The discovery that it is possible to identify an individual before the onset of first episode psychosis and that treatment may prevent or delay onset have led to a proliferation of early intervention clinics designed to intervene before symptoms of psychosis have fully appeared. Early intervention has generated considerable debate, given the risks associated with intervening and that the majority of those identified will never develop full-blown psychosis. Despite potential stigmatizing effects, little is known about young people’s views regarding the favourable and/or adverse consequences of early intervention. This research examines the experiences and meaning of illness in young people identified as being at ultra high risk for psychosis and participating in a psychological intervention program. Specifically, the study uses photo elicitation to explore how participants construct and interpret their experiences, and the impact an at risk label has on their sense of self, identity, and social relationships. Five young people were invited to photograph their daily experiences at home, at school, and in the community. The participants and I then analyzed the photographs together in a photo elicitation interview. I further analyzed the visual and textual data from an interactionist perspective, exploring the concept of stigma and its relationship to young people’s experiences. Visual and narrative data revealed that young people reject their at risk status and redefine their experiences to fit with more acceptable and familiar notions of health. Participants are conscious of the stigma associated with psychosis and actively undertake strategies of resistance to avoid stigmatization and uphold a normal self conception and social impression. Photo elicitation provided insight and understanding into the experiences of young people at risk for psychosis that were not available through more traditional methods. The results from this study support the call for a reconsideration of the psychosis risk paradigm. There is a need to increase awareness about the power of diagnostic information and the labeling process. Non-specialized settings such as schools and community health centres may offer more appropriate environments for mental health monitoring and intervention.

School-age children with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) possess valuable knowledge about themselves. They have experience and ability to offer insight about living with CF. Previous studies, exploring the perceptions of CF children, give little attention to eliciting and listening to their voices. Also, traditional data collection methods limit children from participating in research. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe how school-age children with CF see themselves in the world they live. The study utilized qualitative description methodology. Symbolic Interactionism served as the researcher’s philosophical lens. It is a perspective that seeks to understand the social world of others, as they perceive it. Photo elicitation was used as the primary data collection method. Each participant was asked to take photographs about “What it is like to be you”. Photographs were then used to stimulate and guide an audio-recorded interview and make a photo book for the child to keep. Data were analyzed using Boyatzis method of inductive thematic content analysis. Sixteen children with CF between the ages of 8 to 11 were purposively recruited from the Southeastern United States. Data saturation was achieved after 13 interviews. Rigor was maintained by a variety of ways including bracketing, peer evaluation, and member checking. Five themes emerged from the data Me Being Me, My Medicine and Treatments, My Family, My Friends and Other Key Relationships, and My World. Findings revealed that life does not revolve around CF, but instead centers on “me being me” and living a normal life. Additionally, photo elicitation empowered participants to be authors of their own stories, and promoted communication between them and the researcher. In knowing the reality of children, nurses and other multidisciplinary CF team members are better equipped to design and plan interventions that are meaningful, beneficial, and satisfying to the child and his or her parent. The results of this study demonstrate children can be active participants in research and provides opportunities to transform nursing care by developing and evaluating strategies for the delivery of care to children with CF. Recommendations for future research include expanding this study to other CF centers and including the perceptions of parents, nurses, and other CF health care providers. Additionally, because perceptions a person holds about them selves and the world change overtime, a follow-up study when participants reach adolescence and adulthood is suggested.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether an alignment exists between the mission of Puente de Hozho Magnet School and the visualization of how current Navajo students view their education at the school. Qualitative research was used as an opportunity to explore the significance and to gain an in-depth understanding of how Navajo students view their education in the context of their personal experiences. The population consisted of six Navajo fifth grade students who lived outside the boundaries of their Indian reservation and attended school at Puente de Hozho Magnet School. The six student participants were asked to respond to the question, "What does your education look like at Puente de Hozho Magnet School?" through the pictures they took with a camera in and around the school. After the pictures were developed, students were individually interviewed by utilizing selected pictures to prompt their memory in eliciting descriptions and meanings of the images they captured. The students' responses generated a data set for coding and analysis, from which a wealth of data yielded prominent themes as to their education at Puente de Hozho Magnet School. Analysis of this research concluded that the students' visualization of their education at Puente de Hozho is aligned with the original mission and vision of the school. The student voices represent a relationship of natural connections to their cultural heritage as experienced in their school by disregarding stereotypes and rising above the expected. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2012

