Heroes for the helpless: A critical discourse analysis of Canadian national print media’s coverage of the food insecurity crisis in Nunavut

In northern Canada, the Inuit’s transition from a culturally traditional to a Western diet has been accompanied by chronic poverty and provoked high levels of food insecurity, resulting in numerous negative health outcomes. This study examines national coverage of Nunavut food insecurity as presented in two of Canada’s most widely read newspapers: The Globe and Mail (GM) and the National Post (NP). A critical discourse analysis (CDA) was employed to analyze 24 articles, 19 from GM and 5 from NP. Analysis suggests national print media propagates the Inuit’s position as The Other by selectively reporting on social issues such as hunger, poverty, and income. Terms such as “Northerners” and “Southerners” are frequently used to categorically separate Nunavut from the rest of Canada and Inuit-driven efforts to resolve their own issues are widely ignored. This effectively portrays the Inuit as helpless and the territory as a failure, and allows Canadians to maintain colonialist views of Inuit inferiority and erroneously assume Federal initiatives effectively address Northern food insecurity

Normalizing Masculinity: Explaining Processes, Factors, and Contexts That Influence How Rural Male Farmers Seek Health Information in Southwest Ontario

Disproportionately high mortality and morbidity rates experienced by rural men are often related to the high prevalence of rural male farmers (RMFs) who are consistently exposed to chemicals, animal waste, and dust, or injured or killed while working. This dissertation aimed to explain processes by which RMFs seek health information (HI), and how these processes are influenced by rural social, cultural, political, and geographical factors. Three studies were conducted as part of this dissertation. The first study was a literature review that explored the relationship between rural men’s health, health information seeking (HIS) theory, and masculinity theory. The second study was a retrospective analysis of Ontario health policy and planning documents published since 2006 to establish the health policy context within which RMFs in Ontario seek HI. The third study integrated constructivist grounded theory and photovoice to identify and explain processes by which RMFs in southwest Ontario seek HI and factors that affect those processes. Findings of the literature review suggest that rural hegemonic masculinity – a socially desirable gender identity that values men’s toughness – may influence rural men to avoid HIS. Health policy and planning document analysis identified 13 documents published since 2006 that included RMFs’ health or health needs. Analysis indicated that health policy and planning document authors addressed RMFs as both: 1) token symbols of rural communities, and 2) key stakeholders to engage with to “mend fences” and improve strained relationships between healthcare providers and rural communities. Sixteen RMFs in southwest Ontario participated in the constructivist grounded theory-photovoice study. Participants revealed that their HIS was guided by an identity-related core process entitled ‘normalizing self as an RMF throughout HIS’, and that ‘normalizing’ was affected by rural social, cultural, geographical, and political factors. These studies have implications for how rural communities, agricultural interest groups, health and non-health policy makers, and rural healthcare planners and providers can influence how RMFs seek HI. Future research is needed to understand how RMFs seek HI in different rural contexts, how rural communities can effectively support RMFs to engage in HIS, and how future health and non-health policy can promote RMFs’ health and HIS

The application of drones in healthcare and health-related services in north america: A scoping review

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Using drone aircraft to deliver healthcare and other health-related services is a relatively new application of this technology in North America. For health service providers, drones represent a feasible means to increase their efficiency and ability to provide services to individuals, especially those in difficult to reach locations. This paper presents the results of a scoping review of the research literature to determine how drones are used for healthcare and health-related services in North America, and how such applications account for human operating and machine design factors. Data were collected from PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore using a block search protocol that combined 13 synonyms for “drone” and eight broad terms capturing healthcare and health-related services. Four-thousand-six-hundred-and-sixty-five documents were retrieved, and following a title, abstract, and full-text screening procedure completed by all authors, 29 documents were retained for analysis through an inductive coding process. Overall, findings indicate that drones may represent a financially feasible means to promote healthcare and health-related service accessibility for those in difficult-to-reach areas; however, further work is required to fully understand the costs to healthcare organizations and the communities they serve

