Improving the oral health status of functionally independent and dependent seniors residing in long-term care facilities through dental hygiene education /

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the oral health status of residents residing in 2 long-term care facilities and determine if dental hygiene education was required in order to improve their current oral health. The oral health status of 6 independent and 4 dependent individuals residing in 2 long-term care facilities was evaluated. In addition, the current oral health and disease prevention practices employed by 4 caregivers who were responsible for providing oral care to dependent residents in the long-term care facilities were evaluated. Furthermore, an evaluation of the oral care practices of independent residents who were responsible for providing their own care was conducted. Finally, the challenges that caregivers and independent residents faced when performing oral care were determined, and methodological changes were proposed. Using a generic qualitative research methodology, data collection was comprised of semi structured interviews, field observations, and documentation. The oral health status of the residents was reevaluated 3 months later. The findings of this study demonstrated an increase in plaque accumulation, gingival inflammation, and unhealthy gingival tissue colour changes among the residents over the 3-month period. The study revealed that poor oral health among the residents was a result of inadequate oral hygiene care techniques, difficulties accessing oral health care, financial limitations, insufficient care staff, insufficient time for personal care duties, lack of professional development, minimal interprofessional collaboration of health disciplines, and lack of perseverance on the part of the caregivers and residents. Overall, oral health is essential, and maintaining optimal oral health requires increased collaboration and communication between health care providers.

The status of drama in education in an Ontario school board

Drama in education has been describea- as a valuable pedagogical medium and methodology, enriching child development in the cognitive, skill, affective, and aesthetic domains, and spanning all areas of curriculum ~ oontent. However, despite its considerable versatility and cost-effectiveness, drama appears to maintain low status within the education system of ontario. This thesis investigated teacher perceptions of both the value and status of drama in education in one ontario school board. Data were gathered in the form of an attitude questionnaire, which was devised for the purpose of this research and administered to a stratified cluster sample of 126 teachers employed in the board's elementary schools. These data were then used to examine teacher perceptions based on their knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported behaviour in the classroom. Teacher characteristics of gender, teaching assignment, years experience, and courses taken in drama were also analyzed as potential determinants of teacher attitudes towards drama in education. Results of the study confirmed apparent discrepancy between teacher perceptions of the value of drama and its current educational status. It was indicated that what teachers value most about drama is its capacity to enhance creativity, social skills, empathy, personal growth, and problem-solving ability among students. Teachers attribute its low status both to school and board priorities of time and resources, and to deficiencies in their knowledge and confidence in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of drama in the classroom. Teacher subgroup analysis revealed no significant differences in attitudes towards the status of drama in education; it did, however, suggest that both teachers who have studied drama and teachers with between ten and twenty years experience are most likely to value drama more highly than their colleagues. Recommendations proposed by the study include the provision of increased - time and resource allotment for drama within the elementary curriculum as well as increased teacher training at both faculty of education and board inservice levels.

Functional analysis and treatment of OCD-related behaviour in a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Research indicates that Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD; DSM-IV-TR, American Psychiatric Association, 2000) is the second most frequent disorder to coincide with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; Leyfer et aI., 2006). Excessive collecting and hoarding are also frequently reported in children with ASD (Berjerot, 2007). Although functional analysis (Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1982/1994) has successfully identified maintaining variables for repetitive behaviours such as of bizarre vocalizations (e.g., Wilder, Masuda, O'Connor, & Baham, 2001), tics (e.g., Scotti, Schulman, & Hojnacki, 1994), and habit disorders (e.g., Woods & Miltenberger, 1996), extant literature ofOCD and functional analysis methodology is scarce (May et aI., 2008). The current studies utilized functional analysis methodology to identify the types of operant functions associated with the OCD-related hoarding behaviour of a child with ASD and examined the efficacy of function-based intervention. Results supported hypotheses of automatic and socially mediated positive reinforcement. A corresponding function-based treatment plan incorporated antecedent strategies and differential reinforcement (Deitz, 1977; Lindberg, Iwata, Kahng, and DeLeon, 1999; Reynolds, 1961). Reductions in problem behaviour were evidenced through use of a multiple baseline across behaviours design and maintained during two-month follow-up. Decreases in symptom severity were also discerned through subjective measures of treatment effectiveness.

