Major Research Papers - Health

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10315/32399

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 40

Open Access
A Critical Review of the Austim Support Mechanism in Ontario
(2024-06-14) Kabir, M. Moktadir
In a scenario of increasing prevalence of autism in Canada, as well as in the world, this Major Research Paper (MRP) makes an attempt to critically review Ontario Autism Program which is the provincial autism support mechanism in Ontario. Using a critical disability lens this paper explores the challenges of autistic people including their families to receive services while the program is influenced by neoliberal ideology and a dominant biomedical model that aims to rectify and cure autism instead of creating a supportive environment by acknowledging their neurodiversive identity. The Ontario Autism Program mostly supports Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) based therapy for children but fails to accommodate many of them and put them in a gradually increasing waitlist. Autistic people are abused, stigmatized and often denied from their rights to have proper education, employment and social inclusion. Moreover, there is very limited support for autistic adults from the government which makes them live their lives in uncertainty. Recently, the Federal Government has taken initiative to develop a national autism framework. It is important to include the voices and concerns of the autistic community while developing the framework and ensure diversified services, social acceptance and inclusion.
Open Access
Analyzing Health Financing and the Implications on Health Access and Equity in Canada, Nigeria and Ghana
(2017-09-01) Onilude, Yemisi; Schraa, Ellen; Raphael, Dennis
This major research paper examined health financing and the implications for health equity and access to care in North America and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries with emphasis on Canada, Nigeria and Ghana. Relevant scholarly journal articles and books were reviewed to meet the objectives of this paper. Literature analysis was used to examine the data obtained for this study. Research findings show that health financing is driven by free market economy (neoliberalism) in both SSA and Canada. Moreover, in making comparison of health financing in the developed and developing nations from 2000 to 2014, the study revealed that the total health expenditure as a percentage of GDP for both Nigeria and Ghana is less than half that of Canada. Also, the government of Ghana is stronger than Nigeria in terms of public health care funding, although both countries are making positive progress in health financing. Generally, the public health financing in Canada is larger than in both Ghana and Nigeria. In the perspective of global health financing, this indicates the presence of inequality in government health expenditure in HICs and LMICs. Furthermore, the analysis shows there are many barriers to the attainment of health financing objectives. This study recommends reform of health care financing systems and giving higher priority to health in government budgetary allocations in various countries as a way of addressing these barriers. In conclusion, it is appropriate for governments of every nation to utilize resources efficiently and equitably for healthcare and ensure prudent spending of money for proper policies in health finance and enhanced health care delivery.
Open Access
Applying a Health Justice Framework to Examine Visitation Policies in Canadian Federal Penitentiaries and Psychiatric Facilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
(2021-11) Bailey, Megan; van Dreumel, Lynda; Shnier, Adrienne
The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated inequities in policy development and implementation of emergency intervention strategies. This study addresses the equitable access to visitation in COVID-19 emergency intervention strategies between comparable total institutional settings. This multiple-case design encompassed two selected custodial environments and was compared using the implemented emergency policies surrounding visitation. In comparing the institutionalized settings of psychiatric hospitals and federal penitentiaries in Ontario, it draws appraisals for equity and health justice-based analysis. These emergency intervention policies focused on visitation vary based on institutional influence, interests, and ideas that are consequently highlighted within this study. The findings of this study reflect a lack of consistency in emergency responsesurrounding visitation policies across psychiatric facilities and federal penitentiaries located within Ontario and uncover discrepancies in policies within the various Ontario psychiatric facilities. These findings lead to an analysis rooted in the framework of human rights and social justice that propel a unique discussion surrounding health justice in the context of Canadian institutionalized settings. The study concluded by considering health justice as a framework in practical and theoretical policy development and implementation to promote health equity and the approach to social justice from a health and equity perspective.
