Within North America, more children are being classified as overweight and obese than ever before. Despite this alarming finding, limited research has been conducted on parents’ views of their children’s health in addition to their role in providing their children with a healthy lifestyle The purpose of this qualitative investigation was to explore parents’ perceptions of their daughters’ healthy lifestyle, including their perceptions of their roles and responsibilities as parents. Participants were recruited from three Girl Guides of Canada Brownie Units in South-Western Ontario. Ten semi-structured, audio-taped interviews were conducted. All of the parents who volunteered to participate were middle class, well-educated, heterosexual, married and/ or common-law and had two to three children. Among those who were interviewed, one married couple took part together, and the remaining eight mothers and one father took part in individual interviews. Many of the participants had experienced problems with maintaining a healthy weight themselves and/or healthy lifestyle in the past. A phenomenological approach was taken by following Hychner’s (1985) steps, including; bracketing my assumptions, listening for a sense of the ‘whole’, delineating units of general meaning, eliminating redundancies and outlining themes that captured the essence of lives experience for parents. Similar to Mannell and Kleiber’s (1997) findings, participants in this study played an influential role in helping their children develop healthy behaviours that would carry on throughout their lives. All of the mothers and fathers interviewed were involved parents and were very committed to instilling healthy behaviors in their daughters. In line with Hays (1996) and Warner (2005), mothers in this study adopted ‘intensive mothering roles’ and fathers’ behaviors reflected ‘involved parenting’ roles. Participants in this study deemed physical, mental and psychological health as important factors which contribute to a healthy lifestyle, but focused most of their discussions on their roles and responsibilities in their daughters’ physical health. A strong emphasis on their daughters’ weight management was conveyed throughout interviews, as many participants, especially mothers, were concerned with their daughter’s perception of body image and self-esteem. As they embraced their parental duties, they acted as role models to their children and spent time during family leisure activities and family meals teaching their daughters about the importance of physical activity and nutrition. Similar to Shaw and Dawson’s (2001) study, family leisure was seen as purposive, with a strong focus placed on health. Parents in this study made their daughters’ health a top priority by investing their time and finances for this goal, while remaining firm and consistent in encouraging healthy behaviours in their children. Despite the time and effort devoted to providing healthy lifestyles, many participants felt insecure and questioned whether or not they were doing enough. These characteristics displayed by participants were similar to Warner’s (2005) concept of ‘professionalization of parenthood’. This study has provided valuable insight to the fields of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Family Studies, and Obesity Prevention literature.

Millions of vacationers are taking a cruise each year and nearly one-third are senior tourists. There is little attention to this sector in the literature. This qualitative study reveals some of the motivations and satisfactions of ten retired seniors who were recently on a cruise. The interviews were transcribed to capture precise wordings of their motivations and satisfactions and then analyzed by phrases. These were open, then axially coded according to a conceptual theory, into three stages: a pre-cruise stage of planning and expectations, the experiences on board a cruise ship through activities and excursions, and the post-cruise stage of satisfaction. The phrases were selective coded into three themes. The findings reveal that the most important feature of a cruise is interaction within them, with their companions, and with others they may meet. Friends, relatives, and the ship's crew add to this interaction. Second, there is a balance of opportunities and constraints incurred while achieving the goal of a cruise. Third, it was found that there are multiple sources of satisfaction from a cruise. This study provides insight into what cruising means to seniors, the effect of interaction with others, and their internal interactions. The experience of a cruise becomes an event that leaves a memorable impression for years to come.

Through the assistance of the Internet, public organizations can create lasting relationships with citizens in an individualized and interactive manner. The purpose of this study was to obtain a preliminarily understanding of the Web Presence of public leisure service agencies (PLSA) in Canada. Currently very little is known about the use of Internet Communication within PLSA. A stratified random sample of ten Canadian municipal Web sites helped to generate 100 content units from which a quantitative content analysis was conducted. Utilizing a marketing perspective, the analysis assessed the marketing communication efforts, design, electronic service quality, and interaction standards of these sites. Findings suggested that the evidence of marketing and communication efforts were quite limited while the design and navigational features, although basic, were well executed. The results indicated that most PLSA online communication is rather limited, focusing on providing basic information regarding programs, services, facilities and events. In the future, this is expected to change. In general, PLSA appear to recognize the importance of online communication. However, a re-definition of communication strategies may be needed for better implementation. It is suggested that these strategies should encompass the underlying goal of creating a relationship with citizens.

