Given that childhood obesity has become a public health concern, the development and implementation of effective interventions addressing this issue are needed. Research suggests that the use of a parent-only approach is an effective way to improve the home and family environment to promote healthy weight in children. Moreover, by improving parents’ physical activity and eating behaviours children’s behaviours may also be improved. Primary care interventions have been shown to be effective for enhancing physical activity in adults, especially when using physical activity prescriptions and referrals to community programs. No studies have combined these two interventions to explore the possibility of an added-value effect relative to the promotion of a healthy family environment conducive to healthy weight in children. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a combined primary care-parent-only intervention with a primary care intervention alone for improving the home and family environment and mothers’ physical activity behaviours relevant to the promotion of healthy weight in children. Female patients (N = 35) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Prescription Plus (PP), Prescription Only (PO) and Usual Care (UC). The PP group received a physical activity prescription plus a referral to a parent-only intervention, the PO group received just the prescription, and the UC group, regular health care. Outcome variables were physical activity, the obesogenic home environment, mother’s confidence for making obesity related changes, exercise/physical activity self-efficacy and outcome expectations, and self-regulation and perceived competence for exercise. All the measures were self-reported and were assessed before and eight weeks after the intervention. A 2 x 3 mixed analysis of variance showed no significant group differences at post-intervention. Only a significant time * intervention interaction was observed (p = .03), where the PP group achieved the largest effect (partial ŋ² = .200) in the obesogenic home environment score after receiving the intervention. These findings suggest that the combined primary care-parent-only intervention was effective for improving the home environment and provide preliminary insight into the effectiveness of such an intervention for influencing healthy weight in children. / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-09-23 16:58:17.208

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Research has shown that at least half of children who display problem behaviour in preschool maintain these behaviour patterns when they reach school age. Without targeted intervention these behaviours may lead to an antisocial developmental pathway and problem behaviours which become increasingly entrenched and unlikely to respond to treatment. The present study had two aims, the first was to evaluate the use of differential attention as a behaviour management strategy in a preschool setting and to assess its effectiveness in encouraging prosocial behaviour in children who require extra assistance with their social development. The second was to assess the extent to which groups of Early Education teachers were able to implement differential attention during structured mat times and eating periods. This was achieved by observing both child appropriate and inappropriate behaviour and teacher attention to child appropriate and inappropriate behaviour. The study found that when teachers increased their rate of attention to appropriate behaviour to a level greater that their rate of attention to inappropriate behaviour, the child’s behaviour changed with appropriate behaviour increasing and inappropriate behaviour decreasing. Child behaviour only changed when teachers behaviour changed and was only maintained in the cases where teachers’ behaviour was maintained. One of the most significant observations in the study was the variability in implementation of the differential attention procedure across teachers and centres, leading to a number of recommendations for future research in preschool settings.

This thesis set out to explore the experiences of clients and counsellors in immediate crisis intervention shortly after a major earthquake. It explored the experiences and perceptions of change during counselling for both clients and counsellor, all of which were exposed to the disaster. This study supported the idea of counsellors needing to adapt to the context of post-disaster counselling and addressing client’s immediate needs. Having both been through the same disaster meant counsellors were often going through similar experiences and emotions as their clients during this time. This led counsellors to develop a greater sense of connection and understanding of their client, as well as showing more emotional responsivity and self-disclosure. This was experienced as different to their normal therapy engagement. The implications of these counsellor responses were seen to be helpful, but at times had the potential to be hindering for counselling. Clients valued their counsellor’s techniques and personal qualities but often failed to identify what contribution they, themselves, made to change processes. The differing nature of counselling in post-disaster areas, as gauged by this study may help inform expectations and experiences regarding provision of post-disaster acute interventions.

It is well documented that the health behaviours and health status of Canadian youth are of increasing concern. This includes their inactive and sedentary lifestyle, less than recommended daily consumption of fruits and vegetables, and excessive intake of sugar sweetened beverages thought to contribute to the early development of metabolic syndrome, some cancers and certainly obesity. Strategies for reversing the declining health of Canadian youth have captured the interest of health promotion researchers. Health education in the school system has been identified as a potential vehicle of change since it is considered to be one of the last wide-scale and cost-free opportunities to motivate and educate students to be healthy and active. However, an increasing amount of research is suggesting that traditional curricula may be failing to adequately convey health information in high school youth. As a result of increasing technological literacy and exposure, a growing field of evidence suggests youth now prefer delivery of health information from electronic sources instead of traditional mediums. The majority of studies observing online health interventions show positive results, but research involving youth, and conducted in real world settings, is still in its infancy. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the utility of an online intervention tool as part of a health education curriculum, to motivate and support grade 10 students to make healthy decisions related to physical activity, screen time, fruit and vegetable consumption and intake of sugar sweetened beverages. Research questions included: (1) How do students use the online tool to support their health behaviour changes? (2) What were students’ experiences using the HPSS online tool? Are they satisfied with its function, features, look and content? (3) Was there any relationship between use of the online tool and students’ behaviour change? Students in Planning 10 and PE 10 courses (N = 44) in two high schools participated in the year-long study. Pre and post intervention data collection procedures included self-report survey of health behaviours, and anthropometric measures (BMI and waist and hip measures) to more objectively capture changes in health outcomes. Focus groups were conducted with students (n = 10) and teachers (n = 6) to gather their feedback about the website and its contribution within the curriculum. Finally, web metrics captured students’ use of and exposure to the online tool over the course of the intervention. Despite evidence in the literature that youth strongly engage with electronic mediums, students’ use of the website in this study was infrequent and disappointing: 52% of students did not login once, and the remainder visited the site fleetingly. No significant relationships between students’ web use and behaviour change were found. Qualitative data revealed that students’ appreciated the interactive and reminder functions of the website, but teachers struggled to define its role within the curriculum as a pedagogical tool, so it failed to attract students’ time and attention. The study contributes to the literature through its investigation of an online health education tool, contextualized in the real life setting of the school classroom. / Graduate

