Scholarship Recipients
2011/2012
After reviewing applications from interested parties, two Masters scholarships were awarded in the 2011/2012 academic year. We are pleased to introduce this year's scholarship recipients and their research.
Jeannette Kobelka
Jeannette holds undergraduate degrees in Political Science from Queen's University and Disability Studies from Ryerson University. She is currently Master's candidate in the Critical Disability Studies program at York University. Jeannette's research interests include children with disabilities, social policy, spaces of leisure and recreation and citizenship. Under the supervision of Dr. Marcia Rioux and Dr. Audrey Kobayashi, Jeannette's Major Research Project (MRP) will use an arts-informed, photographic approach to examine spaces of leisure as indicators of citizenship for children with physical disabilities.
Jeannette's Research
Playgrounds and leisure spaces are excellent indicators of how people and children with disabilities are viewed by society. The physical structures of society are literally concrete manifestations of our ideas on how society was, is and should be. With this premise, playgrounds are an excellent indicator of equal citizenship because the lack of physically accessible playgrounds suggests that children with physical impairments are not viewed as equal members of society. There is a great deal of literature on how to make education more inclusive for children with disabilities, however there has been little to no attention on how inclusive education extends beyond the classroom. Ontario school children spend approximately one quarter of their day on playgrounds (before/after school, lunch, recesses) however, if schools do not have accessible playgrounds children with physical disabilities will be excluded from interacting with their peers. Thus, no matter how inclusive a classroom is, it cannot be considered to be an inclusive education if the student is unable to play with their peers because of physical barriers.
My research project will be an arts-informed critical discourse analysis of how the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) has or has not impacted the recreation spaces for children with physical and developmental disabilities. Using a rights-based framework, this work will seek to examine how the rights set forth in the UNCRPD and the UNCRC have not been realized in Ontario. It will further propose policy recommendations to ensure that these rights are realized and that every child in Ontario has a safe, welcoming and physically accessible place to play.
Jeanette Moss
Jeanette Moss is from Vancouver, BC and is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Policy at Simon Fraser University (SFU). She has a BA in Communications and Graduate Certificate in Community Economic Development from SFU. Before beginning her graduate studies, she worked at Vancouver Foundation as Manager of the Giving in Action Society (individual disability-related funding). Jeanette is a Director on the Salsbury Community Society Board, a non-profit that provides support for people in East Vancouver, and has also volunteered as a leadership trainer, summer camp director, and community support worker.
Jeannette's Research
The federal government is currently undertaking a 3-year review of the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP). Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN) collaborated with the Canadian Federal Government to develop the RDSP, and PLAN which is a non-profit family-founded organization, is currently gathering data that will inform their position to take forward to the review. This past summer, I worked at PLAN gathering data related to the facilitators and barriers to RDSP as well as the changes families would like to see to improve the plan.
Based on this data, my research will focus why only 9% of the eligible population have opened an RDSP and other issues surrounding the uptake of the RDSP. The objectives of the project are to: 1) identify the key barriers and facilitators in accessing the RDSP 2) identify the reasons why people who are eligible have not accessed the plan 3) explore the role of financial literacy in influencing access to the RDSP. The methodology used in this project has three major components: document analysis of the RDSP policy and related documents, online surveys, and interviews.
2010/2011
In 2010/2011 we awarded one Masters scholarship and one PhD scholarship. The following page provides a brief bio and outline of the research that was conducted by these students.
Beata Chledowski
Beata earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. She is currently enrolled in a Master's program through the Atlantic Training Centre for Applied Health Research at the University of New Brunswick. This program has enabled her to gain valuable knowledge in research and health policy. Her thesis work, under Dr Edmund Biden's supervision, is titled "The Provision of and Access to Mobility and Prosthetic Devices in Atlantic Canada." Dr. Biden is a faculty member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UNB.
Beata's Research
This project involves quantitative research which aims to bring awareness of the types of technologies available to persons with physical disabilities who require access to mobility devices and artificial limbs in the Atlantic Provinces, and determine the obstacles faced by them in accessing these supports. The objective is to establish a descriptive profile of this region in terms of how these devices are funded; the eligibility criteria to access these devices; the availability of services across the provinces, and the government legislation that is available to support such initiatives in each province.