Background: Rooming house residents have high rates of morbidity and mortality, yet little is known about why this disparity in health exists. Research Question: How are rooming houses linked to health? Case: Social exclusion of rooming house residents in downtown Ottawa, bounded by the neighborhood, and Ottawa’s political policies at the time of data collection (September 2019-June 2020). Methodology: A single embedded descriptive case study was informed by multiple sources of evidence, and involved a community advisory group (CAG). Rooming house residents took photos, participated in a community walk-about with participant observations and attended a focus group. Two additional focus groups were conducted; one with fellow rooming house residents, another with the CAG. Interviews with rooming house front-line service providers and a secondary data set of homeless service measures also informed the case. Findings: 1. Rooming house residents (n=10) took 112 photos, and (n=8) took part in a focus group where two broad themes emerged: Housing is health care, and just managing today. 2. Interviews with front-line service providers (n=11) focused on two themes: There are many costs to living in a rooming house, and rooming house front-line service providers wear many hats. 3. Between a sample of sheltered homeless (n = 60) and rooming house residents (n=52), there was no difference found for several health indicators, including frequency of care received in the emergency room, hospitalization as an inpatient, and if substance use made it difficult to stay or afford housing. Focus groups with rooming house residents who did not take photos (n=10) and the GAG (n=6) contributed to persona co-creation revealing financial and contextual factors affecting the health of rooming house residents. Conclusion: The shared spaces of rooming houses create a tension between offering community and creating a risk environment. The negative health consequences to living in a rooming house are mitigated by the many roles that rooming house front-line service providers play in filling gaps. This study suggests the need to definitively position rooming house residents on the housing continuum in order to ensure equitable distribution of resources to optimize the health of this vulnerable population.

In Ontario, the majority of children and youth with mental illnesses access primary care as their initial source of mental health services (Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, 2017). Primary care can be an ideal setting for accessing mental health services to prevent symptoms from worsening (Cappelli & Leon, 2017). Adolescence is a time when young people experience several developmental changes and transitions, making them susceptible to mental illnesses (Government of Canada, 2011). Examining adolescents’ perceptions of access is critical to examining how primary care is accommodating their mental health needs (Cappelli & Leon, 2017). The primary purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of adolescents, living in Hamilton, Ontario, with an anxiety or mood disorder, of accessing primary care for mental health services. Perceptions regarding the role of primary care nurses in facilitating access was also explored. Qualitative interpretive descriptive methods were utilized. Data collection included: demographic survey, semi-structured interviews, photo-elicitation project, field notes, and reflexive journaling. Analysis was guided by an access framework (Penchansky & Thomas, 1981) and ecological model (McLeroy et al., 1988). Adolescents ages 15 to 18 years (n=10) participated. Adolescents perceived access to primary care for mental health services as a difficult and complex process involving multiple stages including: feeling uncertain about their mental health concerns and if they required help, seeking informal support from parents and friends to initiate receiving help, and obtaining mental health services from primary care. Implications of this study include addressing adolescents’ developmental needs in care through implementing an individualized-approach and supporting development throughout emerging adulthood. Primary care practitioners must provide information to adolescents and parents about mental health concerns and services during routine interactions. Greater organizational support would enable primary care nurses to have an active role in delivering mental health services and providing comprehensive care. / Thesis / Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

In 2017 the Kenow wildfire burned thirty-eight percent of Waterton Lakes National Park (WLNP) in southern Alberta at high to very high severity in mere hours. The ecological impacts of the fire will have implications for resource management, including the practice of ecological restoration, for decades to come. In this thesis I ask two main questions. First, in what ways are people who are involved in managing WLNP’s ecosystems experiencing the effects of the Kenow wildfire, and how does their experience combined with the severity and extent of the Kenow wildfire influence park management and ecological restoration approaches in WLNP? Subsidiary to this, I ask, what is the role of history, and the role of future climate projections in managing the post-fire landscape? This research is part of the larger Mountain Legacy Project (MLP), which is systematically repeating historic survey photographs taken in the early 1900s across Canada’s mountain landscapes. I use third-view photographs in photo-elicited semi-structured interviews with park staff to answer my first question. In my second research question I ask what broader themes and specific issues do third-view repeat mountain photographs elicit about ecological restoration and park management. As a follow up, I inquire into what ways photo-elicitation functions as an effective method in park management research? Fourteen participants were interviewed, the majority were resource conservation staff, in addition to one retired park warden, a member of the cultural resources unit, a communications staff, and a former staff member. Participants felt wide-ranging emotions relating to the Kenow fire including grief over loss, happiness about regrowth, excitement about learning, anxiety about people’s safety, and stress over increased workloads. Park management frames vegetation regeneration after the Kenow fire as renewal, accepting that the landscape may look different than it did before the fire. Climate change is only beginning to be integrated into ecological restoration, though park management is adapting to climate change by encouraging renewal under a new climate. Historical knowledge still guides decision making in several ways. Major restoration projects including invasive species management, whitebark and limber pine restoration, and prescribed burning, were all impacted by the Kenow fire. Participants shared their thoughts on unconventional approaches such as novel ecosystems, highlighting misunderstandings and misapprehensions about the concept. Parks Canada has an opportunity to learn from Waterton Lakes’ experience to help streamline their post-emergency response in the future. Findings relating to my second question show these themes and issues were discussed most often by participants when looking at the third-view mountain photographs: fire behaviour, regeneration/renewal, and ecological impacts of the Kenow fire; encroachment; prescribed burning; personal narratives; ecological effects of climate change; and other snapshots. Just less than half the participants did not engage significantly with the photos, which highlights a challenge in using researcher chosen photos. However, many participants did engage and had much to say about the photos, including sharing memories and personal stories. Pre-determined interview questions were essential in unearthing the findings in this thesis, as the photos did not elicit this information alone. / Graduate

The thesis is concerned with clients’ perspective towards large engineering consultancies. Thecore aim of this work is to understand what client evaluates when trying to define how engineering consultancies are different from each other. To understand this area, theories of marketing and branding in professional service industry will be analyzed. Further interviews with both clients and consultants were held and based on empirical findings and theoretical perspective, conclusions are drawn.

