We’re Here, You Just Don’t Know How to Reach Us: Conducting Research with Citizens on the Socio-Economic Margins

In this paper, methodological challenges that emerged when conducting research with socially and economically disadvantaged young adults in a semi-rural community are examined. Recruitment and retention issues related to ethics protocols, trust, and economic disadvantage are addressed. Strategies governing bodies can employ to support research with difficult to reach populations are suggested

Youth Speaks Up: Perceived Communication Changes Experienced by Grade 6 Participants in a Personal Development Program

A nine-month program entitled Youth Speaks Up is delivered annually to grade 6 students from Sydney, Nova Scotia. One goal of the program is to provide an opportunity for the development of positive communication skills in participants. The purpose of this project was to determine if students participating in the program perceived changes in their communication ability and comfort level as a result of participation in the program. Qualitative focus groups were conducted, and responses suggest that many participants experienced positive changes in their communication comfort levels in public and interpersonal communication contexts, and specifically in their ability and willingness to express their ideas. Participants believed factors such as consistent practice and interaction with new people influenced the changes. Students’ recommendations for program development are also presented.À chaque année, les élèves de la 6e année à Sydney, en Nouvelle-Écosse, participent à un programme d’une durée de neuf mois intitulé Youth Speaks Up (La parole aux jeunes). Le programme vise, entre autres, le développement d’aptitudes en communication positives chez les participants. L’objectif de cette étude était de déterminer si les participants croyaient que le programme avait entraîné des changements dans leurs aptitudes en communication et leur sentiment de bien-être. Les conclusions tirées à partir de sessions qualitatives avec des groupes de discussion indiquent que plusieurs participants constataient des changements positifs dans le sentiment de bien-être qu’ils ressentaient dans des contextes de communication interpersonnelle et en public, plus précisément dans leur habileté et leur volonté d’exprimer leurs idées. Les participants étaient d’avis que ces changements étaient en partie attribuables à des facteurs tels la pratique régulière et l’interaction avec de nouvelles personnes. Nous présentons également les recommandations qu’ont faites les élèves pour le développement du programme

Annual Research Review: Child and adolescent mental health interventions: a review of progress in economic studies across different disorders

Background: Resources for supporting children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders continue to be scarce. Economics research can identify current patterns of expenditure, and help inform allocation of treatment and support resources between competing needs or uses. Scope and methods: The aim was to identify the costs of supporting children and adolescents, the economic impacts of childhood psychiatric disorders in adulthood and any new evidence on the cost-effectiveness of interventions. An electronic search of databases (including PubMed, Medline and Psychinfo) identified peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2005 and 2012. Findings: Sixty-seven papers provided data on support and treatment costs now or in the future, or cost-effectiveness analyses of services. Half the articles came from the United States. Most articles focussed on autism spectrum disorder (ASD; 23 articles), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 15), conduct disorder (CD; n = 7), and anxiety or depression (n = 8). Conclusion: Only 14 studies used a cost perspective wider than health care; most included education costs (n = 11), but only five included costs to the justice system. The number of studies estimating costs to the family has increased, particularly for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the United Kingdom, support costs for children and adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) appear to be lower than for those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), although for the United States, the opposite may be true. Support costs for children and adolescents with ASD may be higher than both CD and ADHD. However, there were many differences between the samples and the methods employed making comparisons between studies difficult. Outcomes in adulthood include negative impacts on (mental) health, quality of life, public sector services, employment status and income. The evidence base is improving for child and adolescent psychiatric disorders, although only one full cost-effectiveness analysis was identified since the previous review published in 2012. However, we still do not know enough about the economic implications of support and treatment for specific disorders

The way we see it: an analysis of economically disadvantaged young people's experiences and perceptions of social and economic health in their semi-rural community

This study investigates how socially and economically disadvantaged young people, living in a semi-rural, post-industrial Atlantic Canadian community, experience and perceive social and economic health -- defined as participants' sense of comfort and security that their social and economic needs are, and will continue to be, met in their community. I argue that social and educational policies and practices must reflect the realities of local citizens if they aim to interrupt regional health disparities. A key objective of this research is to expose and challenge gender, class, and regional inequalities through an analysis of young adults' social and economic health experiences and perceptions. Drawing primarily upon Pierre Bourdieu's (1990b; 2001)concepts -- habitus, field, and symbolic domination -- relations between gender, class,and historical circumstances theoretically inform this research. Employing a critical ethnographic methodological framework (Madison, 2005),experiences and perceptions of ten economically disadvantaged youth -- five women and five men, ages 19-30 -- were gathered through focus groups, individual interviews, participant observation, critical dialogue (using media to stimulate dialogue among participants), and an adaptation of photovoice (a technique combining photography and narrative). Results suggest that the social and economic health needs of economically disadvantaged young adults are not being met. They confirm Bourdieu's (1999a)assertion of an interrelationship between physical place and the positioning of agents in social fields. Participants navigate economic, cultural, and social fields, aware of their social positioning as they 'work' the fields in order to secure enough capital to 'get by'. Their struggles are examples of symbolic domination and suggest a significant psycho-social cost to young adults seeking social and economic health through various fields. Analyses of their experiences suggest a disjuncture between gendered identities ascribed to participants through historically-rooted habitus and contemporary social fields. Recommendations call for gender, class, and regional inequalities to be addressed through structural interventions and investment in long term community-based education that is integrated with local economic development initiatives. Furthermore, this research calls attention to how research agendas and procedures can actually reinforce marginalization, making it difficult for the voices of disadvantaged communities to enter into dominant public discourse.Education, Faculty ofEducational Studies (EDST), Department ofGraduat