The research aims to:
- Identify availability of Assistive Technology (AT) provisions across Atlantic Canada
- Evaluate the requirement for services and supports; and
- Formulate action for the development of legislation for the improvement of AT services and funding
Chris Riddle
Chris is a 4th year PhD candidate in the Philosophy Department at Queen's University. He specializes in social and political philosophy with an emphasis on contemporary egalitarian theory and the accommodation of people with disabilities. Other areas of interest include biomedicine, the philosophy of law, health policy, and research methodologies. He has published in several journals and has given talks at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of St. Andrews, and the Universität Tübingen. His thesis work, under the direction of Dr. Jerome Bickenbach of the Department of Philosophy at Queen's University, is titled "Disability and Justice: The Practice of Egalitarian Thought".
Chris's Research
Recent discussions surrounding the conceptualizing of disability has resulted in a stalemate between British Sociologists and Philosophers. The stagnation of theorizing that has occurred threatens not only the advancement of theoretical interpretations within the Disability Studies community, but also how we educate and advocate politically, legally, and socially.
Many activists and theorists in the UK appear to believe the British social model is the only effective means of understanding and advocating on behalf of people with disabilities. Concurrently, many Bioethicists and Philosophers have embraced what Tom Shakespeare has recently classified as an "Interactional Approach" to disability - that "the experience of a disabled person results from the relationship between factors intrinsic to the individual, and the extrinsic factors arising from the wider context in which she finds herself".
Chris will argue that the benefits of the British social model are now outweighed by its burdens. The social model, taken literally, implies that people with disabilities require no additional health resources by virtue of their disabilities. His dissertation will attempt to clarify why it is that an interactionist approach must be adopted when theorizing about disability. The British social model is unable to provide a realistic account of the experience of disability, and subsequently, unable to be properly utilized to ensure justice for people with disabilities.
Chris will attempt to trace how the concept of equality has been applied in the context of Section 15 of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A critical analysis of the historical application of this concept across various social groups will be performed to illuminate essential aspects of a notion of equality designed to promote justice for people with disabilities. By distinguishing the differences in the application of the principle of equality in reference to the treatment of marginalized social groups, he hopes to better uncover precisely what it is that is required of social policy and law when applying the equality provision in relation to health.
Chris will also discuss the work of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum on capabilities, which has been gathering attention as a way to think about egalitarian justice that might be capable of addressing varying needs in health. Chris hopes to demonstrate that despite the theorizing around topics of capabilities and health, capabilities are an inadequate means to promote justice for the disabled when we take the interactionist approach to the understanding of disability into consideration.
His research will attempt to provide an answer to the question: "How might we move beyond capabilities as a currency of egalitarian justice?" He will argue that a focus on material conditions and substantive freedoms or opportunities, is necessary to provide an adequate minimal conception of justice. There are a set of material conditions that are lexically prior to a group of opportunities that must also be afforded within a conception of justice, and merely providing the opportunities for these conditions is inadequate. What he hopes will result is a conception of justice that is capable of withstanding the various difficulties people with disabilities introduce to contemporary egalitarian discourse. Only after we have properly conceptualized the notion of equality can we begin to properly address inequality - either in social policy or legal institutional arrangements.
2009/2010
In the 2009/2010 we awarded two PhD scholarships. The following page provides a brief bio and outline of the research that will be conducted by these students.
Sara Guilcher
Sara Guilcher is a physical therapist and fourth year Ph.D. student in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Sara is also completing two Collaborative programs - the Collaborative Graduate Program in Women's Health at Women's College Research Institute, as well as the Ontario Training Collaborative Program in Health Services and Policy Research. Sara has a MSc. in Psychology (Clinical) from the University of Western Ontario. Her research interests relate to women's health and disability, informal and formal social networks of care, health services research and policy, evidence-based rehabilitation, and knowledge translation.
Sara's Research
Project Title: "A Descriptive Study of Community Networks of Care for Spinal Cord Injury in Ontario: Do Networks and Pathways of Care Matter?"
Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) involves an insult to the spinal cord resulting in numerous change(s) with motor, sensory and/or autonomic functioning. An increase in the incidence of traumatic SCI has been observed in recent years, based in part on an increase in SCI among elderly women due to falls. Advances in medical therapy have lead SCI to become a lifelong chronic complex condition and more individuals are living in the community. This population has extremely high utilization rates of health care services and readmissions which are likely related to preventable secondary complications; furthermore, these adverse events may be partly due to fragmented community care management, as it is difficult for vulnerable populations with SCI, especially women of lower income and the elderly, to navigate and negotiate the health care system. Despite the high costs both to the SCI patient and health care system, there is a paucity of literature investigating care-giving networks (both formal and informal), utilization patterns of care, and integration of health services for these individuals. The proposed study aims to address these gaps in the literature by using gender-based analyses to examine care-giving networks, the process/journey of care provision, and associated adverse outcomes (i.e., secondary complications, emergency department (ED) visits, and readmissions).