Background and aims: Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most common genetic, life threatening disorder in the UK (Cystic Fibrosis Trust, 2010). Given the trajectory of the illness, adolescence may be a particularly challenging period, during which young people become more aware of differences from peers, and are faced with the task of balancing increasing illness demands with the drive to aspire to developmental goals. Nevertheless, little research specifically explores how young people with CF reconcile their illness experiences with the emerging sense of self. In an attempt to address this gap in the literature, this study sought to hear the narratives of young people with CF with reference to the local and broader contextual factors influencing their construction, with the aim to further understanding, inform clinical practice and improve support for young people with CF. Methodology: A qualitative approach was employed. A purposive sample of six participants diagnosed with CF and aged between 12 and 16 years was recruited. Participants were asked to take photographs of their experiences of life as a young person with CF which were used alongside a semi-structured topic guide in individual interviews to explore the young person’s narratives. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed using a narrative approach to explore both what was said and how it was told.Analysis and Findings: The researcher’s global impressions of each person’s narratives, along with details of the local context of the interview were presented. Following this, similarities and differences across the narratives were considered with particular attention to how the main storylines were interwoven with participants’ emotional experiences, the identity work taking place through the narrative, and the broader narratives available to them. It emerged that (i) CF was perceived as part of participants’ normality which they had grown accustomed to over time, (ii) participants drew on cultural narratives to position themselves as normal teenagers, to maintain a positive sense of self, though also leading them to minimise difficulties and distress, and (iii) participants continued to position themselves within the norm as they talked of their futures, describing similar hopes to their peers, and again played down concerns about how CF might impact on their futures. These findings are discussed with reference to the clinical implications, strengths, and limitations of the methodology, and directions for future research.

Thesis (M. Tech. - Dept. of Visual Arts and Design, Faculty of Human Sciences) / The aim of the study The aim of the study is to find an optimal research methodology that is both beneficial to qualitative researchers (regarding data quality and interviewee participation) and research participants (regarding enjoyment of the research process and means of expression). This takes the form of a comparison assessing the use of the visual method of photo-elicitation in qualitative interviews. Firstly, photo-elicitation interviews and standard qualitative interviews as two different methodologies are compared. In this study the research subjects are children, and as noted in Chapter 3, photo-elicitation is particularly applicable to young research subjects, as it tends to break down the communication barriers / SENEX

As students begin secondary school, they are charged with learning more content, at a faster pace and with increased pressure from accountability measures (Dreschler, Shumaker, & Woodruff, 2004). If secondary students' reading difficulties are not identified and remedied, the gap between struggling readers and their peers widens every academic year (Edmonds, Vaughn, Wexler, Rutebuch, Cable, Tackett, and Schnakenberg, 2009). The task of reading instruction primarily falls on English teachers, but Strickland and Alvermann (2004) note that while secondary English Teachers do have more preparation in reading instruction compared to other content area teachers, they are not as prepared as they need to be and do not provide reading instruction even when given the opportunity. Additionally, little attention has been given to how teacher should be taught to teach reading (Moats & Foorman, 2003) and even less attention has been given to reading instruction at the secondary level (Edmonds, et al., 2009). Pre-service teacher's beliefs influence how they take in information presented in their teacher education program and classroom instructional decisions (Holt-Reynolds, 1992; Richardson, 2003). However few studies have examined English education pre-service teachers beliefs about teaching struggling readers at the secondary level. The purpose of this study is to describe and explain secondary English education pre-service teachers' beliefs about teaching struggling readers using Photovoice. This study uses a combination of constructivism, Lakoff and Johnson's concept of metaphor, and interpretivism as the theoretical framework. Research methods examining beliefs often involve using surveys or interviews (i.e. Sadaf, Newby, & Ertmer, 2012; Sandvik, van Dall, & Ader, 2013). However, these methods may not provide as representational responses as a method that allows participants to respond through multiple mediums and through metaphor. This study uses a modified version of the Photovoice method to examine secondary English education pre-service teachers' beliefs. Because Photovoice has not been used to examine beliefs of this population, an additional aim of this study is to examine Photovoice as a reflection method. The research questions guiding this study are: 1. What are English education pre-service teacher beliefs' about teaching struggling adolescent readers? 2. What are English education pre-service teacher beliefs about themselves as readers? 3. In what ways, if any, did Photovoice facilitate reflection on beliefs about reading instruction? Findings suggest English education pre-service teachers had not considered struggling readers as part of their classrooms, did not understand the complexities of the reading process, held a deficit view of struggling readers, assumed a teacher's identity, saw reading as an experience/event, found the discussion in the Photovoice process helpful in reflection, Photovoice helped address some issues with teacher reflection, and Photovoice helped develop as well as capture beliefs. Implications for teacher education are discussed.