Rural Men’s Health, Health Information Seeking, and Gender Identities: A Conceptual Theoretical Review of the Literature

Beginning as early as 2009, recent shifts in Canadian health care delivery indicate that access to health information is essential to promote and maintain a healthy population. It is important to understand how and where various populations, such as underresourced rural populations, access health information so that public health agencies can develop and deliver appropriate information with, for, and in these contexts. There is a paucity of research that specifically examines how rural Canadian men seek health information; therefore, this review aimed to conceptualize this process based on three dynamic key constructs: health patterns of rural Canadians, health information–seeking behaviors, and rural gender identities. This conceptual theoretical literature review included 91 articles at the intersection of these three constructs. Discussion focuses on how residing in a rural region influences men’s health and health care access. Health information–seeking behaviors are discussed in terms of social networks and framed with a rural context. Connell’s theory of masculinity provides a useful approach to dissecting how rural men’s gender identities influence their health attitudes, and how such attitudes are embedded in rural social and cultural norms. Each major construct—health in rural Canada, health information seeking, and rural gender identities—is discussed to highlight how specific embodiments of masculinity may promote and inhibit men’s health information–seeking and positive health behaviors

Exploring Canadian children\u27s social media use, digital literacy, and quality of life: Pilot cross-sectional survey study

Background: Understanding social media use and digital literacy among young Canadian children is an increasing area of concern, given the importance of digital inclusion for full and informed participation in evolving educational, civic, corporate, social, and economic spaces. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore internet and social media knowledge as well as social media use among Canadian children aged between 6 and 10 years. Methods: We conducted interview surveys with 42 children aged between 6 and 10 years who participated in an after-school health promotion program in an urban community in Southwestern Ontario to understand their digital literacy skills and social media use. The data were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Results: Of the 42 children who participated in this study, 24 (57%) reported that they used social media, specifically YouTube (19/24, 79% reported use), Snapchat (16/24, 67% reported use), and Facebook (8/24, 33% reported use). While using social media, children reported sharing personal information, including videos or pictures of themselves (12/24, 50%), videos or pictures of others (8/24, 33%), and their birthday (12/24, 50%), whereas only one-third (9/24, 38%) of the children believed that only close family and friends had access to the content they shared. When reporting on the quality of life in the context of using social media, most (17/24, 71%) children never felt sad, half (12/24, 50%) never had difficulty making new friends, and nearly one-third (7/24, 30%) indicated that they never had difficulty wanting to play outside. Conclusions: Owing to the rapidly evolving uptake and use of social media among young Canadians, the implementation of childhood digital health literacy education is vital to best support digital inclusion and well-being in Canada. The findings of our study highlight the need for future research to understand where children receive their digital literacy knowledge from and whether this knowledge is gained through self-directed social media use or observation from other actors, such as parents, siblings, or friends

“Let me know when I’m needed”: Exploring the gendered nature of digital technology use for health information seeking during the transition to parenting

This paper presents results of a qualitative descriptive study conducted to understand parents’ experiences with digital technologies during their transition to parenting (i.e. the period from pre-conception through postpartum). Individuals in southwest Ontario who had become a new parent within the previous 24 months were recruited to participate in a focus group or individual interview. Participants were asked to describe the type of technologies they/their partner used during their transition to parenthood, and how such technologies were used to support their own and their family\u27s health. Focus group and interview transcripts were then subjected to thematic analysis using inductive coding. Ten focus groups and three individual interviews were conducted with 26 heterosexual female participants. Participants primarily used digital technologies to: (1) seek health information for a variety of reproductive health issues, and (2) establish social and emotional connections. The nature of such health information work was markedly gendered and was categorized by 2 dominant themes. First, “‘Let me know when I’m needed’”, characterizes fathers’ apparent avoidance of health information seeking and resultant creation of mothers as lay information mediaries. Second, “Information Curation”, captures participants’ belief that gender biases built-in to popular parenting apps and resources reified the gendered nature of health and health information work during the transition to parenting. Overall, findings indicate that digital technology tailored to new and expecting parents actively reinforced gender norms regarding health information seeking, which creates undue burden on new mothers to become the sole health information seeker and interpreter for their family

