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Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic led to major service disruptions in the healthcare sector, especially regarding sexual and reproductive health services. However, the impact of the pandemic on Canadian adolescents is relatively unknown. This study aimed to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health measures on the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of adolescents in Alberta, Canada. Methods: A qualitative study using an interpretive description (ID) approach and community-based participatory research principles was conducted to capture the subjective experience and perceptions of adolescents and service providers. With the collaboration of the Adolescent Advisory Group and community partners, 18 adolescents and 15 service providers were recruited for the study through purposive sampling. Findings from the qualitative interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Three major themes emerged from the analysis: (1) COVID-19 SRH experience, (2) barriers to SRH, and (3) adolescent SRH strategies. Our findings highlight numerous barriers and challenges that prevented adolescents from accessing SRH education, products, and services. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the SRH and the well-being of adolescents. Our study reflects the need for diverse SRH strategies to maintain continued access to SRH resources during disruptive events, such as the pandemic. Plain language summary: Access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services is a basic human right. All individuals require access to appropriate SRH services to maintain their optimal sexual and reproductive health. Adolescents require special guidance, support, and youth-friendly services in matters of SRH as they enter puberty and explore their sexual identity. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many health and SRH services were suspended. Access to SRH products and services became difficult due to public health restrictions, which has possible negative consequences for adolescents' SRH. The experiences of adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding their SRH are not reported in Alberta, Canada. Therefore, we explored the impacts of these public health restrictions on adolescents' SRH. We performed qualitative interviews with adolescents and SRH service providers to know their perspectives on how the pandemic influenced the SRH of adolescents. This paper provides insights into the barriers faced by adolescents while accessing SRH services during the pandemic, as well as their perceptions of digital strategies, such as mobile applications, and other recommendations for supporting SRH education and services. Based on the study findings, an adolescent-friendly mobile application will be developed to provide a virtual platform connecting adolescents to SRH educational resources, services, and support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Canada's population is aging and there are concerns that the welfare system may not support the increased demands on it. Integrated health and social care (IHSC) produces positive health and system outcomes but it needs to be better understood within a Canadian context. The purpose of this collective case study of three IHSC initiatives in Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia was to determine the factors that support successful services integration among different healthcare and social services organizations serving older adults within a Canadian context. Design/methodology/approach: This study used the Cheng and Catallo (2020) IHSC conceptual framework (CF) to guide the research. Primary data were based on key informant interviews of representatives from organizations that comprised each case and focus groups. A cross-case analysis was undertaken to determine common themes. Findings: The cross-case analysis revealed that the three cases shared common integration and external influence factors based on the Cheng and Catallo (2020) CF. Some new factors were identified. Originality/value: The study revealed that the Canadian context was important in influencing integration in the three cases and that there is a unique Canadian aspect to IHSC. The study offers up practical insights for government leaders and service administrators to improve IHSC for older adults. The study also identifies how the Cheng and Catallo (2020) IHSC CF can be enhanced and points to research opportunities to test the framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Improving health services integration through primary health care (PHC) teams for patients with chronic conditions is essential to address their complex health needs and facilitate better health outcomes. The objective of this study was to explore if and how patients, family members, and caregivers were engaged or wanted to be engaged in developing, implementing and evaluating health policies related to PHC teams. This patient‐oriented research was carried out in three provinces across Canada: British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Methods: A total of 29 semi‐structured interviews with patients were conducted across the three provinces and data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Three key themes were identified: motivation for policy engagement, experiences with policy engagement and barriers to engagement in policy. The majority of participants in the study wanted to be engaged in policy processes and advocate for integrated care through PHC teams. Barriers to patient engagement in policy, such as lack of opportunities for engagement, power imbalances, tokenism, lack of accessibility of engagement opportunities and experiences of racism and discrimination were also identified. Conclusion: This study increases the understanding of patient, family member, and caregiver engagement in policy related to PHC team integration and the barriers that currently exist in this engagement process. This information can be used to guide decision‐makers on how to improve the delivery of integrated health services through PHC teams and enhance patient, family member, and caregiver engagement in PHC policy. Patient or Public Contribution: We would like to acknowledge the contributions of our patient partners, Brenda Jagroop and Judy Birdsell, who assisted with developing and pilot testing the interview guide. Judy Birdsell also assisted with the preparation of this manuscript. This study also engaged patients, family members, and caregivers to share their experiences with engagement in PHC policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fly-in fly-out (FIFO) work camps are built and organized to ensure that long-distance rotational workers are fed, housed, and mobilized in sync with the pressing yet unpredictable rhythms of resource extraction. Positioned thus 'betwixt and between' the complex relations of work and life (Johnsen and Sørensen, 2015), the work camp is a generative yet hitherto neglected example of the temporal operations of permanent liminality (Bamber et al., 2017). But what does this mean for workers? If camp does the liminal work of managing the temporal challenges of the resource-based mobility regime, how do FIFO workers experience and respond to its inevitable lived consequences? Drawing on rare qualitative fieldwork in Canada's Athabasca Oil Sands, we explain the effects of camp time—disorientation, monotony, and entrapment—and examine the temporal tactics workers deploy to manage those effects, from embracing and disrupting internal camp routines to aligning and syncing with outside and future-oriented temporalities. We argue that workers' tactics make them 'competent liminars' (Borg and Söderlund, 2015) of camp time, which is, in turn, crucial to the latter's disciplining function within the FIFO mobility regime. Our findings invite renewed attention to the temporal mediation accomplished by liminal people and places, especially in organizational contexts aimed at institutionally harnessing social time to productive imperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdoor learning offers clear physical, cognitive, social-emotional and academic benefits for children and yet, it is considered a grassroots approach to teaching and learning in elementary schools. We examined teachers' perspectives on barriers and supports for outdoor learning in public elementary schools. Thirty-six teachers in (urban and rural) British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario (all female; Mean age = 43.84, SD = 10) participated in one of five virtually administered, semi-structured focus groups. Questions/prompts facilitated a discussion on teachers' experiences with barriers and supports for outdoor learning. Thematic analysis was used to identify main themes. Four interrelated themes and further sub-themes were found: 1) Teacher characteristics: interest/motivation to teach outdoors, preparedness, confidence in handling risks; 2) Systemic factors: principal support, school/district policies, funding/resources, curriculum, school schedule; 3) Culture: school culture, societal beliefs about education, family backgrounds; 4) Environmental factors: weather, built/natural environment, hazards. Systemic support is needed to integrate outdoor learning in schools. The findings in this study are relevant to health education specialists particularly focused on elementary school education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work research and literature in the area of supervision tends to focus on the supervision of field education students. Less attention is given to the supervision of social work practitioners and there is almost no information that examines how social workers become supervisors. This exploratory study interviewed 27 practicing social work supervisors across different fields of social work practice in Western Canada. The participants included 15 supervisors with a graduate degree and 12 supervisors with an undergraduate degree. The supervisors completed a brief questionnaire that was followed by a structured interview. Supervisors were asked how they came to be social work supervisors. Thematic analysis of the supervisors' responses revealed three pathways to supervision: task exposure, supervision by happen chance, and deliberate decision. The responses suggested that additional focus on supervision might be included in undergraduate education and that universities, professional associations, and employers pay more attention to succession planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]