Cryptic species status of Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes in Canada using a multidisciplinary approach

Many species of Anopheles mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are now recognized as species complexes whose members are often indistinguishable morphologically but identifiable based on ecological, genetic, or behavioural data. Because the members of species complexes often differ in their vector potential, accurate identification of vector species is essential for successful mosquito control. To investigate the cryptic species status of Anopheles mosquitoes in Canada, specimens were collected from across the country and examined using morphological, molecular, and ecological data. Six of the seven traditionally recognised species from Canada were collected from locations in British Columbia, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and throughout Ontario, including Anopheles barberi, An. earlei, An. freeborni, An. punctipennis, An. quadrimaculatus s.l., and An. walkeri. Variation in polymorphic traits within An. earlei, An. punctipennis, and An. quadrimaculatus s.l. were quantified and egg morphology examined using scanning electron microscopy. Morphological identification of adult and larval specimens suggested that two described cryptic species, An. perplexens and An. smaragdinus, were present in Canada. DNA sequence data were analysed for evidence of cryptic species using three molecular markers: COl, ITS2, and ITS!. Intraspecific COl variation was very low in most species «1 %), except for An. punctipennis with 2% sequence divergence between those from British Columbia (BC) and Ontario (ON), and An. walkeri with 7% sequence divergence between populations from Manitoulin Island (NO) and Long Point Provincial Park (LP). Similar patterns were also seen using ITS2 and ITS 1. Therefore, molecular data revealed the presence of two putative cryptic species within two species examined (i.e., An. walkeri and An. punctipennis), corresponding to collection location (i.e., NO vs. LP and BC vs. ON, respectively). Surprisingly, there was no molecular support for the presence of either An. perplexens or An. smaragdinus in Canada despite the morphological assessments. Ecological data from all collection sites were recorded and are available in an online database designed to manage all collection and identification data. Current bionomic information, including regional abundance, larval habitat, and species associations, was determined for each species. This multidisciplinary study of Anopheles mosquitoes is the first detailed investigation of these potential disease vectors in Canada and demonstrates the importance of an integrated approach to anopheline systematics that includes molecular data.

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia and Emotional Responding to Dyadic Discussions of a Disagreement as Predictors of Helping Related Subjective Well-Being in Older Mothers and Their Adult Daughters

The current study considered affect-related variables as predictors of the quality of helping relationships between older mothers and their adult daughters. Specifically, self-reported and observed emotional responses to the dyadic discussion of a disagreement between mothers and daughters, as well as baseline measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia were considered as predictors of mothers' and daughters' satisfaction with their helping relationships. Relationship satisfaction was measured by considering mothers' and daughters' subjective well-being specifically in regards to the help they gave and received. Overall, these variables predicted more variance in mothers' satisfaction with their helping relationships than daughters', and RSA (respiratory sinus arrhythmia) was a stronger predictor than the self-reported or observed emotional reactions to the dyadic discussion of a disagreement. Implications of these findings and limitations to the current study are discussed.

Understanding the financial status of a group of high performance athletes

With the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games quickly approaching, there has been a heightened interest in the performance of Canadian athletes at international competitions (Duffy, 2007; Fidlin, 2005; Longley, 2006). Two significant documents outline Canada's goal to become the number one sporting nation at the 2010 Olympic Games, and improve Canada's performance at the 2008 Olympic Games: Own the Podium and Road to Excellence (Priestner Allinger & Allinger, 2004; Road to Excellence, 2006). These two documents represent heightened interest in the performance of our elite athletes, in conjunction with Canada's hosting status of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The requirements to train and compete at the international level have become more demanding both in terms of financial resources and time commitment. The need to financially assist athletes with their training and competition costs has been an important topic of debate over the past decades (Beamish & Borowy, 1987; Gatehouse, 2004; Macintosh, 1996; Munro, 1970; Owens, 2004). Two sources of fiinding for high performance athletes in Canada are the Athlete Assistance Program (AAP) provided by the Federal Government and the Canadian Olympic Excellence Fund provided by the Canadian Olympic Committee. The importance of these fiinds for athletes has been discussed in various forums (Ekos, 1992, 1997, 2005; Priestner Allinger & Allinger, 2004; Thibault «& Babiak, 2005). However, alternative sources of funds for high performance athletes have never been the object of research. As such the purpose of this study was to describe a group of athlete applicants from the time period of November 2004 to April 2006, and to contextualize these applications within the development of the Charitable Fund for Athletes.