Open Access
Applying a Health Justice Framework to Examine Visitation Policies in Canadian Federal Penitentiaries and Psychiatric Facilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
(2021-11) Bailey, Megan; van Dreumel, Lynda; Shnier, Adrienne
The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated inequities in policy development and implementation of emergency intervention strategies. This study addresses the equitable access to visitation in COVID-19 emergency intervention strategies between comparable total institutional settings. This multiple-case design encompassed two selected custodial environments and was compared using the implemented emergency policies surrounding visitation. In comparing the institutionalized settings of psychiatric hospitals and federal penitentiaries in Ontario, it draws appraisals for equity and health justice-based analysis. These emergency intervention policies focused on visitation vary based on institutional influence, interests, and ideas that are consequently highlighted within this study. The findings of this study reflect a lack of consistency in emergency responsesurrounding visitation policies across psychiatric facilities and federal penitentiaries located within Ontario and uncover discrepancies in policies within the various Ontario psychiatric facilities. These findings lead to an analysis rooted in the framework of human rights and social justice that propel a unique discussion surrounding health justice in the context of Canadian institutionalized settings. The study concluded by considering health justice as a framework in practical and theoretical policy development and implementation to promote health equity and the approach to social justice from a health and equity perspective.
Open Access
Climate Change Action versus Complacency: How Political Power and Influence Shape National Environmental Policy
(2022-08) Flanagan, Erin
The catastrophic effects of climate change are being felt around the world – in both developed and developing countries, with expeditious action needed to avoid a serious global crisis. There has been an array of political responses that have been developed with hopes of forestalling, or even completely eradicating, these impending environmental catastrophes. However, there exists large differences between the responses of countries, particularly amongst the Anglo-Saxon liberal welfare states (LWS) – Australia, Canada, UK, and USA – and the Nordic social democratic welfare states (SDWS) – Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The SDWS have created policy that simultaneously responds to climate change while also promoting existing public policies that emphasize the economic and social security of the population. Alternatively, the LWS continue to emphasis non-governmental responses that serve to depoliticize and individualize the solutions towards the climate crisis. Using a political economy framework, I continue to explore the relevance of the “eco-social welfare state” literature and define how the robustness of a country’s welfare state is explicitly linked to the proactiveness of the environmental policies that are put forth. Furthermore, I provide evidence of five public discourses that demonstrate how public opinion and the resulting conceptualization and framing of the climate crisis may also be influenced by the political economy of a nation. Overall, I conclude that, currently, eco-social welfare state environmental policies are the most proactive, however despite their intentions, are unlikely to control climate change as even the world’s “best” policies are not contributing enough preventative action. Finally, I suggest that only a post-capitalist eco-socialist state can avert a global environmental catastrophe.
Open Access
Comparative Critical Policy Analysis of SARS and COVID-19 Policy Responses to PSW Mental Health
(2021-11) Glockmann-Musto, Santina; Chaufan, Claudia; Syed, Iffath
This Major Research Project (MRP)assesses policy responses to the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of Personal Support Workers (PSWs), a segment of frontline workers, in Canada. Specifically, Iassess how the experience of the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)epidemicis informing policy responses to the mental health challenges experienced by PSWs under COVID-19. Despite the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Canada reporting over half a million cases and over 15,000 deaths due to COVID-19 as of December 31st, 2020, this is not the first emergency of its kind in Canada. In 2003, the outbreak of SARS led to close to 500 cases and 44 deaths, resulting in the establishment of the Public Health Agency of Canada. It was then reported that PSWs who provided care to SARS patients experienced poor mental health outcomes -anxiety, occupational burnout, depression, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which persisted twoyears after the epidemic. COVID-19, substantially more impactful, poses a much greater challenge to the mental health of PSWs. Drawing from a Marxist Feminist perspective –most PSW are low-income and female -thiscritical comparative policy analysis appraises publicly available documents (e.g., Learning from SARS –Renewal of Public Health in Canada) that represent SARS and COVID-19 policy responses. Preliminary findings suggest that policy responses so far have almost entirely missed key lessons learned from the SARS experience. Myanalysis elaborates on these findings and their implications for practice, policy, and equity.
Open Access
Comparative Critical Policy Analysis of SARS and COVID-19 Policy Responses to PSW Mental Health
(2021-11) Glockmann-Musto, Santina; Chaufan, Claudia; Syed, Iffath
This Major Research Project (MRP)assesses policy responses to the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of Personal Support Workers (PSWs), a segment of frontline workers, in Canada. Specifically, Iassess how the experience of the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)epidemicis informing policy responses to the mental health challenges experienced by PSWs under COVID-19. Despite the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Canada reporting over half a million cases and over 15,000 deaths due to COVID-19 as of December 31st, 2020, this is not the first emergency of its kind in Canada. In 2003, the outbreak of SARS led to close to 500 cases and 44 deaths, resulting in the establishment of the Public Health Agency of Canada. It was then reported that PSWs who provided care to SARS patients experienced poor mental health outcomes -anxiety, occupational burnout, depression, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which persisted twoyears after the epidemic. COVID-19, substantially more impactful, poses a much greater challenge to the mental health of PSWs. Drawing from a Marxist Feminist perspective –most PSW are low-income and female -thiscritical comparative policy analysis appraises publicly available documents (e.g., Learning from SARS –Renewal of Public Health in Canada) that represent SARS and COVID-19 policy responses. Preliminary findings suggest that policy responses so far have almost entirely missed key lessons learned from the SARS experience. Myanalysis elaborates on these findings and their implications for practice, policy, and equity.