Governance is widely discussed in various government sectors or agencies such as Health Care and Education and throughout the private sector. Yet, it is only recently that reference to governance with regards to parks and protected areas has come to the for-front within various political and ecological circles. Parks and protected areas are increasingly threatened by climate change and political influences and therefore, there is a current need to assess the design and operations of protected areas so that they can be properly managed for the changes that have and will continue to occur. The current study examined how five stakeholder groups perceived 12 governance factors under Ontario Parks’ management model. Results revealed that Ontario Parks’ management model is perceived as having good levels of governance for all 12 factors by the entire population and within each of the five stakeholder groups. Differences in perception were observed primarily between the Park Staff participants when compared to the Contractor and Local Resident participants

Identity development is a crucial process which occurs during the period of adolescence (Erikson, 1950, 1968). Researchers have suggested that the adolescent period is becoming prolonged due to increasing numbers of individuals pursuing post-secondary education (Kerckhoff, 2002; Larson, 2002; Mortimer & Larson, 2002). During this period known as “post-adolescence”, further identity formation is believed to take place (Mortimer & Larson, 2002). Despite these suggestions, little research has been performed regarding identity development during post-adolescence. In addition, the role of leisure during the identity formation period has largely been overlooked. The few studies that have been conducted on this topic focus on the relationship between leisure participation and identity development, while failing to acknowledge the role of other salient leisure lifestyle variables such as leisure experience, motivation and meaningfulness. In addition, previous studies have used global measures of identity, rather than considering separate dimensions of personal and social identity. The present study expands upon previous literature by investigating personal and social identity development during post-adolescence, and the relationship between identity and a variety of leisure lifestyle variables. Participants included 465 students from the University of Waterloo. Questionnaires were completed regarding leisure participation, meaningfulness derived from participation, leisure experience, motivation and identity. Results of the study indicate that identity development is still occurring during the period of post-adolescence. Leisure participation, meaningfulness, leisure experience and motivation all displayed some degree of a relationship with identity. Personal and social identities yielded differing associations with these leisure lifestyle factors. Personal identity was most strongly related to leisure experience, while social identity was associated with leisure motivation. Although causality cannot be inferred from the results of this study, indications do exist that these leisure lifestyle variables may exert some influence on the identity development process.

Within North America, more children are being classified as overweight and obese than ever before. Despite this alarming finding, limited research has been conducted on parents’ views of their children’s health in addition to their role in providing their children with a healthy lifestyle The purpose of this qualitative investigation was to explore parents’ perceptions of their daughters’ healthy lifestyle, including their perceptions of their roles and responsibilities as parents. Participants were recruited from three Girl Guides of Canada Brownie Units in South-Western Ontario. Ten semi-structured, audio-taped interviews were conducted. All of the parents who volunteered to participate were middle class, well-educated, heterosexual, married and/ or common-law and had two to three children. Among those who were interviewed, one married couple took part together, and the remaining eight mothers and one father took part in individual interviews. Many of the participants had experienced problems with maintaining a healthy weight themselves and/or healthy lifestyle in the past. A phenomenological approach was taken by following Hychner’s (1985) steps, including; bracketing my assumptions, listening for a sense of the ‘whole’, delineating units of general meaning, eliminating redundancies and outlining themes that captured the essence of lives experience for parents. Similar to Mannell and Kleiber’s (1997) findings, participants in this study played an influential role in helping their children develop healthy behaviours that would carry on throughout their lives. All of the mothers and fathers interviewed were involved parents and were very committed to instilling healthy behaviors in their daughters. In line with Hays (1996) and Warner (2005), mothers in this study adopted ‘intensive mothering roles’ and fathers’ behaviors reflected ‘involved parenting’ roles. Participants in this study deemed physical, mental and psychological health as important factors which contribute to a healthy lifestyle, but focused most of their discussions on their roles and responsibilities in their daughters’ physical health. A strong emphasis on their daughters’ weight management was conveyed throughout interviews, as many participants, especially mothers, were concerned with their daughter’s perception of body image and self-esteem. As they embraced their parental duties, they acted as role models to their children and spent time during family leisure activities and family meals teaching their daughters about the importance of physical activity and nutrition. Similar to Shaw and Dawson’s (2001) study, family leisure was seen as purposive, with a strong focus placed on health. Parents in this study made their daughters’ health a top priority by investing their time and finances for this goal, while remaining firm and consistent in encouraging healthy behaviours in their children. Despite the time and effort devoted to providing healthy lifestyles, many participants felt insecure and questioned whether or not they were doing enough. These characteristics displayed by participants were similar to Warner’s (2005) concept of ‘professionalization of parenthood’. This study has provided valuable insight to the fields of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Family Studies, and Obesity Prevention literature.

