wendy hulko

techniques from research with equity-seeking groups Feminist social work research responds to Lather’s (1991) call for more theoretically informed research methods: “we who do empirical research in the name of emancipatory politics must discover ways to connect our research methodology to our theoretical concerns and political commitments” (p. 172). This includes taking on board more recent theoretical innovations associated with third and fourth wave feminists like intersectionality and queer feminism. In focusing specifically on theory and its application to research methods, this presentation addresses the need for more critical engagement with theory in social work and demonstrates ways to design research grounded in critical theory. This presentation focuses on the application of an intersectionality and interlocking oppressions paradigm to feminist social work research based on the author’s experiences doing research with equity-seeking groups and teaching research to BSW stud...

The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that new and varied views of dementia surface when the concept of intersectionality is applied to dementia research; and that these perspectives pose challenges to our assumptions about what it is like to have dementia. Grounded theory research from a feminist and antioppression perspective was undertaken to explore the question of the relationships between older people‘s experiences of dementia and the intersections of gender, class, ‘race’, and ethnicity. During nine months of field research in Canada, interviews, participant observation, photography, and focus groups were undertaken with eight older people with dementia and their significant others. The participants ranged from multiply marginalized to multiply privileged on the basis of their ‘race’, ethnicity, gender, and class. The grounded theory arising from this research explains the complex nature of the relationships between the subjective experiences of older people living with de...

Older adults are rarely consulted on health care restructuring. To address this gap, our study explored older adults’ views on “repositioning”, a restructuring initiative to support independent living for older adults with complex chronic disease (CCD). We collected and analysed data from 83 older adults living in one small city and nine rural small towns where “repositioning” of primary and community care was occurring. Average participant age was 75 years; 56 (67%) were women, 44 (53%) had CCD, and 20 (24%) identified as Indigenous or South Asian. The four themes were: unfamiliarity with repositioning; optimism versus skepticism; improving primary and community care (through better home care, improved transportation, and more doctors); and, playing an active role to effect change. For repositioning to be successful, diverse service users must be fully included; rural-dwelling older adults’ priorities for primary and community care need to be addressed, rather than using a “cookie-...

Little is known about Indigenous communities and dementia and Elders have not been involved as advisors or participants in most research to date. This exploratory research sought to address this gap through a constructivist grounded theory project on the views of First Nation Elders on memory loss and memory care in later life, conducted in collaboration with decision-makers from the local Health Authority and Elders from three First Nation communities in British Columbia, Canada. Elders served as advisors to this research and research agreements were negotiated and signed with each community. Data collection occurred through a series of sharing circles and interviews with a total of 21 Elders, four of whom were experiencing memory loss, and two community members. Four

The question 'who is the client'looms large for social workers in health care settings, particularly when service users are cognitively impaired. These two books by well-respected social work academics from the UK (Marshall and Tibbs) and the USA (Cox) attend to the ...

Forty or years ago textbooks on the ethics of medical practice were very different from those that are published nowadays. Their emphasis on the proprieties of professional behaviour gives them a distinctly old-fashioned air and they were remarkable for the ...

This photoessay is based on a grounded theory study of the relationships between older people's experiences of dementia and the intersections of 'race', ethnicity, class, and gender, undertaken from September 2002 to August 2003 in Ontario, Canada. The research ...

Little is known about Indigenous communities and dementia and Elders have not been involved as advisors or participants in most research to date. This exploratory research sought to address this gap through a constructivist grounded theory project on the views of First Nation Elders on memory loss and memory care in later life, conducted in collaboration with decision-makers from the local Health Authority and Elders from three First Nation communities in British Columbia, Canada. Elders served as advisors to this research and research agreements were negotiated and signed with each community. Data collection occurred through a series of sharing circles and interviews with a total of 21 Elders, four of whom were experiencing memory loss, and two community members. Four themes arose through the constant comparative data analysis process: Being Secwepemc, growing older, losing memory, and supporting one another. These themes indicate that memory loss and memory care in First Nation communities has changed over the past century, including the causes attributed to memory loss in later life and community responses to those affected. Elders hold differing views about memory loss, including the traditional—‘going through the full circle’ [of life]—and the shémá [white] way—‘your dementia’, with the latter being much more common. This research indicates the importance of protecting and reviving traditional knowledge and ways of life in order to prevent ‘your dementia’ and avoid the adoption of health care practices that may be culturally unsafe for First Nation Elders.

Research on subjective experiences of dementia has paid scant attention to social location, due to fairly homogeneous samples and an inattention to socio-cultural diversity in data analysis. This article addresses this gap by presenting findings from a grounded theory study of the relationships between the experiences of older people with dementia and the intersections of ‘race’, ethnicity, class, and gender. Data generation occurred through a series of interviews, participant observation sessions, and focus groups with eight older people with dementia whose social locations varied from multiply marginalized to multiply privileged plus over 50 members of their social worlds. Their experiences of dementia were found to be varied, ranging from ‘not a big deal’ to ‘a nuisance’ to ‘hellish’, and to be related to their social locations. Negative views of life with dementia were not nearly as universal as past literature suggests and social location was found to mediate experiences of dementia.