Women Challenging the Constitution: New Evidence

AbstractThis article is more political than legal. Using the ap­proaches identified by feminist institutionalism, it fo­cuses on the interactions between the Canadian Advi­sory Council on the Status of Women (CACSW) and the Canadian government during the constitutional cri­sis of 1980-1981. How did the gendered institutions of the federal government facilitate a narrative that, finally, was harmful to the women’s movement in Canada? RésuméCet article est plus politique que juridique. En utilisant les approches identifiées par les institutions féministes, il se penche sur les interactions entre le Conseil consul­tatif canadien sur la situation de la femme (CCCSF) et le gouvernement du Canada durant la crise constitution­nelle de 1980-1981. Comment les institutions marquées par la différenciation des sexes du gouvernement fédé­ral ont-elles facilité un récit qui était, en fin de compte, nuisible au mouvement féministe au Canada

The hidden rise of new women candidates seeking election to the House of Commons, 2000 – 2008

Women’s candidacy and election are tracked over four Canadian national elections from 2000 to 2008. These elections brought a dramatic expansion in women candi-dates, but only a small increase in the number elected. Simu-lations of alternative electoral outcomes indicate only minor impact due to the shift from Liberal to Conservative gov-ernments. Women candidates from all major parties are found to have been similarly successful as men with the same party and incumbency status. Analysis of the candi-date-pool composition reveals that there were too few new women candidates in 2000 even to maintain the status quo in the House. Increases in 2004 and 2006 brought candida-cies into balance with the House composition. In 2008 the recruitment rate exceeded the House proportion meaning-fully. Since the Conservatives caught up part-way to the other parties in nominating new women candidates in 2008, the gender composition of the House became far less sensi-tive to voters’ partisan preferences than was the case earlier. The results show that the flat numbers elected arose not from stagnation in recruitment of new women candidates, but rather from two relatively large fluctuations: a cross-party collapse in 2000, followed by a cross-party resurgence. Women’s share of non-incumbent major-party candidacies and turned-over seats nearly doubled over the eight-year period, both reaching the one-third mark for the first time in 2008. This cross-party resurgence is shown to have carried over to the 2011 election

Perception of biological motion and emotion in mild cognitive impairment and dementia

Participants diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), dementia and controls completed measures that required decoding emotions from point-light displays of bodily motion, and static images of facial affect. Both of these measures tap social cognitive processes that are considered critical for social competency. Consistent with prior literature, both clinical groups were impaired on the static measure of facial affect recognition. The dementia (but not the MCI) group additionally showed difficulties interpreting biological motion cues. However, this did not reflect a specific deficit in decoding emotions, but instead a more generalized difficulty in processing visual motion (both to action and to emotion). These results align with earlier studies showing that visual motion processing is disrupted in dementia, but additionally show for the first time that this extends to the recognition of socially relevant biological motion. The absence of any MCI related impairment on the point-light biological emotion measure (coupled with deficits on the measure of facial affect recognition) also point to a potential disconnect between the processes implicated in the perception of emotion cues from static versus dynamic stimuli. For clinical (but not control) participants, performance on all recognition measures was inversely correlated with level of semantic memory impairment

Constraints to implementing guidelines for the identification, assessment, and management of childhood obesity in the clinical care setting: Prevention and treatment framework

The “Pathway for the Identification, Assessment and Management of Overweight and Obese Children & Youth” was developed to support healthcare providers in identifying and treating childhood obesity in British Columbia (Canada). Purpose: The study aimed to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of using the Pathway in clinical settings. Methods: 13 healthcare providers (7 family physicians, 2 pediatricians, 2 registered dietitians, and 2 nurse practitioners) assessed the Pathway and participated in semi-structured interviews in 2015. A direct constant comparative analysis guided the coding of the interviews in the NVivo 9 software. Results: The interviews uncovered the complexity of factors that influenced practices of healthcare providers. Three broad issues were identified as required if the “Pathway” were to be used and fully implemented in practices. First, the “Pathway” needs to be modified in terms of how it is presented and explained and be supplemented with appropriate documentation and resources for its implementation, Second, the constraints that limit implementation need to be addressed and should include a focus on both individual (i.e., the healthcare providers themselves) and environmental (i.e., factors within and outside of providers' organizations) factors. Lastly, there is a need to establish processes and/or infrastructure for adapting the “Pathway” to the local context as resources and supports vary by organizations and regions. Conclusion: Healthcare providers should be involved in screening and managing childhood obesity. Addressing the challenges found in this study will enable healthcare providers to take a more active role in addressing childhood obesity in their day to day practices. Keywords: Child obesity, Health care providers, Prevention and control, Risk assessmen

Moderating effects of family environment on overweight/obese adolescents’ dietary behaviours

Background: The familial environment can influence adolescents' risk for obesity. However, we do not fully understand the mechanisms through which parents can influence overweight/obese adolescents' dietary behaviours, specifically whether parenting practices (e.g., rules or routines) and/or their own dietary behaviours are associated with their overweight/obese adolescent's dietary quality. Objectives This study examined whether parenting practices and/or parental modeling of dietary quality are associated with overweight/obese adolescents’ dietary quality while considering the moderating effects of parenting styles and family functioning.Medicine, Faculty ofOther UBCPediatrics, Department ofPopulation and Public Health (SPPH), School ofPsychiatry, Department ofReviewedFacultyResearcherGraduat