Open Access
Competing Approaches to Household Food Insecurity in Canada
(2017-10-11) Mendly-Zambo, Zsofia; Raphael, Dennis; Daly, Tamara
Household food insecurity (HFI) impacts over 1.1 million households, adversely impact the health and well-being of individuals and families. Despite the recognition of the right to food by several international covenants, indicating that Canadian governments are obliged to reduce HFI, little has been done by the Canadian government to defend this right. The Canadian Government’s failure to address HFI has resulted in the creation of a number of non-governmental means of managing the problem, which have not been successful in redressing HFI. Furthermore, non-governmental responses may have served to depoliticize the issue of HFI, allowing governments to obfuscate their responsibility in addressing HFI. Four competing approaches of HFI in Canada, nutrition and dietetics, community traditionalism, social determinants of health and political economy complicate solutions by differently conceptualizing and framing the causes and appropriate responses to HFI. I argue that the political economy framework–which views the rise in HFI as precipitating from the skewed distribution of economic and social resources as a result of imbalances in power and influence–best explains the causes of food insecurity and presents the most effective means of responding to its presence in Canada by acknowledging the larger political and economic structures that shape and precipitate HFI.
Open Access
Contracting Care: Evaluating the effects of the "Second Generation Health System Strategy' on the contracting environment for community organizations in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver
(2019-04-11) Wood, Tesia; Daly, Tamara; Armstrong, Pat
This paper examines the impacts of the Downtown Eastside ‘Second Generation Health System Strategy’ (2GHSS) on the contracting environment for community organizations and programs receiving funding from the regional health authority, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). The 2GHSS was designed by VCH and implemented in 2015 with the aim of removing siloed services and providing a more integrated and responsive health system in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). The 2GHSS represents a significant reorientation of government priorities in the community and the accompanying funding shuffles and cuts – primarily directed at non-clinical programs and organizations – have shifted the landscape of the DTES third sector. Informed by the theoretical framework of feminist political economy, and through the use of thematic analysis, this paper identifies trends in the DTES contracting environment between 2015 and 2019 that reflect the intensification of medical dominance and indirect neoliberal governance, including: funding cuts to organizations without links to the formal health system; use of market-based competitive tendering; valuing health services for their clinical rather than their social components; and contributing to an environment of fiscal precarity. It is concluded the 2GHSS is an extension of the neoliberal ideological orientation that has long directed the priorities of the BC health sector.
Open Access
Creating Complex Systems: The Implications of the Immigration System Reforms for Refugee Health (2012)
(2019-05-17) Pak, Negeen; Hynie, Michaela; Daly, Tamara
In June 2012, the Canadian federal government introduced a new legislature, which drastically reformed the Canadian immigration system. During this time the Conservative government reformed the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), completely transforming health coverage for asylum seekers. This overhaul created a hierarchy, whereby asylum seekers would qualify for different levels of coverage based on their claimant status. This study explores the impacts of this policy change and outlines the inequity consequential to the reforms of 2012. It includes secondary thematic data analysis of interviews conducted with medical health professionals regarding the impacts of the 2012 decision. The study provides a comprehensive look at the implications of patchwork policies through three prominent themes: potential risks to women’s health; barriers to healthcare access (language, fear, cost); significant medical bills and delays lead to additional health problems. Finally, I conclude with policy recommendations for future federal and provincial governments.
