrical cabinets today is to run the cables from the bottom or top through a cable transit system, and only after the cabinet is installed on the submarine can the cables be installed in the proper terminals. This means that the installation takes a lot of time and combined with the fact that there are so many cables sticking out of the cable grommet, the work becomes even more superficial as installers are also constrained by the tight space. Sometimes workers also must move around to make room for others to pass through other parts of the submarine. This means that workers must leave their jobs and move before resuming their work. The following can happen several times a day, which means more time is needed to install electrical cabinets on the submarine.   Purpose: The purpose of this work is to develop and design a solution that is a standardized interface for equipment in the form of electrical cabinets that are present and used in submarines. In this way, the solution must be able to satisfy the different interfaces of the devices that the different subcontractors provide to the company. The created proposals must be illustrated with a CAD software to visualize the concept.   Methodology: The research methodology used in this project is a combination of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Design Thinking (DT).   Result: The result presents a solution (ISO-box) that shows that it is possible to reduce and optimize the time to install the cabinet once the cabinet is permanently mounted on the submarine. The solution is presented in the form of a CAD model. The model is set up so that all the cables coming from the cable transit system have an adapter at the end, which has a counterpart in a box to the cabinet that is installed on the submarine. Then when the cabinet is assembled, all that must be done is to plug the right connector into the right place in this box. The box has colors for the connectors and numbering that makes it easier for the installer to know which adapter to use.   Conclusions: The work shows that it is quite possible to change the current solution so that less time is needed in the final assembly of the cabinets. It will be easier to just connect the contacts and then leave room for others to pass in the confined spaces. It will also be easier to maintain, as the installer can replace broken contacts as the solution is modular, and there is the possibility of installing new equipment with ISO-box if necessary.

This dissertation examines the processes by which multiple positioned actors in Participatory Action Research or Community-Based Participatory Research (PAR/CBPR) understand, reproduce, and contest systems of power and oppression in the context of their relationships and collaborations to support community-driven change efforts. The first chapter serves as a preface by reviewing relevant literature on participatory action research and power. The rest of the dissertation consists of three empirical papers. The first of these papers examined the extent to which scholars interrogate systems of power and oppression in (PAR/CBPR) to advance social justice. Scoping review methodology was employed to systematically review scholarly literature written in English and published between 2010 and 2020 across 5 databases. Thematic analysis and data charting yielded six scholarly articles using critical self-reflexive qualitative methodologies to explore manifestations of power within the partnership. Articles describe researchers employing individual critical reflections to confront individual assumptions, modify individual collaboration practices, and identify multilevel structures restraining participatory action approaches to research. The second paper explored the perceptions of researchers and community stakeholders regarding key processes questioning and addressing power issues within the (PAR/CBPR) collaborations. Individual in-depth semi-structured interviews (n=23) were conducted with social work researchers (n=13) and community stakeholders (n=10) with current or prior experience engaging in (PAR/CBPR) to examine the ways they define, negotiate, and address power differentials and oppression within their collaborations. Key emerging themes and discourses merged into a conceptual model illustrated with a metaphor of a river to highlight key social sites, paradigms of knowledge production, and the degree to which it aligns with the pursuit of social justice. Downstream strategies that sustain colonial forms of knowledge production included othering, disembodiment, and extraction. Conversely, upstream approaches underscored the centrality of redefining social relationships and ethical commitments within PAR/CBPR collaborations through the cultivation of unsettling counterspaces, counternarratives, and dialogical brave spaces. Finally, the third paper explored researchers and community stakeholders’ conceptualization and understanding of social justice as well as recommendations for social work research, practice, and policy to contest power and oppression in the context of PAR/CBPR. A second wave of individual in-depth semi-structured interviews with social work researchers (n=11) and community stakeholders (n=11) with current or prior experience engaging in PAR/CBPR were conducted and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings illustrated converging and diverging understandings of social justice, in particular, community stakeholders emphasized an understanding of social justice interdependent of systemic transformations through dialogical processes among stakeholders, researchers, and social institutions. PAR/CBPR was described as a facilitating factor of social justice by fostering counterspaces and counternarratives. Additionally, PAR/CBPR was defined as a factor limiting the pursuit of social justice and deeply entrenched with tenure-track promotion and funding mechanisms perpetuating top-down configurations of power. Together and independently these papers further our understanding of the ways in which structural oppression and power in (PAR/CBPR) can be addressed. Research findings from all three studies highlighted participatory action research is not exempt from power hierarchies, and that multilevel strategies promoting counterspaces, counternarratives, and institutional changes are essential when redressing, negotiating, and contesting power and oppression. Findings inform best practices for the development of PAR/CBPR collaborations embodying ethical relationality across social work research, practice, education, and policy. Future studies should consider the use of longitudinal and critically in-depth dialogical approaches between multiple positioned actors in PAR/CBPR when defining social justice, PAR/CBPR, and power. / 2028-04-30

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No description available.

Disability and arthritis in Mexico are important public health problems. There is a need to develop rehabilitation interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence and disabling effects of arthritis in low socioeconomic communities in this country. This thesis reports findings from the initial execution of a mixed-methods participatory research program. This program was designed to develop, implement and evaluate a community-based rehabilitation program to decrease disability of people living with arthritis in the municipality of Chankom, a low-income rural Mayan community located in Southeast Mexico. Epidemiologic results showed a high prevalence of arthritis in Chankom associated with low levels of wealth and high body mass index. In addition, arthritis was associated with a higher prevalence of disability in this municipality. Further results showed that people who live with osteoarthritis in Chankom perform standardized and real-life activities with significant levels of disability. This disability was associated with levels of wealth, pain, muscle strength, self-efficacy, and physical activity. Ethnographic results showed that: a) arthritis reduces the health-related quality of life of people in Chankom through a process of disablement, b) people living with arthritis need access to culturally sensitive healthcare, and c) there are availability, attainability and acceptability barriers to accessing culturally sensitive health services in this municipality, which result from power imbalance between indigenous and non-indigenous people. The work presented in this thesis is the extensive examination of the problems associated with arthritis in Chankom, using quantitative and qualitative methods. Our findings justify the need to develop health policies and interventions to prevent and decrease the disabling effects of arthritis in this marginalized community. Moreover, these findings will support the creation of a culturally sensitive, community-based rehabilitation program, as a multi-level strategy to promote social development and improve health-related quality of life of people living with arthritis in the municipality of Chankom. / Thesis / Candidate in Philosophy / There is a need to develop rehabilitation interventions aimed at reducing the onset and disabling effects of arthritis in poor areas of Mexico. This thesis reports findings from the initial implementation of a research project designed to decrease disability of people living with arthritis in Chankom, a poor rural Mayan community located in Southeast Mexico. These findings show that arthritis is common in Chankom and it is related to having problems performing usual activities, which reduce people’s quality of life. People living with arthritis in Chankom need culturally appropriate healthcare services; however, they don’t obtain these due to different barriers associated with their indigenous background. Consequently, it is necessary to design health policies and interventions to decrease the disabling effects of arthritis in Chankom. The findings of this thesis will help creating a rehabilitation program that increases access to appropriate healthcare, improving function and quality of life of Chankom’s inhabitants.