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Faculty of Graduate Studies (Electronic Theses and Practica)

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http://hdl.handle.net/1993/5

This community holds theses prepared by graduate students and reviewed by program advisors.

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Open Access
Women healthcare workers, compassion fatigue, and the COVID-19 pandemic
(0024-08-15) Dearborn, Regan; Bone, Tracey (Social Work); Lobchuk, Michelle (Nursing); Nixon, Kendra (Social Work)
Abstract This mixed-methods study focuses on women essential healthcare workers and their experiences of compassion fatigue during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic exacerbated compassion fatigue levels in healthcare, a field predominantly comprised of women. The study used quantitative (survey) and qualitative methods (interviews). For the survey, I received 44 viable responses. These questions sought feedback on each participant’s experience with compassion fatigue, alterations to the services that they offered, and experiences with ever-changing regulations and restrictions. They also highlighted the unique struggles that participants potentially faced as caregivers and how they were able to balance the ever-changing demands. Survey participants were invited to participate in a follow-up interview. The interview questions focused on individual impacts and experiences in their role and their personal life exploring experiences of moral injury, guilt, and shame. Participants also reported on what support they had, and recommendations they had for the government, their employer, their managers, and the public. Eight women across Ontario completed the interview, which began with the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL). The six themes from the survey and interviews were, theme 1: The Impacts of the Pandemic on Participants’ Personal Lives including the Emotional and Mental Health Impacts of Compassion Fatigue, The Physical Impacts of Compassion Fatigue and The Impacts on Family, Theme 2: Participants Experiences with Moral Injury, Theme 3: Participant Feelings of Guilt and Shame, Theme 4: Supports Provided and Sought for their Well-Being, and Theme 5: Perceived Gaps and Limitations including The Experiences with the Federal and Provincial Government, Experiences with their Healthcare Employer and Experiences with the Public, and lastly, Theme 6: Recommendations for Improving Systems and Supports. The goal was to share information about women’s firsthand experiences with Compassion Fatigue. Although differences existed among participants, they shared the common perspective that the last few years were challenging personally and professionally. This study’s mixed methods design enabled this researcher to explore women healthcare workers’ direct firsthand experiences. This study contributes novel evidence that highlights women’s challenges and their recommendations for changes needed and future improvements in support provided to them by the healthcare system and workplaces.
Open Access
Novel cattail paper sheet development for manufacturing compostable cups
(0024-08-26) Raju, Md Mezbah Uddin; Levin, David ( Biosystems Engineering); Liu, Song ( Biosystems Engineering); Rahman, Mashiur
Cattail biomass is an abundant and cost-effective source of fiber in the Prairie region of Canada. Despite advancements in the development of eco-friendly disposable tableware using non-wood biomass, the potential use of waste fibrous cattail biomass for paper production remains unexplored. This study investigates the feasibility of using cattail biomass combined with a biodegradable polymer coating like polylactic acid (PLA), to produce fully compostable beverage cups. In the current research, fibers were extracted from cattail plant leaves, achieving a 32% yield through optimized alkali retting using a 2.5% NaOH solution at 90°C for 4 hours. These fibers were then used to produce paper sheets under optimal pulping conditions: a consistency of 1.5%, a blending time of 3.5 minutes, and beating-agitation at 2,300 rpm. The uncoated Cattail paper sheets had an average basis weight of 298 g/m² and a thickness of 0.76 mm, both higher than those of the standard uncoated paper sheets used to manufacture commercial (Fools & Horses Coffee Inc.) single-use paper beverage cups provided by (293 g/m² and 0.41 mm). However, the Cattail-paper sheets exhibited lower tensile index, modulus, and bursting index (14.11 Nm/g, 1.06 GPa, and 0.04 kPa·m²/g) compared to the commercial coffee cup paper sheets (19.33 Nm/g, 1.22 GPa, and 0.1 kPa·m²/g). Cattail paper sheets were coated by applying four layers of a PLA polymer solution (at concentrations of 3%, 4%, and 5% w/v in dichloromethane solvent) using compressed air at 15 psi under ambient conditions. The polymer-coated paper sheets produced with varying coating percentages exhibited higher average basis weight and thickness (363 to 375 g/m² and 0.87 to 0.88 mm) compared to the standard coated commercial cup paper sheets (344 g/m² and 0.49 mm). The mechanical properties, including tensile index, modulus, and bursting index, as well as air permeability, of the coated Cattail paper sheets were found to be comparatively lower than those of the standard coated commercial cup paper sheets. However, the water contact angle of the coated Cattail paper sheets was higher. Additionally, the thermal conductivity of the coated Cattail paper was comparable to that of other paper materials coated with PLA polymer. The results of this study have important implications for the development of cost-effective, fully compostable, and environmentally sustainable single-use paper cups for the food and beverage industry and will provide a valuable opportunity to enhance the utilization of locally available biomass resources.
Open Access
Enhancing physical activity: autistic perspectives on co-designing applications
(0024-08-27) Kalala, Jedidah; Martin, Toby (Psychology); Glazebrook, Cheryl (Kinesiology and Recreation Management); Montgomery, Janine
People with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often do not engage in the recommended levels of physical activity compared to their neurotypical peers. Although these patterns are more pronounced in adolescence and adulthood most of the research has focused on the experiences of children. Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis and co-design methodology, the current study explored the experiences of adolescents and adults (N = 4) by conducting a series of workshops and asking participants about their physical activity engagement. It also introduced two physical activity applications, Move Improve and Exercise Buddy and asked participants to provide feedback and general guidance about what app features they found useful. Participants were also asked to share their experiences being part of a co-design study. The primary goals of this research were to elucidate the experiences of individuals on the spectrum when using apps designed to improve physical activity. Given the unique methodology employed, it also aimed to understand autistic perspectives on codesign research methods. Finally, the research intended to explore barriers and facilitators of physical activity from those on the spectrum. Findings from the current study highlighted the need for app customization features and detailed research outlines to facilitate both app engagement and research participation.
Open Access
Understanding solidarity: the role of emotions and inclusive victim consciousness among gender and ethnic/racial groups in Canada
(0024-08-28) Fontaine, Aleah Sheyenne Marie; Vorauer, Jacquie (Psychology); Mackenzie, Corey (Psychology); Kim, Sunmee (Psychology); Laurin, Kristin (University of British Columbia); Starzyk, Katherine
Oppressive and discriminatory systems, laws, and policies impact people collectively over many generations, such as Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Reconciling such harms requires a collective effort from many within a society, meaning it is important to understand who is likely to be a source of support and why. Certain groups, such as women and racialized people, are especially likely to express solidarity, yet the underlying reasons for this may differ. In this dissertation, I examined how gender and ethnic/racial background relate to intergroup solidarity and the potential drivers of these relationships: inclusive victim consciousness and emotional responses to injustice. This project included three studies. First, to ensure that the measures I used were psychometrically robust, in Study 1, I developed multi-item scales that measured several emotional domains. In an online study, 280 university students learned about discrimination toward Indigenous Peoples in the child welfare system and then shared how they felt. Using factor analyses, I examined, identified, and retained items to develop scales that measure the domains of love, anger, sadness, feeling sorry, and hope. Further, configural invariance testing suggested the factor structure was similar between gender and ethnic/racial groups. Using these scales, in Study 2, I examined the relationships among gender, ethnicity/race, inclusive victim consciousness, emotions, and solidarity among 352 university students. In Study 3, I examined whether findings generalized in a diverse national sample of 612 adults from across Canada. Using t-tests, correlational analyses, and path analyses, the general pattern of results from Studies 2 and 3 suggest that (1) women express stronger emotions than men when they learn about injustice, and some feelings, such as empathy and feeling sorry, in turn, predict greater solidarity; (2) Racialized participants feel a greater sense of inclusive victim consciousness and in some circumstances, stronger emotions than White participants, which may, in turn, predict more solidarity; and (3) of all emotions, empathy is a particularly strong predictor of solidarity, whereas anger is not a significant predictor once other emotions are accounted for. I end with reflections on strengths and limitations, applying an Indigenous lens to quantitative research, and theoretical and applied considerations.
Open Access
The Senate in the Canadian constitution
(1899) Duncan, David M.
Open Access
Education as a medium of civilization
(1900) Dearden, John C.
Open Access
The Mosaic Cosmogony
(1900) Lang, David
Open Access
Ancient and modern tragedy as exemplified by the trilogy of Aeschylus and the MacBeth of Shakespeare
(1901) Cross, John Hanna
Open Access
Wordsworth as an educator
(1902) Ireland, William Wellington
Open Access
The organ : its evolution : some famous instruments
(1902) Fletcher, Robert Donald
Open Access
The influence of civilization on the North American Indian
(1902) MacPherson, Robert James
The question is not a new one. Indeed, so much has been said and written on the subject that one might be tempted to think the literature treating of it altogether out of proportion to its importance. Certainly this literature has been so long in accumulating that we are at least led to suppose that nothing new can be said, and that any importance there is in the question was realized long ago. This, however, is not true, for much that is in print on the Indians might, just so far as their well-being is concerned, have been left unwritten. The one thing that gave it birth was the fascination of a subject so congenial to minds fond of real and rarest incident. The history of no other people can afford so much delightful romance, or startling adventure, or courageous enterprise, compressed in so short a period, as can that of the Indians of North America. Hence it is only to comparatively few of the legion of authors that the material importance of the subject has at all appealed, and therefore by even a lesser number that it has been treated in a judicious and interested manner.
Open Access
Smallpox, vaccination and inculation
(1903) Andrew, W. J.
Open Access
Real property
(1903) McCrossan, George E.
Open Access
The evolution of the English drama
(1903) Henry, Gertrude Esther McClellan.
Open Access
The Vestal Virgins
(1903) Phair, Ernest E.
Open Access
A consideration of Canadian verse
(1903) Condell, Angus Tyndall
Open Access
Heredity
(1903) Smith, Edwin.
Open Access
Greek poetry
(1904) Sweatman, William Andrew Travers.
Open Access
School hygiene
(1904) Watson, Hugh William
Open Access
Rome under Augustus and Britain under Victoria compared
(1904) Farrow, Arthur William