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The development of communication technologies, patient demands and organizational changes require hospitals to build a renowned brand that help the organization to develop its strategic positioning. In this context, social media represent a strategic opportunity. This paper aims to analyse the real impact of social media in the branding communication of Canadian hospitals. To do this, we carried out a literature review about corporate communication; and, then we evaluated the use of social media as a corporate communication tool by the 100 best hospitals in Canada. This paper concludes that hospital communication on social media must respect three pillars: a) promote the audiovisual language, b) analyse the relations between publications and the increase of followers and c) work in a multidisciplinary way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to studies from the United States and English Canada, student achievement gaps grow over the summer months when children are not attending school, but summer literacy interventions can reduce those gaps. This paper presents data from a quasi-experiment conducted in eight Ontario French language school boards in 2010, 2011 and 2012 for 682 children in grades 1-3. Growth in literacy test scores between June and September are compared for 361 attendees of summer literacy programs and 321 control students. Summer program recruits initially had lower prior literacy scores and grades, and tended to hail from relatively disadvantaged social backgrounds. Yet, summer programs narrowed those pre-existing gaps. Effect sizes from a variety of regression and propensity score matching models ranged from .32 to .58, which is quite sizeable by the standards of elementary school interventions and summer programs. Effects were stronger among students whose parents reported not speaking French exclusively at home. Our paper considers learning opportunity theory in light of the "non-traditional" student in Ontario French language schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]