Peter Kitchen

Measuring Neighborhood Social Change in Saskatoon, Canada: A Geographic Analysis

The majority of research on neighborhood change in Canada has followed a cross-sectional approach and has relied on census tracts as the basic unit of geography. Due to concerns over methodology and data comparability, very few studies have attempted a direct analysis of change. In response, this article presents a protocol for measuring neighborhood social change applied to Saskatoon, Canada and employs census data for neighborhoods that have been officially designated by the citys Planning Department. Our study found that about half of Saskatoons 58 neighborhoods experienced stability between 1991 and 2001. However, decline was just as likely to occur in middle- and high-socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhoods as in low-SES neighborhoods while improvement was more likely to occur in the low-SES group. A pronounced division was visible among low-SES neighborhoods, particularly in the citys core. The analysis also found that income, gender, and housing had a strong impact on neighborhood social change and inequality. Interpretation of the findings revealed that a number of factors ranging from local conditions to wider economic and policy shifts had an influence on changing conditions in Saskatoons neighborhoods.

Differential impacts of care-giving across three caregiver groups in Canada: end-of-life care, long-term care and short-term care

Using data from Statistic Canadas General Social Survey Cycle 21 (GSS 2007), this study explores whether differences exist in the impacts of care-giving among three groups of caregivers providing informal care either in the caregivers or recipients home, or in other locations within the community: (i) those providing end-of-life (EOL) care (n = 471); (ii) those providing long-term care (more than 2 years) for someone with a chronic condition or long-term illness (n = 2722); and (iii) those providing short-term care (less than 2 years) for someone with a chronic condition or long-term illness (n = 2381). This study lays out the variation in sociodemographic characteristics across the three caregiver groups while also building on our understanding of the differential impacts of care-giving through an analysis of determinants. All three groups of caregivers shared a number of sociodemographic characteristics, including being female, married, employed and living in a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). With respect to health, EOL caregivers were found to have significantly higher levels of ‘fair or poor’ self-assessed health than the other two groups. Overall, the findings suggest that EOL caregivers are negatively impacted by the often additional role of care-giving, more so than both short-term and long-term caregivers. EOL caregivers experienced a higher proportion of negative impacts on their social and activity patterns. Furthermore, EOL caregivers incurred greater financial costs than the other two types of informal caregivers. The impacts of EOL care-giving also negatively influence employment for caregivers when compared with the other caregiver groups. Consequently, EOL caregivers, overall, experienced greater negative impacts, including negative health outcomes, than did long-term or short-term caregivers. This provides the evidence for the assertion that EOL care-giving is the most intense type of care-giving, potentially causing the greatest caregiver burden; this is shown through the greater negative impacts experienced by the EOL caregivers when compared with the short-term and long-term caregivers.

Alternative health care consultations in Ontario, Canada: A geographic and socio-demographic analysis

BackgroundAn important but understudied component of Canadas health system is alternative care. The objective of this paper is to examine the geographic and socio-demographic characteristics of alternative care consultation in Ontario, Canadas largest province.MethodsData is drawn from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS Cycle 3.1, 2005) for people aged 18 or over (n = 32,598) who had a consultation with an alternative health care provider. Four groups of consultations are examined: (1) all consultations (2) massage therapy (3) acupuncture, and (4) homeopath/naturopath. Descriptive statistics, mapping and logistic regression modeling are employed to analyze the data and to compare modalities of alternative health care use.ResultsIn 2005, more than 1.2 million adults aged 18 or over consulted an alternative health care provider, representing about 13% of the total population of Ontario. The analysis revealed a varied geographic pattern of consultations across the province. Consultations were fairly even across the urban to rural continuum and rural residents were just as likely to consult a provider as their urban counterparts. From a health perspective, people with a chronic condition, lower health status and self-perceived unmet health care needs were more likely to see an alternative health provider. Women with chronic conditions such as fibromyalgia, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue syndrome and chemical sensitivities were more likely to see an alternative provider if they felt their health care needs were not being met.ConclusionsThe analysis revealed that geography is not a factor in determining alternative health care consultations in Ontario. By contrast, there is a strong association between these consultations and socio-demographic characteristics particularly age, sex, education, health and self-perceived unmet health care needs. The results underscore the importance of womens health needs as related to alternative care use. The paper concludes that there is a need for more place-specific research that explores the reasons why people use specific types of alternative health care as tied to socio-economic status, health, place of residence, and knowledge of these treatments.

Sense of Place in Hamilton, Ontario: Empirical Results of a Neighborhood-Based Survey

Although the concept of sense of place has a long history in the social sciences, relatively few studies have attempted a quantitative analysis of sense of place at the neighborhood level. This study reports on the empirical findings of a sense of place survey developed and tested in two contrasting neighborhoods in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada: Southwest Mountain, an upper-middle-class suburban neighborhood and Northeast Industrial, a lower-income, working-class neighborhood located in the heart of the citys industrial district. The principal objective is to assess the relationship between sense of place and the socio-demographic characteristics of residents living in neighborhoods of very different socioeconomic status. This study also introduces a method for calculating a neighborhood sense of place score derived from a fully tested, validated survey instrument. It was found that sense of place was strongest in Southwest Mountain, and among seniors, long-term residents, unmarried people, and immigrants. In addition, residents with a lower level of education and those in the unpaid labor force had a stronger sense of place.