Open Access
Critical Analysis of National Nutrition Policy and Strategies of India
(2021-04-30) Sayeed, Shurovi; Chaufan, Claudia; Sridharan, Sanjeev
Abstract Global malnutrition and food insecurity are rising. The root cause of both malnutrition and food insecurity is poverty. Despite a remarkable increase in food production, developing countries show alarming rates of child malnutrition. India is a good example of this dichotomy. The country that harbours one-third of the world’s malnourished children is also one of the world's largest food grain exporters. Moreover, India has had the world’s most extensive government funded nutrition intervention programs.A National Nutrition Policy (NNP) was enacted in 1993, one of the earliest submitted in response to the World Health Organization’s call for countries to develop a NNP. India’s poverty reduction strategy and food policy are also aligned with NNP. Nevertheless, despite these massive initiatives, India’s nutrition problem remains a major public health concern. India’s nutrition problems and national nutrition programmes are generalizable to other agro based South East Asian developing countries.This study’s objective was to explain why nutrition policy and strategies failed to address malnutrition in India. A critical discourse analysis approach was used to show textual and contextual dimensions of government policy documents in relation to the neoliberal policy and practice. A political economy lens was employed to illustrate the global food politics context perpetuating persistent hunger and child malnutrition. The study revealed that India’s recent National Nutrition Strategy and National Nutrition Mission does not adequately address the lack of quality protein, fruits and vegetables and that the heavy reliance on grain is due to the government's sole support of rice and wheat production. The study also revealed that transnational agro-industries, international banking and donor organizations heavily influence India’s food and agriculture policy. Finally, it identified a shift in the policy, from challenging neoliberal
Open Access
A Critical Literature Review of the Impact of Precarious Work on the Mental Health of Immigrant Women in Canada
(2017-09-29) Umaigba, Karina; Raphael, Dennis; Tompa, Emile
This critical review draws on existing literature on the discourse of precarious work within the Canadian nation-state. The goal of this research work is to critically examine the impact of precarious work on the lives, well-being and mental health of immigrants with a specific focus on immigrant women. Given that most research works have been mainly focused on the way in which precarious work creates health inequalities, this paper aims to throw light on the way in which precarious work can affect mental health. Also, the paper will examine the Canadian public policy response to this issue. The paper argues that Canada’s policy response is a reflection of the dominant political ideology within this nation-state. The dominant political ideology of neoliberalism seeks to justify minimal state intervention in policies that directly affect health and more broadly citizen’s life. The following principal questions will guide this critical review. 1) Why are immigrants, particularly immigrant women of color disproportionately situated in precarious forms of labour within the Canadian nation-state? 2) How does precarious work affect the mental health of immigrant women? 3) How and to what extent has capitalism and neoliberalism within the Canadian nation-state helped to perpetuate precarious working conditions for racialized immigrant women? By interrogating Canada’s neoliberal policy agenda as it affects immigrants through entrenched legislations of immigrant classes, the primary goal of this paper is to advance the construction that immigrants/migrants exist for economic exploitation and gain. The main theoretical framework that will guide this analysis is based on a post-colonial feminist scholarship that analyzes how inequities grounded on gender, race, class, and migratory status intersect to create complex and diverse labour market results for racialized immigrant women in Canada. A common theme that emerged throughout the critical review of several scholarly and grey literatures is that more women than men are situated in precarious work, and of those women in precarious forms of employment, women who identified as members of a visible minority group were even more disproportionately situated in precarious forms of work. Also, it was observed that the Canadian nation-state has to date failed to respond appropriately to this social and economic situation. Since employment and working conditions, unemployment and employment security -- described as some of the most crucial social determinants of health -- are significantly correlated to income and its security, allowing precarious work has only served to reinforce high-levels of income inequality, income insecurity and poverty within Canada.