Objectives:
1) To describe care-giving networks in the management of individuals living in the community following acute SCI;
2) To describe the journey of care associated with secondary complications; and
3) To examine the associations between care-giving networks with adverse outcomes (i.e., ED visits, re-hospitalizations, secondary complications).
Hypotheses:
A main hypothesis is that networks of care, both formal and informal, are associated with adverse outcomes.
Specifically, (1) network structure (i.e., number and type of care providers), (2) network content (i.e., strength of relationships, value of relationships), and the overall function of networks (i.e., satisfaction of care) are associated with the following outcomes (a) quality of life, (b) health care utilization (i.e.,
number of visits to primary care providers) and (c) adverse outcomes (i.e., ED visits, readmissions, and prevalence of secondary complications).
This will be a cross-sectional survey study linked with retrospective clinical data. A sample of community-dwelling individuals with SCI (aged 16-90 years) living in
Ontario, who have consented for follow-up with the Ontario Pilot Project of the Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry (OSCIR), will be contacted for potential participation. OSCIR is a database that contains comprehensive health information of incidence cases of SCI across the spectrum of inpatient care and is physically housed within the University Health Information Network Server (Toronto, ON).
The registry has gathered clinical information and health care management of 219 patients with SCI. Data will be collected using a semi-structure questionnaire. Care-giving networks, journey of care, health care utilization (i.e., physician visits) and individual characteristics (self-efficacy, depression, perceived stress, and functional ability) will be measured with valid and reliable scales.
Results of this study will broaden our understanding of care-giving networks and
community management of SCI and contribute the development of a conceptual framework for community care provision for this population. This new knowledge will help inform policy recommendations and strategies (i.e., for the Ministry of Health's Long Term Care strategy of "Caring for Caregivers") to help minimize fragmentation of care and associated adverse events.
David Shannon
David Shannon has been in a wheelchair for the past 25 years, as a result of spinal cord injury at 18,. Since then he has been committed to policy development and advocacy for bettering health care and community integration for persons with a disability. David holds degrees from Lakehead University (BA), Dalhousie University (LL.B.) and the London School of Economics (LL.M.). He was the founding president of the Canadian Network of Entrepreneurs with a Disability, and sits on numerous boards including the Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres, and the Council of Canadians with Disabilities. David practices Law in Thunder Bay. His thesis work is described below:
David's Research
ABSTRACT
From Medical Model To Independent Living: Interface Between Persons With Disabilities (PWD) Their Well Being And The Promotion Of Disability Rights
This study is designed to improve the rights of persons with disabilities, hence the psycho-social and medical potential of this same population. The development of an even more progressive model of rights for persons with disabilities fits well in many jurisdictions. Although not measurable in all instances, certain rights are a known factor in improving health, longevity and socio-economic development. This project will also contribute to the critical assessment of existing knowledge on disability rights promotion and social inclusion of PWDs in order to identify directions for future research, and advance a close working relationship between disabled persons organizations, researchers, academics, lawyers and jurists.
The interaction between environmental, psycho-social, and behavioural responses, as well as the medical model have been identified within the literature, especially over the past twenty-five years. Coincidentally, this period has seen a disability rights jurisprudential proliferation, and development of Disability Acts at a domestic and international level. Generally these Acts have indicated that their purpose centres on the promotion of dignity and self-worth of persons with a disability. This has been termed a "paradigm shift" from a medical model of disability where disability was not considered a personal affect deserving of human rights protection, but rather a bio-medical definition negating personhood, and instead positing that persons with a disability (PWDs) may only assert social inclusion norms as a privilege.
Juxtaposed against the apparent rise of disability rights promotion and protection viz. the advent of disability rights jurisprudence and Disability Acts has been persistent socio-economic disadvantage experienced by PWDs. There has been a litany of social and public policy created in a drive to reduce the marginalization of PWDs, but there continues to be only modest gains in efforts to advance greater inclusion of PWDs. This paradox raises the question whether enforcement mechanisms as articulated by the judiciary, and in Disability Acts are effective.
Through the framework for rights promotion established by The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons, a comparative analysis of how these rights are made normative in Ontario and other jurisdictions will be explored. The purpose is to identify "best practices" to be put forward as a model for consideration on the most effective means of enforcing and promoting disability rights.