Investigation of digital technology use in the transition to parenting: Qualitative study

Background: The transition to parenting—that is, the journey from preconception through pregnancy and postpartum periods—is one of the most emotionally charged and information-intense times for individuals and families. While there is a developing body of literature on the use and impact of digital technology on the information behaviors of children, adolescents, and young adults, personal use of digital technology during the transition to parenting and in support of infants to 2 years of age is relatively understudied. Objective: The purpose of this study was to enhance our understanding of the ways digital technologies contribute to the experience of the transition to parenting, particularly the role these technologies play in organizing and structuring emerging pregnancy and early parenting practices. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted to understand new parents’ experiences with and uses of digital technology during 4 stages—prenatal, pregnancy, labor, and postpartum—of their transition to becoming a new parent. A purposive sampling strategy was implemented using snowball sampling techniques to recruit participants who had become a parent within the previous 24 months. Focus groups and follow-up interviews were conducted using semistructured interview guides that inquired about parents’ type and use of technologies for self and family health. Transcribed audio recordings were thematically analyzed. Results: A total of 10 focus groups and 3 individual interviews were completed with 26 participants. While recruitment efforts targeted parents of all genders and sexual orientations, all participants identified as heterosexual women. Participants reported prolific use of digital technologies to direct fertility (eg, ovulation timing), for information seeking regarding development of their fetus, to prepare for labor and delivery, and in searching for a sense of community during postpartum. Participants expressed their need for these technologies to assist them in the day-to-day demands of preparing for and undertaking parenting, yet expressed concerns about their personal patterns of use and the potential negative impacts of their use. The 3 themes generated from the data included: “Is this normal; is this happening to you?!”, “Am I having a heart attack; what is this?”, and “Anyone can put anything on Wikipedia”: Managing the Negative Impacts of Digital Information. Conclusions: Digital technologies were used by mothers to track menstrual cycles during preconception; monitor, document, and announce a pregnancy during the prenatal stage; prepare for delivery during labor/birth stage; and to help babies sleep, document/announce their birth, and connect to parenting resources during the postpartum stage. Mothers used digital technologies to reassure themselves that their experiences were normal or to seek help when they were abnormal. Digital technologies provided mothers with convenient means to access health information from a range of sources, yet mothers were apprehensive about the credibility and trustworthiness of the information they retrieved. Further research should seek to understand how men and fathers use digital technologies during their transition to parenting. Additionally, further research should critically examine how constant access to information affects mothers’ perceived need to self-monitor and further understand the unintended health consequences of constant surveillance on new parents

Health service experiences and preferences of frail home care clients and their family and friend caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a major upheaval in the lives of older adults and their family/friend caregivers, including those utilizing home care services. In this article, we focus on results from a qualitative component added to a pragmatic randomized controlled trial that focuses on the experiences of our study participants during COVID-19. A total of 29 participants responded to the COVID-19 related questions focused on their health services experiences and preferences from March-June 2020 including 10 home care clients and 19 family/friend caregivers in the provinces of Ontario and Nova Scotia, Canada. Results: Many participants were affected drastically by the elimination or reduction of access to services, highlighting the vulnerability of home care clients and their caregivers during COVID-19. This took an emotional toll on home care clients and increased the need for family/friend caregiver support. While many participants expressed reduced desire to utilize residential long-term care homes, some caregivers found that passive remote monitoring technology was particularly useful within the COVID-19 context. Our results provide important insights into the ways the older adults and their caregivers have been affected during the COVID-19 context and how to better support them in the future

Children's reading profiles on exiting the Reading Recovery programme: do they predict sustained progress?