Open Access
Examining Mental Health Apps Potential in Providing Equitable Access to Care in the Global North and Global South: A Scoping Review
(2019-08-09) Rasendran, Raneeshan; Ahmad, Farah; Morrow, Marina
Promising, ongoing research on online mental health interventions or mental health applications (MHAPPs) has presented the global mental health care community with a potential solution to fill in the gaps in access to mental health care. Many of the MHAPPs have focused on conditions of depression and anxiety. Yet, it remains unclear whether such interventions can address the access to care gap in an equitable manner by reaching the diverse communities both in the global North and global South. The countries of Canada and United States were chosen as exemplars for the global North and China and India as exemplars for the global South. Using Arksey and O’Malley’s methodical framework, a scoping review was conducted on academic and grey literature published since 2015. Under critical social paradigm, the synthesis of review studies employed the social determinants of health lens along with role of macro forces like neoliberalism and collectivism-individualism. The results reveal that MHAPPs for depression and anxiety have been shown to be efficacious in studies both in the global North and global South, though few of the efficacious apps have been made freely available. Further, the guided-online interventions in the global North and global South are also found to facilitate program adherence, especially in rural settings. However, the review reveals that several barriers exist in the global South to make online interventions widely available and accessible. The identified barriers include mental health stigma and discrimination, financial and social challenges, difficulties in using the technology-based applications, and cultural barriers to ‘self-management’. In conclusion, this review has identified the potential of MHAPPs in broad settings; however, there is a need to design these programs by incorporating the social determinants of health framework to better address the structural barriers to access care. Policy makers should be cautious in steadily implementing MHAPPs in disadvantaged communities, as broader policies are needed to address the logistical capabilities of accessing online mental care. Further studies on MHAPPS are also needed with a bottom-up approach to adapt to various cultural context and reach marginalized communities. Given the specific focus of the presented review on Canada and United States as global North and China and India as global South, the findings need to be interpreted carefully. Further work by including additional geographic regions is needed to advance the scholarly understanding.
Open Access
'Fat' or Fiction: Examining the Role Political and Economic Forces Play in Driving the Concern over Obesity
(2015-08-25) Ali, Ahmednur; Raphael, Dennis; Pilkington, Beryl
This paper attempts to examine the present focus on obesity by government officials, the private sector, and the general public. More specifically, this paper argues that there is a hyper-concern with obesity that stems more from well-established power dynamics and societal structures than a result of medical concern over public health. The role of political and economic forces is argued as being the reason for this hyper-concern. A critical analysis of the literature is presented to identify the underlying relevant factors that drive this hyper-concern with obesity. Finally, this paper considers the implications this hyper-concern with obesity can potentially have on the distribution of wealth, power, and influence within the public and private sector. This paper will also attempt to critically assess the clinical practice guidelines created to address obesity by the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario, the Canadian Medical Association, the American Medical Association, and the Australian government. The argument that these clinical practice guidelines lack the breadth and depth to adequately and effectively address obesity will be put forth and highlighted in the context of six specific concerns.
Open Access
The Impact of Islamophobia on the Mental Health of Muslim Post-Secondary Students
(2021-08-12) Khan, Khan, Zainab; Raphael, Dennis; Marrow, Marina
Open Access
The Impact of Islamophobia on the Mental Health of Muslim Post-Secondary Students
(2021-08) Khan, Zainab; Raphael, Dennis; Marrow, Marina
Open Access
Indigenous Youth Mental Health in Canada: A WPR Approach to Canada's (In) Action in Response to Suicide Crises
(2020-10-02) Francavilla, Victoria; Hillier, Sean; Morrow, Marina
Across Canada, Indigenous Peoples have been resilient to active colonization for more than 400 years, all the while upholding their traditional values, systems, and ways of being. However, despite this resilience, Indigenous youth experience disproportionate and elevated rates of negative mental health outcomes, including elevated rates of suicides. Canadian mental health policy has not been responsive to the needs of Indigenous youth, often ignoring the specific needs of Indigenous communities in documents that are meant to guide programming and responses. In this Major Research Paper (MRP) I review one such key document - the Mental Health Commission of Canada's (MHCC) 2016 recommendations in its report titled The Mental Health Strategy for Canada: A Youth Perspective. This document is the broadest reaching and most current official document addressing the issue of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) youth mental health at a Federal level. By analysing the narrative used throughout this document one can learn how the solutions proposed may actually be failing to address the root causes of the issue at hand. Using Carol Bacchi’s WPR (What’s the Problem Represented to be?) approach, it will become evident as to why these responses are not wholly conducive to achieving better mental health outcomes for Indigenous youth. Following this discussion, I will highlight the progress that is being made in various Indigenous communities in a variety of culturally relevant, safe, and sensitive ways. Communities who are thriving and who are working towards positive change for youth are the experts in this case, as they have the knowledge and are taking up practices which are created from themselves, not for them. These practices have the potential to influence policy, as they are paving the way for a better response in cases of Indigenous youth suicide. When systems are put in place that truly benefit the community, this has a profound effect by influencing community members, researchers, academics, and policymakers alike, and also highlights the shortcomings of existing governmental action. As a non-Indigenous person, I engaged in reflexivity throughout my research and situate myself as an ally.