Socio-spatial patterns of home care use in Ontario, Canada: A case study

Home care is the fastest growing segment of Canadas health care system. Since the mid-1990 s, the management and delivery of home care has changed dramatically in the province of Ontario. The objective of this paper is to examine the socio-spatial characteristics of home care use (both formal and informal) in Ontario among residents aged 20 and over. Data are drawn from two cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS Cycle 3.1 2005 and Cycle 4.1 2007) and are analyzed at a number of geographical scales and across the urban to rural continuum. The study found that rural residents were more likely than their urban counterparts to receive government-funded home care, particularly nursing care services. However, rural residents were less likely to receive nursing care that was self-financed through for-profit agencies and were more reliant on informal care provided by a family member. The study also revealed that women and seniors were far more dependent on services that they paid for as compared to informal services. People with lower incomes and poorer health status, as well as rural residents, were also more likely to use informal services. The paper postulates that the introduction of managed competition in Ontarios home care sector may be effective in more populated parts of the province, including large cities, but at the same time may have left a void in access to for-profit formal services in rural and remote regions.

Walking to work in Canada: health benefits, socio-economic characteristics and urban-regional variations

BackgroundThere is mounting concern over increasing rates of physical inactivity and overweight/obesity among children and adult in Canada. There is a clear link between the amount of walking a person does and his or her health. The purpose of this paper is to assess the health factors, socio-economic characteristics and urban-regional variations of walking to work among adults in Canada.MethodsData is drawn from two cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey: 2001 and 2005. The study population is divided into three groups: non-walkers, lower-duration walkers and high-duration walkers. Logistic regression modeling tests the association between levels of walking and health related outcomes (diabetes, high blood pressure, stress, BMI, physical activity), socio-economic characteristics (sex, age, income, education) and place of residence (selected Census Metropolitan Areas).ResultsIn 2005, the presence of diabetes and high blood pressure was not associated with any form of walking. Adults within the normal weight range were more likely to be high-duration walkers. Females and younger people were more likely to be lower-duration walkers but less likely to be high-duration walkers. There was a strong association between SES (particularly relative disadvantage) and walking to work. In both 2001 and 2005, the conditions influencing walking to work were especially prevalent in Canadas largest city, Toronto, as well as in several small to medium sized urban areas including Halifax, Kingston, Hamilton, Regina, Calgary and Victoria.ConclusionA number of strategies can be followed to increase levels of walking in Canada. It is clear that for many people walking to work is not possible. However, strategies can be developed to encourage adults to incorporate walking into their daily work and commuting routines. These include mass transit walking and workplace walking programs.

Impacts of care‐giving and sources of support: a comparison of end‐of‐life and non‐end‐of‐life caregivers in Canada

This is the second in a series of papers that deal with care-giving in Canada, as based on data available from the Canadian General Social Survey (2007). Building on the first paper, which reviewed the differences between short-term, long-term and end-of-life (EOL) caregivers, this paper uniquely examines the caregiver supports employed by EOL caregivers when compared to non-EOL caregivers (short-term and long-term caregivers combined). Both papers employ data from Statistics Canadas General Social Survey (GSS Cycle 21: 2007). The GSS includes three modules, where respondents were asked questions about the unpaid home care assistance that they had provided in the last 12 months to someone at EOL or with either a long-term health condition or a physical limitation. The objective of this research paper was to investigate the link between the impact of the care-giving experience and the caregiver supports received, while also examining the differences in these across EOL and non-EOL caregivers. By way of factor analysis and regression modelling, we examine differences between two types of caregivers: (i) EOL and (ii) non-EOL caregivers. The study revealed that with respect to socio-demographic characteristics, health outcomes and caregiver supports, EOL caregivers were consistently worse off. This suggests that although all non-EOL caregivers are experiencing negative impacts from their care-giving role, comparatively greater supports are needed for EOL caregivers.

It’s cold and there’s something to do: The changing geography of Canadian National Hockey League players’ hometowns

Set within the framework of the birthplace effect literature and the seminal work of Curtis and Birch, this paper draws information from the publicly available database www.hockeydb.com and from the Census to examine the hometowns of Canadian National Hockey League (NHL) players from 1970 to 2015. It found that from a regional perspective, the distribution of players’ hometowns remained fairly stable over the 46-year period with Ontario and the three Prairie provinces being prominent. Players from small centres have been well represented in the NHL. While larger urban areas have historically produced the most players, there has been a marked increase in ‘big city’ players while the odds of making it are low. However, when the analysis is adjusted according to the population aged 10-19, boys growing up in small and mid-sized centres were at advantage in reaching the NHL until 2009. Finally, we discuss whether the growing presence of big city players in the NHL will affect the image of hockey as a national sport, as for many, small-town hockey remains at the heart of Canadian sporting culture.

Forecheck, backcheck, health check: the benefits of playing recreational ice hockey for adults in Canada

ABSTRACT More than 1 million Canadian adults play recreational ice hockey. Compared to elite players, very little is known about the physical and health characteristics of people who play the game for fun. Analyzing data from Statistics Canada’s 2011/12 Canadian Community Health Survey, the paper found that there is an association between physically active males age 35 or over who play ice hockey regularly (at least once a week) and enhanced health more so than other physically active males. While these players are larger in body size, they have significantly lower rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease and report significantly higher rates of self-assessed health. Given the potential health benefits associated with this high intensity sport, the paper discusses ways in which participation can be promoted among less physically active adults and people who are new to the game or who have historically lower levels of participation including women and recent immigrants. Finally, the paper argues that compared to the very high costs associated with child and youth hockey, participation in adult recreational ice hockey is quite affordable.