Applied Community Studies

Digital Document

A functional analysis for a boy with Down syndrome and autism suggested that vocal stereotypy was maintained by automatic reinforcement. The analysis also showed that instructions and noncontingent attention suppressed vocal stereotypy. A treatment package consisting of noncontingent attention, contingent demands, and response cost effectively reduced vocal stereotypy. The treatment package remained effective even when noncontingent attention was removed, making the procedure easier to implement. Also, the presence of the therapist in the room with the participant was faded systematically. After completion of fading, vocal stereotypy remained low during conditions similar to the no‐consequence phase of the functional analysis.

Digital Document

We manipulated relative reinforcement for problem behavior and appropriate behavior using differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) without an extinction component. Seven children with developmental disabilities participated. We manipulated duration (Experiment 1), quality (Experiment 2), delay (Experiment 3), or a combination of each (Experiment 4), such that reinforcement favored appropriate behavior rather than problem behavior even though problem behavior still produced reinforcement. Results of Experiments 1 to 3 showed that behavior was often sensitive to manipulations of duration, quality, and delay in isolation, but the largest and most consistent behavior change was observed when several dimensions of reinforcement were combined to favor appropriate behavior (Experiment 4). Results suggest strategies for reducing problem behavior and increasing appropriate behavior without extinction.

Digital Document

In the last two decades health researchers have paid increasing attention to the social determinants of health and health inequalities. Broadly, two hypotheses attempt to explain health inequalities--the materialist hypothesis and the psychosocial hypothesis. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between poverty and women's health from the perspectives of a group of poor women. Our qualitative study with 20 diverse women on low-income included 32 one-on-one interviews, 15 group meetings, and 30 sets of field notes. We used the analysis program Atlas.ti to sort, code, and conduct a content analysis. Overall, our findings revealed that both hypotheses were deeply connected with the dominant ideology of poverty and the concomitant social construction of 'welfare bum' and 'welfare mom'. Socioeconomic factors limited the women's access to health promoting resources and influenced their health behaviours (such as what they ate and how much they exercised). Ideologies that promulgated negative stereotypes legitimized the systemic barriers the women faced, enforced their material scarcity, and limited their entitlements to health-promoting services and resources. Our findings also indicated that the stereotype led the women to feel shamed, stressed, and depressed, and to adopt negative health behaviors as a way of coping and finding comfort.

Advancing women's social justice agendas: a feminist action research framework

Digital Document

Feminist action research is a promising, though under-developed, research approach for advancing women's health and social justice agendas. In this article the foundations, principles, dimensions, promises, and challenges of engaging in feminist action research are explored.

Digital Document

Identifies approaches to the conceptualization of 'determinants of health,' 'leisure activities,' and 'active living.' Relationships between determinants of health (gender, age, education, race, social support, place of residence, socioeconomic factors, occupation, health behaviors, activity choices and leisure constraints) and levels and patterns of active living are reviewed. Relationships between determinants of health and active living are summarized within the context of an integrative framework: the precede-proceed model of health promotion planning and evaluation. The model's use highlights the need to link the historically individual-focused literature on physical activity/active living with the emerging recognition that sociocultural and structural determinants play a key role in influencing a wide range of activities in daily life.

Is somatic maturity delayed in adolescents living with perinally acquired HIV?

Digital Document

Conference presentation delivered at the Pediatric Work Physiology Conference, Paralia, Greece (2017). The presentation describes the growth and maturation of a cohort of children from the BC Children's Hospital Oak Tree Clinic who are undergoing combined antiretroviral treatment (cART). It was noted that wtih early initiation of cART, there tends to be less of an effect on a child's pattern of growth and maturity. Children with HIV are typically shorter and less mature than their non-infected counterparts. The study, was a first to assess growth patterns, specifically age at peak height velocity and the adoelscent growth spurt, in children wtih HIV.

Compound Object

Reconciliation in child and youth care: A conversation

Video

This video was presented at the 20th National and 12th Triennial International Child and Youth Care Conference (2018) on the unceded and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish Peoples (Richmond, British Columbia, Canada). Conference Title: Transitions and transformations: Influencing change through relational practice.

Reconciliation in child and youth care practice: Exploring the relocation experiences of female Indigenous youth in foster care

Digital Document

Conference presentation presented at the <a href="http://cycabc.com/">Child and Youth Care Conference</a> in Richmond, British Columbia (May, 2018). Indigenous youth are over represented in the Canadian Child Welfare system as a result of colonization, residential schools, and the removal of Indigenous children from families. There is limited understanding of this populations’ experience of relocation while in foster care. This study answers the question, “What stories of relocation are told by female Indigenous youth in foster care who have relocated from rural northern communities and are residing in a Lower Mainland residential program?” Using Metis Beadwork/Indigenous Storywork methodology, I used beadwork teachings combined with the seven Storywork principles to guide my research and engage with storytellers which include: respect, responsibility, reciprocity, reverence, holism, interrelatedness, and synergy. Findings from this study reveal the youths perspectives on their experiences of relocation and create space for youth voice in research. Findings may also guide service providers in providing culturally appropriate, effective, and meaningful services to Indigenous youth in the child welfare system. Findings are presented in three sections: leaving, arriving, and adjusting. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action (2015) are outlined and connected to the stories of the youth and a discussion will take place regarding moving towards reconciliation in child and youth care practice.

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