Stillasittande framställs allt mer som en oberoende riskfaktor och är ett vanligt förekommande fenomen på arbetsplatsen. Detta är sammankopplat med en förhöjd risk för de stora folksjukdomarna, exempelvis hjärt- och kärlsjukdomar samt olika cancerformer. Syftet var att undersöka interventioner för att motverka långvarigt stillasittande på arbetsplatsen. Detta examensarbete är en litteraturstudie och tio stycken vetenskapliga artiklar inkluderades. Artiklarna hämtades från databaserna Pubmed och Cinahl, genom sökorden ”sedentary behavior”, ”sedentary behaviour”, ”sitting time” och ”workplace”. Vid databearbetningen genomfördes en temaanalys och tre kategorier fastställdes, ”e-hälsa avbryter stillasittande”, ”arbetsstationer reducerar tid i stillasittande” och ”multikomponenta interventioner påverkar stillasittande i större utsträckning”. De huvudsakliga resultaten tyder på att vid interventioner med e-hälsa som tillvägagångssätt, förekom ökningar i antal pauser från långvarigt stillasittande. Vidare kunde olika arbetsstationer tydligare minska tiden i stillasittande och därmed även öka tiden i stående ställning. Slutligen påvisade de multikomponenta interventionerna mest kompletta förbättringar gällande stillasittande beteenden inom flera avseenden. Därmed påvisades multikomponenta interventioner överlag vara mer fördelaktiga och kompletta. I framtiden bör forskningen framförallt inrikta sig på att kartlägga interventioners effektivitet på längre sikt, i syfte att säkerställa bibehållandet av förbättrat stillasittande beteende.

This work is a critical analysis of craft internvention upon historic musical instruments. It is centred upon the tension between use and preservation that arose with the conflicting demands of the early music revival for working musical instruments,and of the conservation discipline for the preservation of these artefacts as documents of contemporary instrument-making and musical practices. A framework is developed around three regimens of function, termed Currency, Restitution and Preservation, within which the actions and rationales of craft activity on musical instruments may be characterized. Case studies of nine historic instruments are presented in order to demonstrate the derivation of both the technical and social factors that contributed to their changes in state and status during the period under study. Analysis of the actions taken upon the instruments in their historical and social contexts provides a novel understanding of the relationship between the desire for musical experience, and the need for historical and technical information. The work concludes with a discussion of a strategy for encouraging a balance between musical function and preservation, thus mediating between the conflicting demands.

The chronic and severe executive functioning (EF) and self regulation deficits experienced by children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are well documented and EF and self regulation have been identified as core targets for intervention. The goals of this dissertation were to: (i) examine the effects of a self regulation treatment for children with FASD on a range of EF measures (ii) examine neural markers of treatment outcome and determine if functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can differentiate treatment responders from nonresponders; (iii) determine if treatment effects generalize to child compliance and qualitatively examine the treatment process. Twenty-five children with FASD participated. Using a wait-list control design children were assigned to an immediate treatment (TXT; n = 12) or delayed treatment control (DTC; n = 13) condition. All children received an evaluation of EF and fMRI at baseline and 12-week follow-up. Parents also completed questionnaires assessing EF and behavior as well as a feedback questionnaire upon completion of treatment. A subset of parents tracked compliance over the course of their child’s therapy. For the TXT group only, parent questionnaires were readministered at 6 month follow-up. At 12-week follow-up, children in the TXT group displayed significant improvements in inhibitory control and social cognition. Additionally, parents reported improved behavioral and emotional regulation. This improvement, along with a further improvement in parent-rated inhibitory control, was maintained at the 6-month follow-up. Neuroplastic changes were also observed as the TXT group showed increased BOLD response in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) and left caudate on a task of inhibitory control. When treatment responders were compared to nonresponders a pattern of increased BOLD response was found bilaterally in the PFC and left caudate. Compliance tracking revealed that self regulation therapy generalized to improved child compliance at home. Qualitative analysis indicated that perceived clinician competence, caregiver insight about child’s problems and caregiver perceptions of child’s insight about their problems, were the most commonly endorsed themes by caregivers. Results from this research signify that children with FASD are responsive to psychotherapy and following a brief intervention, showed improvements in self regulatory abilities that generalize to other EF areas and parent-reported behaviors.

In spite of the general prohibition of the use of force in international relations contained in the UN Charter, some jurists maintain that humanitarian intervention is valid under comtemporary international law. Too make their case, they put forward a series of arguments which can be divided into two categories. The first holds that humanitarian intervention is compatible with the UN Charter, and the second, which is used more often, that a right of humanitarian intervention has arise out of state's practice. The present thesis surveys these arguments and comes to the conclusion that humanitarian intervention remains illegal under international law. Notwithstanding the formidable progression of human rights in international society, the rule prohibiting recourse to force still enjoys great currency among states at the beginning of this new millenium.