Comprehensive school health, the social determinants of health, and the health status of children

As children are becoming increasingly inactive and obese, there is an urgent need for effective early prevention and intervention programs. One solution is a comprehensive school health (CSH) program, a health promotion initiative aimed at educating students about healthy behaviours and lifestyles, which also provides a link between the school, students, families, and the surrounding community. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between different components of CSH programs, as well as three determinants of health (gender, social support, socio-economic status), and physical activity, on the aerobic fitness and body mass index (BMI) of children. A newly developed and pilot-tested survey derived from Health Canada's fourpart CSH model (instruction, social support, support services, and a healthy physical environment) was sent to elementary school principals. Data on the gender, physical activity, parental education, and social support levels of students from these schools were gathered from a previous study. Multiple regression procedures were conducted to estimate the relationships between CSH components, the social determinants of health, physical activity, and BMI and aerobic fitness. Results showed that three CSH components were significantly associated with both BMI and aerobic fitness values in children, but accounted for less than 5% of the variance in both variables. Physical activity partially mediated the relationship between the significant CSH components, BMI, and particularly aerobic fitness. Furthermore, the social determinant and physical activity variables played independent roles in aerobic fitness values. No moderating effects of the social determinants were discovered.

Autonomic prediction of error-related ERP components in perceptual and conceptual tasks in older and younger adults

In studies of cognitive processing, the allocation of attention has been consistently linked to subtle, phasic adjustments in autonomic control. Both autonomic control of heart rate and control of the allocation of attention are known to decline with age. It is not known, however, whether characteristic individual differences in autonomic control and the ability to control attention are closely linked. To test this, a measure of parasympathetic function, vagal tone (VT) was computed from cardiac recordings from older and younger adults taken before and during performance of two attentiondemanding tasks - the Eriksen visual flanker task and the source memory task. Both tasks elicited event-related potentials (ERPs) that accompany errors, i.e., error-related negativities (ERNs) and error positivities (Pe's). The ERN is a negative deflection in the ERP signal, time-locked to responses made on incorrect trials, likely generated in the anterior cingulate. It is followed immediately by the Pe, a broad, positive deflection which may reflect conscious awareness of having committed an error. Age-attenuation ofERN amplitude has previously been found in paradigms with simple stimulus-response mappings, such as the flanker task, but has rarely been examined in more complex, conceptual tasks. Until now, there have been no reports of its being investigated in a source monitoring task. Age-attenuation of the ERN component was observed in both tasks. Results also indicated that the ERNs generated in these two tasks were generally comparable for young adults. For older adults, however, the ERN from the source monitoring task was not only shallower, but incorporated more frontal processing, apparently reflecting task demands. The error positivities elicited by 3 the two tasks were not comparable, however, and age-attenuation of the Pe was seen only in the more perceptual flanker task. For younger adults, it was Pe scalp topography that seemed to reflect task demands, being maximal over central parietal areas in the flanker task, but over very frontal areas in the source monitoring task. With respect to vagal tone, in the flanker task, neither the number of errors nor ERP amplitudes were predicted by baseline or on-task vagal tone measures. However, in the more difficult source memory task, lower VT was marginally associated with greater numbers of source memory errors in the older group. Thus, for older adults, relatively low levels of parasympathetic control over cardiac response coincided with poorer source memory discrimination. In both groups, lower levels of baseline VT were associated with larger amplitude ERNs, and smaller amplitude Pe's. Thus, low VT was associated in a conceptual task with a greater "emergency response" to errors, and at the same time, reduced awareness of having made them. The efficiency of an individual's complex cognitive processing was therefore associated with the flexibility of parasympathetic control of heart rate, in response to a cognitively challenging task.

Exploring the Current State of Grades 4 to 8 Science Education in Ontario

This study sought to explore the current state of Grades 4 to 8 science education in Ontario from the perspective of Junior/Intermediate (J/I) teachers. The study’s methodology was a sequential 2-phased mixed methods explanatory design denoted as QUAN (qual)  qual. Data were collected from an online survey and follow-up interviews. J/I teachers (N = 219) from 48 school boards in Ontario completed a survey that collected both quantitative and qualitative data. Interviewees were selected from the survey participant population (n = 6) to represent a range of teaching strategies, attitudes toward teaching science, and years of experience. Survey and interview questions inquired about teacher attitudes toward teaching science, academic and professional experiences, teaching strategies, support resources, and instructional time allotments. Quantitative data analyses involved the descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. Qualitative data was coded inductively and deductively. Academic background in science was found to significantly influence teachers’ reported level of capability to teach science. The undergraduate degrees held by J/I science teachers were found to significantly influence their reported levels of capability to teach science. Participants identified a lack of time allocated for science instruction and inadequate equipment and facilities as major limitations on science instruction. Science in schools was reported to be of a “second-tiered” value to language and mathematics. Implications of this study include improving undergraduate and preservice experiences of elementary teachers by supporting their science content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge.