Search results

This article addresses the gap within discourses on ageing that call for greater involvement of the third sector in support of older people, but do not account for the difference 'place' makes to understanding third sector activities and volunteering. It reviews recent developments in the literature that highlight the importance of place-based approaches, particularly the emergent view of voluntarism as a transformative process that shapes and is shaped by the interactions between older people and their ageing communities. The link between ageing, place and voluntarism is illustrated via a case study of volunteer-based community support for older people in Canada's most rapidly ageing municipality. Findings from an inventory, survey, focus groups and interviews in Peterborough, Ontario reveal the complexity, interdependence and place-embeddedness behind a successful yet potentially unsustainable response to the challenge of supporting older people. The paradox of relying on under-resourced third sector organisations and older volunteers is highlighted.

Within public policy discourse on health care restructuring and voluntarism, the nonprofit sector is now expected to play an active and direct role in the provision of health care services. The viability of the nonprofit sector to take up this role, however, remains unclear. This paper explores the changing role of nonprofit organisations with respect to the provision of long-term care in Ontario, Canada, where extensive restructuring of public services occurred during the 1990s. Drawing on a critical review of legislation, government policies and documents, and stakeholder reports, the authors present a comparative study of two distinct long-term care reform models, featuring public and private provision, respectively, which were developed by ideologically opposed provincial governments. The results indicate that despite unanimous promotion of voluntarism (and the attendant ascendancy of the nonprofit sector) as a central feature of health care restructuring, the divergent reform models actually trap nonprofit organisations between direct incorporation within public provision on the one hand, and direct free-market competition on the other. The findings suggest that underscoring long-term care reform in Ontario, and elsewhere, is the co-option of the nonprofit sector, which resonates with concern for its ability to replace effectively the public provision of health care services. The results also point to the need to conceptualise the consequent actions taken by nonprofit organisations in order to inform current debates surrounding health care restructuring and voluntarism.

Unintentional injury and trauma rates are disproportionately high in Inuit regions, and environmental changes are predicted to exacerbate injury rates. However, there is a major gap in our understanding of the risk factors contributing to land-based injury and trauma in the Arctic. We investigated the role of environmental and other factors in search and rescue (SAR) incidents in a remote Inuit community in northern Canada using a collaborative mixed methods approach. We analyzed SAR records from 1995 to 2010 and conducted key consultant interviews in 2010 and 2011. Data showed an estimated annual SAR incidence rate of 19 individuals per 1,000. Weather and ice conditions were the most frequent contributing factor for cases. In contrast with other studies, intoxication was the least common factor associated with SAR incidents. The incidence rate was six times higher for males than females, while land-users aged 26–35 had the highest incidence rate among age groups. Thirty-four percent of individuals sustained physical health impacts. Results demonstrate that environmental conditions are critical factors contributing to physical health risk in Inuit communities, particularly related to travel on sea ice during winter. Age and gender are important risk factors. This knowledge is vital for informing management of land-based physical health risk given rapidly changing environmental conditions in the Arctic.

Older people, especially those living with dementia, experience significant barriers to meaningful participation in their communities. Focusing on the expansion of an arts-based program to address social inclusion for older people via information communication technology (ICT), this paper identifies the challenges and opportunities of the digital delivery of the Baycrest NBS Sharing Dance Seniors program, a weekly dance class professionally instructed via online-streamed video and facilitated in-person in community and institutional care settings. Findings are drawn from older people and career experiences in community-based, multi-method pilot studies in the Peterborough Region, Ontario, and the Westman Region, Manitoba (2017-19) Canada. Through observations, diaries, focus groups, and interviews featuring the experiences of program instructors, participants, carers, administrators, facilitators, and volunteers, the challenges and opportunities presented by the digital delivery of the Sharing Dance program are analyzed as they relate to understanding social connectivity and relational and multi-dimensional influences on social inclusion. Findings point to the key role of facilitators and in-person support, with implications for the development of social resources and facilitator training in community and institutional settings.

This book brings together a collection of new and innovative work by researchers from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK - settings where issues of voluntarism and participation have become increasingly important for the development and delivery of social welfare policy. Prefaced by one of the foremost geographers in this field, it contains empirical and theoretical work from both new and well-established geographers. The chapters explore the interactions between voluntarism and a range of issues including governance, health, community action, faith, ethnicity, counselling, advocacy and professionalisation. The book will be of interest not only to students and researchers in human geography but also to those working in social policy, sociology, health and political science. The detailed case material will also be of particular interest to practitioners working in the fields of health, governance, social welfare and social exclusion

While COVID‐19 is far from being eradicated, the first COVID‐19 vaccine has now been approved in the U.K., the European Union, Canada and the United States, and vaccinations have been initiated as of December 8, 2020 in the U.K. Additional vaccines have been licensed in the United States, the U.K. and India. Approvals in other jurisdictions and the arrival of additional effective vaccines are imminent. The success of vaccination campaigns will depend on the number of people effectively vaccinated. The vaccinated population will limit the spread of the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus. [.]

While COVID‐19 is far from being eradicated, the first COVID‐19 vaccine has now been approved in the U.K., the European Union, Canada and the United States, and vaccinations have been initiated as of December 8, 2020 in the U.K. Additional vaccines have been licensed in the United States, the U.K. and India. Approvals in other jurisdictions and the arrival of additional effective vaccines are imminent. The success of vaccination campaigns will depend on the number of people effectively vaccinated. The vaccinated population will limit the spread of the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus. [.]