A needs assessment of public health professionals: supporting the implementation of Ontario 2010 revised elementary health and physical education curriculum

Based on the Comprehensive School Health framework, Ontario's Foundations for a Healthy School (2009) outlines an integrated approach to school health promotion. In this approach the school, community and partners (including public health) are fully engaged With a common goal of youth health. With the recent introductions of the Ontario Public Health Standards (2009) and the revised elementary health and physical education curriculum (2010), the timing for a greater integration of public health with schools is ideal. A needs assessment was conducted to identify the perceived support required by public health professionals to implement the mandates of both policy documents in Ontario. Data was collected for the needs assessment through facilitated discussions at a provincial roundtable event, regional focus groups and individual interviews with public health professionals representing Ontario's 36 public health units. Findings suggest that public health professionals perceive that they require increased resources, greater communication, a clear vision of public health and a suitable understanding of the professional cultures in which they are surrounded in order to effectively support schools. This study expands upon these four categories and the corresponding seventeen themes that were uncovered during the research process.

Finding and Implementing Relevant Resources in Adapted Physical Activity (APA): It's easier said than done...

The purpose of this research was to explore challenges to operationalizing and implementing relevant resources for Adapted Physical Activity (APA) and to develop a framework on how resources should be developed and implemented to foster appropriate APA. An unobtrusive methodology was used to examine existing resources and training/learning opportunities for practitioners teaching APA. Data were collected via unobtrusive methods: documents, records, literature and feedback forms. After the findings were summarized, expert consultations were completed using a modified Delphi- technique to confirm the findings. A constructivist approach and phenomenological orientation was used to analyze the data and develop the “ideal” resource. Results indicate there are limited APA resources and teaching/learning opportunities for practitioners and there is a need for practitioner facilitation through professional development on finding and implementing resources. Future research should develop and evaluate the “ideal” resource and strive to improve the connection and consistency of resources in APA.

Deconstructing Child Youth Care: an autoethnographic exploration of physical restraints in children’s residential settings

This thesis is written through the front-line perspective of a child/youth worker who has experienced ‘rupture’ in her personal understanding of the Child Youth Care (CYC) practice. Using a collection of personal journal entries written about her individual experiences of CYC education, mentorship/training, front-line residential practice and frequently used interventions, this thesis takes the reader (and the writer) on a discovery of prominent discourses that exist within the residential CYC profession. Focusing on the use of physical restraints on children by residential Child/Youth Workers, this research project utilizes Deconstructive Discourse Analysis and Liberation Psychologies to illustrate a critical examination of power-knowledge and scientific/medical discourses in CYC practice. By focusing on Foucault’s concepts of disciplinary power, binary division and theory of panopticism, the writer seeks to explore a personal reflection and comprehension of how power is used to assert control over children/youth through mental health treatment and physical interventions.