Open Access
Indigenous Youth Mental Health in Canada: A WPR Approach to Canada’s (In)Action in Response to Suicide Crises
(2020-10) Victoria, Francavilla; Marrow, Marina; Hillier, Sean
Across Canada, Indigenous Peoples have been resilient to active colonization for more than 400 years, all the while upholding their traditional values, systems, and ways of being. However, despite this resilience, Indigenous youth experience disproportionate and elevated rates of negative mental health outcomes, including elevated rates of suicides. Canadian mental health policy has not been responsive to the needs of Indigenous youth, often ignoring the specific needs of Indigenous communities in documents that are meant to guide programming and responses. In this Major Research Paper (MRP) I review one such key document -the Mental Health Commission of Canada's (MHCC) 2016 recommendations in its report titled The Mental Health Strategy for Canada: A Youth Perspective. This document is the broadest reaching and most current official document addressing the issue of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) youth mental health at a Federal level. By analysing the narrative used throughout this document one can learn how the solutions proposed may actually be failing to address the root causes of the issue at hand. Using Carol Bacchi’s WPR (What’s the Problem Represented to be?) approach, it will become evident as to why these responses are not wholly conducive to achieving better mental health outcomes for Indigenous youth. Following this discussion, I will highlight the progress that is being made in various Indigenous communities in a variety of culturally relevant, safe, and sensitive ways. Communities who are thriving and who are working towards positive change for youth are the experts in this case, as they have the knowledge and are taking up practices which are created from themselves, not for them. These practices have the potential to influence policy, as they are paving the way for a better response in cases of Indigenous youth suicide. When systems are put in place that truly benefit the community, this has a profound effect by influencing community members, researchers, academics, and policymakers alike, and also highlights the shortcomings of existing governmental action. As a non-Indigenous person, I engaged in reflexivity throughout my research and situate myself as an ally.
Open Access
It Takes A Village - The Canadian Postpartum Recovery Approach for Vaginal & C-Section Mothers; A Scoping Review
(2024-01) Karodia, Humairaa; Granek, Leeat; Appel, Lora
Childbirth is the most frequent reason for hospitalization in Canada, with cesarean sections being the most common surgical procedure among inpatients. Given this, the postpartum recovery period is a critical aspect of health policy that needs attention. This paper uses a political economy of health research paradigm to examine the role of Canada's liberal welfare state in providing postpartum care and programs, focusing on the duration and extent of this care. Following Arksey and O'Malley's methodology, a scoping review was conducted using databases like ProQuest Sociological Abstracts, Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Public Health Database, and Web of Science. The aim was to understand Canada's approach to postpartum care for both vaginal and cesarean births and to identify any differences in care between these methods. Six themes emerged from the data, encompassing the models of care, duration of postpartum care, educational topics, c-section-specific care, available health services and programs, and existing gaps in the Canadian postpartum care approach. The findings reveal that, within the Canadian liberal welfare state, government-funded postpartum care is modest, minimal, and time-limited, with eligibility criteria reviewed to access additional support and referrals. The market offers more personalized care and support, but only for those who can afford it. The study also found that apart from a few additional educational topics and more extended hospital stays, postpartum care for c-section deliveries is mainly similar to that for vaginal births. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of Canada's current postpartum care approach, highlighting its shortcomings and suggesting policy changes to enhance postpartum support.
Open Access
Let's Talk About 'fat': Conceptualization of Obesity in Canada, the Role of Social Determinants of Health & Neoliberal Policies
(2015-08-26) Medvedyuk, Stella; Raphael, Dennis; Daiski, Isolde
In the last twenty years, obesity has become a major concern in the public health and academic literatures. Most of this literature stems from a biomedical and behavioural/lifestyle perspective. However, parallel to this view emerged a different approach which questioned the validity of the obesity ‘epidemic’. This Major Research Paper (MRP) focuses on how obesity is conceptualized in Canada by analyzing two governmental and one non-government report through use of qualitative content analysis. A critical analysis of these reports will use Labonte’s (1993), supplemented by Raphael, framework of biomedical, behavioural/lifestyle, socio-environmental and critical structural approaches. It explores whether social determinants of health play a role in these reports. And lastly, a political economy approach is used to explore how the Canadian political climate with its neoliberal public policy reforms formulates and influences strategies proposed to ‘treat’ obesity.

Browse

Browsing Major Research Papers - Health by Title

Results Per Page

Sort Options