Millions of vacationers are taking a cruise each year and nearly one-third are senior tourists. There is little attention to this sector in the literature. This qualitative study reveals some of the motivations and satisfactions of ten retired seniors who were recently on a cruise. The interviews were transcribed to capture precise wordings of their motivations and satisfactions and then analyzed by phrases. These were open, then axially coded according to a conceptual theory, into three stages: a pre-cruise stage of planning and expectations, the experiences on board a cruise ship through activities and excursions, and the post-cruise stage of satisfaction. The phrases were selective coded into three themes. The findings reveal that the most important feature of a cruise is interaction within them, with their companions, and with others they may meet. Friends, relatives, and the ship's crew add to this interaction. Second, there is a balance of opportunities and constraints incurred while achieving the goal of a cruise. Third, it was found that there are multiple sources of satisfaction from a cruise. This study provides insight into what cruising means to seniors, the effect of interaction with others, and their internal interactions. The experience of a cruise becomes an event that leaves a memorable impression for years to come.

Through the assistance of the Internet, public organizations can create lasting relationships with citizens in an individualized and interactive manner. The purpose of this study was to obtain a preliminarily understanding of the Web Presence of public leisure service agencies (PLSA) in Canada. Currently very little is known about the use of Internet Communication within PLSA. A stratified random sample of ten Canadian municipal Web sites helped to generate 100 content units from which a quantitative content analysis was conducted. Utilizing a marketing perspective, the analysis assessed the marketing communication efforts, design, electronic service quality, and interaction standards of these sites. Findings suggested that the evidence of marketing and communication efforts were quite limited while the design and navigational features, although basic, were well executed. The results indicated that most PLSA online communication is rather limited, focusing on providing basic information regarding programs, services, facilities and events. In the future, this is expected to change. In general, PLSA appear to recognize the importance of online communication. However, a re-definition of communication strategies may be needed for better implementation. It is suggested that these strategies should encompass the underlying goal of creating a relationship with citizens.

Governance is widely discussed in various government sectors or agencies such as Health Care and Education and throughout the private sector. Yet, it is only recently that reference to governance with regards to parks and protected areas has come to the for-front within various political and ecological circles. Parks and protected areas are increasingly threatened by climate change and political influences and therefore, there is a current need to assess the design and operations of protected areas so that they can be properly managed for the changes that have and will continue to occur. The current study examined how five stakeholder groups perceived 12 governance factors under Ontario Parks’ management model. Results revealed that Ontario Parks’ management model is perceived as having good levels of governance for all 12 factors by the entire population and within each of the five stakeholder groups. Differences in perception were observed primarily between the Park Staff participants when compared to the Contractor and Local Resident participants

One in seven Canadian women lives in poverty. There is a considerable body of research on the factors that cause women’s poverty in Canada and on how poverty affects women’s lives. There are also a number of programs and organizations that help women living in poverty. However, there is a lack of research that examines the meanings and experiences women have with these programs and the role these programs may play in their lives. This study has attempted to fill this gap by examining an innovative training and employment program for women living in poverty. A qualitative approach was taken, which included in-depth, semi-structured interviews with eight women who had recently completed the program, as well as an informal interview with the program director. The interviews explored the women’s experiences with the program, the meanings they associated with the program, and the ways in which participation in the program had influenced their lives. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze the interview data, and socialist feminist theory provided a lens to guide the study as a whole. The analysis led to the development of a number of themes and sub-themes. Safety, stability and connections with others were found to be particularly meaningful and important components of the program. These features enabled the participants to discover a new sense of self through the development of skills, confidence and empowerment. These findings suggest the importance of providing a holistic program, and one that addresses the broad range of challenges and concerns that affect the lives of women in poverty. Programs that focus narrowly on employment and job training may be insufficient. The implications of this research are discussed in terms of the diverse needs of women living in poverty and the range of barriers that they face. Community programs such as the one studied can help women make significant gains in their lives, which can, in turn, contribute to overcoming poverty and achieving economic independence.