© UKLA. The aim of this study was to identify reading profiles, which predict the literacy progress of Reading Recovery graduates. Reading Recovery is an intensive remediation for children after the first year of school. Children were assessed at exit from the programme and at 3-month, 6-month and 12-month follow-up points. Text Reading Level made unique contributions to word reading, spelling and writing at all time points and was consistently the best predictor of word reading. Phonological processing also made unique contributions to word reading and spelling. Reading comprehension was found to be the best predictor of National Curriculum sublevels for reading and writing, 12months later. These findings indicate that levelled texts, as employed in Reading Recovery, provide a good indication of progress in word reading, spelling and writing after the programme has been discontinued, but also present a case for assessing other reading skills (e.g., phonological processing and reading comprehension) in order to help predict sustained progress in literacy

The effectiveness, acceptability and cost-effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for maltreated children and adolescents: an evidence synthesis.

BACKGROUND: Child maltreatment is a substantial social problem that affects large numbers of children and young people in the UK, resulting in a range of significant short- and long-term psychosocial problems. OBJECTIVES: To synthesise evidence of the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and acceptability of interventions addressing the adverse consequences of child maltreatment. STUDY DESIGN: For effectiveness, we included any controlled study. Other study designs were considered for economic decision modelling. For acceptability, we included any study that asked participants for their views. PARTICIPANTS: Children and young people up to 24 years 11 months, who had experienced maltreatment before the age of 17 years 11 months. INTERVENTIONS: Any psychosocial intervention provided in any setting aiming to address the consequences of maltreatment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Psychological distress [particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety, and self-harm], behaviour, social functioning, quality of life and acceptability. METHODS: Young Persons and Professional Advisory Groups guided the project, which was conducted in accordance with Cochrane Collaboration and NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination guidance. Departures from the published protocol were recorded and explained. Meta-analyses and cost-effectiveness analyses of available data were undertaken where possible. RESULTS: We identified 198 effectiveness studies (including 62 randomised trials); six economic evaluations (five using trial data and one decision-analytic model); and 73 studies investigating treatment acceptability. Pooled data on cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for sexual abuse suggested post-treatment reductions in PTSD [standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.44 (95% CI -4.43 to -1.53)], depression [mean difference -2.83 (95% CI -4.53 to -1.13)] and anxiety [SMD -0.23 (95% CI -0.03 to -0.42)]. No differences were observed for post-treatment sexualised behaviour, externalising behaviour, behaviour management skills of parents, or parental support to the child. Findings from attachment-focused interventions suggested improvements in secure attachment [odds ratio 0.14 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.70)] and reductions in disorganised behaviour [SMD 0.23 (95% CI 0.13 to 0.42)], but no differences in avoidant attachment or externalising behaviour. Few studies addressed the role of caregivers, or the impact of the therapist-child relationship. Economic evaluations suffered methodological limitations and provided conflicting results. As a result, decision-analytic modelling was not possible, but cost-effectiveness analysis using effectiveness data from meta-analyses was undertaken for the most promising intervention: CBT for sexual abuse. Analyses of the cost-effectiveness of CBT were limited by the lack of cost data beyond the cost of CBT itself. CONCLUSIONS: It is not possible to draw firm conclusions about which interventions are effective for children with different maltreatment profiles, which are of no benefit or are harmful, and which factors encourage people to seek therapy, accept the offer of therapy and actively engage with therapy. Little is known about the cost-effectiveness of alternative interventions. LIMITATIONS: Studies were largely conducted outside the UK. The heterogeneity of outcomes and measures seriously impacted on the ability to conduct meta-analyses. FUTURE WORK: Studies are needed that assess the effectiveness of interventions within a UK context, which address the wider effects of maltreatment, as well as specific clinical outcomes. STUDY REGISTRATION: This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42013003889. FUNDING: The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme