Digital Commons Network^™

Examining The Barriers, Facilitators And Attitudes Towards Covid-19 Vaccine And Public Health Measures For Black Communities In Canada: A Qualitative Study Protocol., Obidimma Ezezika, Bethelehem Girmay, Toluwalope Adedugbe, Isaac Jonas, Yanaminah Thullah, Chris Thompson

Health Studies Publications

INTRODUCTION: Black communities claim the highest number of cases and deaths due to COVID-19 in Canada. Generating culturally/contextually appropriate public health measures and strategies for vaccine uptake in black communities within Canada can better support the disproportionate impact of this pandemic. This study explores the barriers and enablers to public health measures limited to mask-wearing, disinfection, sanitation, social distancing and handwashing, as well as the barriers and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines among the black community.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will use qualitative approaches informed by the widely accepted Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to aid our investigation. We will …

Canadian Olympic Athletes, Gender Issues And Body Dissatisfaction: A Critical Analysis Of The Impact Of Covid-19 And Canadian Sport Resources, Alyssa Mcculloch

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This multidisciplinary study has three main aspects and is guided by a critical feminist lens. One aspect lays out the philosophical feminist foundations, the context for the study and provides a literature review and brief history. A second aspect is guided by research questions which explore how COVID-19 impacted Canadian female Olympic athletes. Qualitative interview data was collected during a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) funded study and used for the empirical part of this paper. Participants included ten national level athletes (seven females and three males) and three coaches (two females and one male) from a variety …

Maid (Medical Assistance In Dying) And Meaning: An Exploration Of The Experience And Ability To Make Meaning Through Involvement In A Maid-Specific Bereavement Group, The Synergistic Potential Of Covid-19 And Maid, And The Impact Of Healthcare Providers Relationships From The Perspective Of Relational Ethics On The Legacy Of Maid-Involved Families Into Their Bereavement, Allyson Van Kessel

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

MAiD became legally accessible to Canadians with a grievous and irremediable illness in June of 2016. As I write in 2023, MAiD has been expanded to include patients who do not have a foreseeable death, with anticipated inclusion of those with mental illness as a sole underlying medical condition (MI-SUMC) in 2024. As MAiD now accounts for over 3% of all deaths annually in Canada, there is a growing impetus to explore ways by which MAiD practice can be improved and care can be extended to the family members following the death of a patient.

A hospital in southwestern Ontario …

A Feminist Analysis Of The Impact Of Covid-19 On Olympic Female Athletes From Canada And The People’S Republic Of China, Dongwan He

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Gender equality in sports acquired unprecedented discussion in the past few decades with the efforts of sports organizations such as the United Nations (UN), athletes, professionals, and scholars worldwide. Girls’ participation, women’s media representation, participation of transgender athletes, equal opportunity, equal pay, etc. drew attention and awareness successfully. However, the outbreak of COVID-19 has been limiting the achievement of women in sports due to the cancellation of sports events, postponement of the Olympic Games, stay-at-home orders in lockdown, and restrictions on health measurements. This study utilized methods of semi-structured interviews, media analysis, and comparative analysis to examine the barriers faced …

Autoethnography Of A Pregnant Doula: An Anthropological Investigation Of Birth Experiences During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Ontario And Quebec, Fattimah A. Hamam

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the existing systems and institutions people depend on in all areas of life. Birth is no exception. This research shows that COVID-19 replicated dominant North American cultural scripts treating birth as a risky and stressful medical event. It goes further to explore how birthers themselves described their experiences. Drawing on autoethnographic reflections, ethnographic interviews and a WhatsApp group chat, this thesis documents the nuance in predominantly middle class, cis-gendered women’s experiences giving birth in Ontario and Quebec during the pandemic. It uncovers the overarching non-birther centric nature of local birth culture and argues …

Perspectives Of Middle Eastern Immigrant Parents Regarding Accessing Healthcare Services For Children During The Covid-19 Pandemic In London, Ontario, Sarvenaz Mehrabi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, immigrants have been disproportionally affected and faced difficulties in accessing healthcare services. While it has been reported that the rate of pediatric healthcare utilization decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, the reasons behind this decline are unclear. It has been suggested that immigrant children might be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions regarding accessing healthcare services. This study aims to understand the Middle Eastern immigrant parents’ perspectives regarding their access to healthcare services for their children in the London, Ontario, area during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This qualitative study was conducted with an interpretive description methodology …

Understanding Changes To Human Mobility Patterns In Ontario, Canada During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ben Klar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Transportation research has shown that socio-demographic factors affect people’s mobility patterns. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some of these effects have changed in accordance with changing mobility needs adapting to the pandemic, including restrictions on in-person gatherings, closure of in-person businesses and working from home. We investigate two gaps in current knowledge in this area of transportation research: to what extent the association between socio-demographic factors and mobility metrics have changed, and how these associations vary across geographic space. We also investigate how closely Ontario’s Public Health Unit boundaries, based on which pandemic restrictions were applied, reflect actual travel regions, and …

Respiratory Pattern Analysis For Covid-19 Digital Screening Using Ai Techniques, Annita Tahsin Priyoti

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Corona Virus (COVID-19) is a highly contagious respiratory disease that the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a worldwide epidemic. This virus has spread worldwide, affecting various countries until now, causing millions of deaths globally. To tackle this public health crisis, medical professionals and researchers are working relentlessly, applying different techniques and methods. In terms of diagnosis, respiratory sound has been recognized as an indicator of one’s health condition. Our work is based on cough sound analysis. This study has included an in-depth analysis of the diagnosis of COVID-19 based on human cough sound. Based on cough audio samples from …

Digital Geographies Of Indigenous Health: Exploring Indigenous Mental Health Content From Turtle Island During Covid-19, Veronica Reitmeier

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The physical and mental health and wellness of Indigenous peoples is cultivated through interrelations with spiritual, cultural, community, and social practices: these practices strengthen identity and belonging. COVID-19 has disrupted many of these relational practices or shifted them to digital environments such as social media. Drawing on a thematic analysis of Tweets from March 2020-December 2021 (n=1137), I address the research question: How are Twitter users across Turtle Island engaging with Indigenous mental health content on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic? Within an Indigenous context, no exploratory research has been conducted on who is engaging with mental health content on …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Undergraduate University Students With Part-Time Jobs, Miguel F. Bernard Bravo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study explored how the pandemic and the shift to online learning impacted university students’ experiences of learning and working, and how students’ capital and other resources impacted their university experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen undergraduate students who had paid employment in the last 12 months were recruited. In interviews participants were asked about their experiences with work, schooling and balancing the two with the pressures of the pandemic. Students cited financial concerns, as well as challenges with difficulties with online learning, motivation, and isolation. Importantly, this study found that students experiences differed in accordance with their capital and …

How Can Single Mothers Care For Themselves And Their Children During The Covid-19 Pandemic?, Lisbeth Alexandra Pino Gavidia

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This work investigates how single mothers maintain healthy behaviours for themselves and their children as they try to meet the evolving COVID-19 public recommendations. Everyone has had to adapt to changing public health rules. Single mothers may have unique challenges as they juggle to adapt to changing family responsibilities since they do not have another person helping in the home, and help outside the home may be restricted by public health rules. My research plan addressed these questions to learn more about the experiences of single mothers during the pandemic: 1) What are the changes in family responsibilities? 2) How …

Racial Inequalities In Booster Shot Uptake: Black Communities In The City Of Toronto, Anjali Bhaheeratha

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The unequal distribution of COVID-19 vaccines has posed a threat to the health and wellbeing of various marginalized communities, including Black communities. The booster shot in particular is not a mandatory vaccine, raising questions whether this would further vaccine inequity. I, along with Dr. Kate Choi of the Sociology Department at Western University, analyzed vaccination rates of the first booster shot across all 140 neighborhoods in the City of Toronto. Through stratifying neighborhoods based on the prevalence of Black residents and high/low socioeconomic status, it is clear to see that race, in tandem with similar socio-demographic characteristics, plays a significant …

Wellness Study: Functional Visual Outcomes In Eye Disease Patients Following The Covid-19 Pandemic, Andrew Maher

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused delays in health services and medical appointments, affecting approximately one in three Canadian adults. Elderly eye disease patients experienced delays in treatment for eye conditions including cataracts, glaucoma, and retinal diseases. The impact of these delays on functional visual outcomes and general health rating of elderly patients is not well understood. As part of the Wellness Study, we aimed to investigate the pandemic-related impacts on functional vision and general health rating in an elderly eye patient population in London, Ontario.

Compassion Fatigue In Healthcare Professionals During Covid-19: Scoping Review Protocol, Lucy Hui, Christina Oleynikov, Sheila Boamah, Anna Garnett

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to the healthcare system. With the sudden increase in workload, under-resourced facilities, and evolving healthcare practices, healthcare professionals are faced with a great psychological burden. Compassion is a crucial component to providing safe and quality care. However, the effects of the prolonged exposure to high-stress environments during COVID-19 on compassion fatigue remains understudied. This scoping literature review was conducted with the goal of answering two questions: (1) What research has been undertaken on compassion fatigue among healthcare providers over the course of COVID-19, and, (2) how did compassion fatigue among healthcare providers impact …

Teacher Education In The Arts Before, During, And After The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jake E. Knight

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The purpose of this research is to construct a detailed picture of teacher education in the arts within Ontario, with a specific focus on the Primary-Junior arts discipline. This project will survey publicly-funded educational institutions in order to create a baseline of information on arts teacher education. This foundational information will allow for differences to be identified between pre-service teacher arts programs, and will also initiate a dialogue as to whether or not arts programs are equitably administered throughout the province. Moreover, this project will examine the professional practices of teacher educators in the arts before, during, and after the …

A Collaborative Approach To Caring For Refugees In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sara Mojdehi

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

With higher cases rates, it is clear that newcomer and refugee populations in Ontario have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. These vulnerable populations generally work in settings that increase their risk of infection and do not offer sick leave (ICES, 2021). In addition, overcrowded and multigenerational housing make it difficult for these individuals to adhere to self-isolation guidelines. Language and cultural barriers among refugee populations have also limited their access to information about the virus, making it challenging to follow public health measures (ICES, 2021).

The increased likelihood of an outbreak in these communities manifested itself in London, …

A Study Of Canadian Bankruptcies, 2014-2022, Luis Guilherme Mazzali De Almeida

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

This paper studies Canadian monthly bankruptcy data from January 2014 to February 2022 with an aim towards identifying the existence of underlying heterogeneity in the decision-making of firms across different industry sectors during periods of economic adversity. The data used include provincial two-digit NAICS bankruptcy level data, provincial pandemic-related data concerning the evolution of cases and stringency of adopted policies, and external factors pertaining to the domestic and foreign economies such as industry GDP, the overnight rate target, exchange rates, imports and exports, prices, and bond liquidity premium. The method is two-fold. First, we identify changes in bankruptcy trends caused …

(Re) Evaluating Critical Care Nurse Support Program(S) In A Tertiary Care Hospital: Intersecting The Art And Science Of Nursing, C. Patricia Mazzotta

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

There is a growing critical care nurse staffing shortage with increases in nurse vacancy rates. Moral distress has been exacerbated by the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic and, in particular, impacting critical care nurses. COVID-19 is a significant contributor to staffing shortages and continued nursing crisis. Thus, the impetus for the Problem of Practice (PoP): the lack of support to address the psychological, emotional, and spiritual distress suffered by critical care registered nurses in a tertiary care hospital in Central Ontario. To comprehend the realities of working in the intensive care units, leaders must first understand nurses’ lived experiences, narratives, and what …

The Quality Of Life Of Patients With Eye Diseases, Brian Edward Yu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) values determined using direct elicitation methods and generic preference-based measures are important for economic evaluations of healthcare interventions. The ophthalmology clientele is vulnerable to psychological stressors in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Objectives: To systematically identify and summarize the quality of life (QoL) of eye disease patients in general in North America and seniors with eye diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A systematic review identified North American studies that quantified HRQoL of eye disease patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted among seniors with eye diseases and backwards stepwise regression …

Adapting Despite “Walls Coming Down”: Healthcare Providers’ Experiences Of Covid-19 As An Implosive Adaptation, Sayra Cristancho, Emily Field, Taryn Taylor

Obstetrics & Gynaecology Publications

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has been a daunting exercise in adaptation for healthcare providers. While we are beginning to learn about the challenges faced by teams during the COVID-19 pandemic, what remains underexplored are the strategies team members used to adapt to these challenges. The goal of this study is therefore to explore how healthcare providers navigated and adapted to on-the-ground challenges imposed by COVID-19. Methods: We interviewed 20 healthcare workers at various hospitals in Ontario, who provided care as part of clinical teams during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected and analyzed following Constructivist Grounded Theory principles including iteration, …

Lockdown, Bottoms Up? Changes In Adolescent Substance Use Across The Covid-19 Pandemic, Tara M. Dumas, Wendy E. Ellis, Stephen Van Hedger, Dana M. Litt, Madeleine Macdonald

Neuroscience Institute Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic notably altered adolescent substance use during the initial stage (Spring 2020) of the pandemic. The purpose of this longitudinal study is to examine trajectories of adolescent substance use across the pandemic and subsequent periods of stay-at-home orders and re-opening efforts. We further examined differences as a function of current high school student versus graduate status. Adolescents (n = 1068, 14–18 years, Mage = 16.95 years and 76.7% female at T1) completed 4 different self-report surveys, starting during the first stay-at-home order and ending approximately 14 months later. Negative binomial hurdle models predicted: (1) the likelihood of no …

Family Physician Leadership During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Roles, Functions And Key Supports., Maria Mathews, Dana Ryan, Lindsay Hedden, Julia Lukewich, Emily Gard Marshall, Judith Belle Brown, Paul S Gill, Madeleine Mckay, Eric Wong, Stephen J Wetmore, Richard Buote, Leslie Meredith, Lauren Moritz, Sarah Spencer, Maria Alexiadis, Thomas R Freeman, Aimee Letto, Bridget L Ryan, Shannon L Sibbald, Amanda Lee Terry

Health Studies Publications

PURPOSE: Strong leadership in primary care is necessary to coordinate an effective pandemic response; however, descriptions of leadership roles for family physicians are absent from previous pandemic plans. This study aims to describe the leadership roles and functions family physicians played during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada and identify supports and barriers to formalizing these roles in future pandemic plans.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: This study conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with family physicians across four regions in Canada as part of a multiple case study. During the interviews, participants were asked about their roles during each pandemic stage and the facilitators and barriers …

Regulation Of Mhc Ii Trafficking And Expression By Host And Viral Factors, Alex Lac

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Antigen presentation by major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II) to the adaptive immune system is crucial for mounting sterilizing immune responses. This central role has made antigen presentation a target for antagonism by many pathogens. Notably, infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) decrease MHC II expression in several immune cells. The mechanisms responsible for this suppression are unknown but involves either redirecting MHC II molecules away from the cell surface or inhibiting MHC II expression. To understand how pathogens manipulate intracellular MHC II trafficking, we first investigated the role of the Golgi trafficking regulator, ERC1, in …

Examining The Association Between Brain Mri Measures At 7 Tesla And Cognition Following Covid-19 Infection, Helma Heidari

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The long-term neuropsychological, cognitive, and neurobiological effects of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) in survivors with milder symptoms are still poorly understood. In this thesis we evaluated cognitive and psychological changes approximately five weeks after a wide range of symptoms in COVID-19 illness and determined whether advanced diffusion magnetic resonance imaging measures within subcortical brain structures of the limbic system were related to neurological, respiratory, psychiatric, and gastric symptoms experienced during the acute phase of illness. Cognitive and neuropsychological evaluations were performed in 45 participants who experienced neurological symptoms during the acute phase of COVID-19 illness. Participants also underwent …

The Hospitalization Rate Of Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis Before And During Covid-19 Pandemic Era: A Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study, Maryam Vasaghi Gharamaleki, Maryam Habibagahi, Etrat Hooshmandi, Reza Tabrizi, Shahram Arsang-Jang, Zohreh Barzegar, Nima Fadakar, Vahid Reza Ostovan, Abbas Rahimi-Jaberi, Nahid Ashjazadeh, Peyman Petramfar, Maryam Poursadeghfard, Sadegh Izadi, Masoumeh Nazeri, Hanieh Bazrafshan, Zahra Bahrami, Sedigheh Karimlu, Seyedeh Shaghayegh Zafarmand, Mahnaz Bayat, Mohammad Saied Salehi, Maryam Owjfard, Saeideh Karimi-Haghighi, Anahid Safari, Banafsheh Shakibajahromi, Beng Lim Alvin Chew, Bradford B.G. Worral, Jonathan M. Coutinho, Carlos Garcia-Esperon, Neil Spratt, M Reza Azarpazhooh

Neuroscience Institute Publications

Objectives: There are several reports of the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). In this study, we aimed to compare the hospitalization rate of CVST before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (before vaccination program). Materials and methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the hospitalization rate of adult CVST patients in Namazi hospital, a tertiary referral center in the south of Iran, was compared in two periods of time. We defined March 2018 to March 2019 as the pre-COVID-19 period and March 2020 to March 2021 as the COVID-19 period. Results: 50 and 77 adult CVST …

Evidence-Based Considerations For The Design Of An Open-Source Ventilator: A Systematic Review, Chintan Dave, Asaanth Sivajohan, John Basmaji, Marat Slessarev

Neuroscience Institute Publications

OBJECTIVE: To inform the design of open-source ventilators, we performed a systematic review of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) to consolidate the evidence on mechanical ventilation strategies that result in improved patient-important outcomes for acute hypoxic respiratory failure. DATA SOURCES: We developed a search strategy to identify relevant CPGs from Ovid Medline, Ovid Medline In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Mendeley, and Google scholar from 2010 to February 17, 2022. STUDY SELECTION: Using a two-step screening process with two independent reviewers, we included CPGs that made recommendations on mechanical ventilation strategies of interest. Guidelines that reported at least …

Characterizing And Predicting Canadian Adolescents’ Internalizing Symptoms In The First Year Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Haley Elizabeth Green

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Most studies of adolescents’ internalizing symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic have included few data waves, limiting long-term conclusions about adolescents’ mental health during the pandemic. Collecting only a few waves of data precludes examination of intraindividual symptom variability, which may have implications for adjustment beyond mean symptoms. We characterized mean n = 192 adolescents’ internalizing symptoms from March 2020-April 2021 and used mixed effect location scale models to examine established risk factors as predictors of mean trends and intraindividual variability in adolescents’ internalizing symptoms. Adolescents’ symptoms were relatively stable and low over the first year of the pandemic; severity peaked …

Automation Through Deep-Learning To Quantify Ventilation Defects In Lungs From High-Resolution Isotropic Hyperpolarized 129xe Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Tuneesh Kaur Ranota

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Obstructive lung diseases are characterized by heterogenous ventilation. Hyperpolarized ¹²⁹Xe gas lung magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can examine lung ventilation heterogeneity by acquiring high-resolution isotropic images. The current gold standard of semi-automated (SA) segmentation can be used to quantify non-isotropic ¹²⁹Xe lung images to generate ventilation defect percent (VDP), however, this method is not suitable for analysis of isotropic voxel ¹²⁹Xe images due to the large number of slices. Therefore, we used a fully automated deep learning-based (DL) lung algorithm to calculate VDP from isotropic images. SNR, SA and DL-based VDP were calculated, showing a strong positive …

Opening A Crack To Let The Light In: An Exploration Of An Online Group Adolescent Compassion Focussed Therapy Intervention, Euan Pb Fraser Tait

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The current study’s goal is to expand the adolescent compassion focused therapy (CFT) literature by exploring participant experiences of a novel CFT protocol which was delivered in an online group therapy format. This study is a mixed methods approach using surveys, open-ended questionnaires, and interviews to explore participants’ experience and expression of feelings of inadequacy (FOI) and self-compassion. Thematic analysis findings revealed that participants struggled primarily with FOI relating to evaluative contexts such as school and sports and that these FOI also carried with them implications of self-worth and perfectionism. Through participating in the program, participants were able to de-shame …

Exploring Coping Strategies Among Older Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence During Coivd-19, Christina Safar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

With the emergence of COVID-19 public health measures including the stay-at-home order, the effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) have become more severe for women while the availability of support has become hampered. The purpose of this interpretive description study was to explore coping among older women in Ontario experiencing IPV during COVID-19. 12 in-depth interviews with older women found age-related normative beliefs played a key role in how older women viewed their lives and how they looked beyond their experiences of IPV. Older women stressed how their roles as caretakers and homemakers influenced their response to IPV and that …