Mending Canada’s Frayed Social Safety Net – This paper, written by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, documents how the recession, combined with reduced federal and provincial support for social programs, has left many cities increasingly burdened.
Planning By Design: Healthy Community Handbook – This handbook explores how rural and urban planning and design strategies are all factors that can promote increased physical activity, psychological well-being and healthier outcomes for all citizens. Access the handbook here.
Focusing on Resilience - The remarkable capacity of individuals and communities to bounce back from adversity and even thrive in a world of turmoil and change is the subject of an upbeat and inspiring report by Arizona Health Futures. A concise, reader-friendly and compelling overview, these “briefing notes” will be of interest to anyone working in community-based settings today. It counters the risk-based approach – what’s missing, what’s negative, what’s in deficit - with a systems approach to resilience, “the ability to create a positive world for ourselves, often in the face of stressful life experiences, and the ability to resist being overtaken by negative experiences when they seem to be overwhelming." Download the full report, Resilience – Health in a New Key here.
Closing the Gap in a Generation - Social justice is a matter of life and death. It affects the way people live, their consequent chance of illness, and their risk of premature death. "Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health" is the final report from the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. Learn more here. [Source: Globe & Mail, WHO]
Reducing Work-Life Conflict - More and more workers are finding it difficult to balance the roles of employee, parent, spouse, and eldercare giver. Trying to balance paid work, family responsibilities, and personal needs takes a toll on employers, families, and workers. And it shows up as higher absenteeism, reduced employee commitment, declining job satisfaction, lower workplace morale, and reduced satisfaction with family life. So how do Canadian employees and employers cope with competing work and family demands? Reducing Work-Life Conflict: What Works? What Doesn't published in 2008 by Health examines what employers, employees and their families can do to reduce work-life conflict. Download the full report here. [Source: CPRN]
Neighbourhood Income & Children's BMI - This Canadian study investigates the effects of neighbourhood income on children's Body Mass Index (BMI) from childhood to early adolescence using longitudinal data. The study found that living in the 'most poor' neighbourhood was associated with increasing BMI percentile over time compared to a 'middle' income neighbourhood. Download the full study here. [Source: BioMed Central]
Indicators of Well-being in Canada - This HRSDC website presents comprehensive, up-to-date information on the well-being of Canadians and Canadian society, and how that may be changing over time. Indicators include: work, learning, financial security, family life, social participation and more! Learn more here. [Source: CSRL Newsletter]
Babies & Bosses: Reconciling Work & Family Life - The Babies and Bosses reviews of work and family reconciliation analyzed policies and family outcomes in a number of OECD countries, including Canada. This report, the last in the series, synthesises these findings and extends the scope to include other OECD countries. Based on OECD-wide indicators, it examines tax/benefit policies, parental leave systems, child and out-of-school-hours care support, and workplace practices that help determine parental labour market outcomes and family formation across the OECD. Learn more here. [Source: CSRL-newsletter]
Time Poverty or Time Welfare in Austrian Families - This policy brief illustrates the main findings of two European centres' studies on whether today's parents have enough time for their children and/or provide sufficient support (for their children's achievements in school) focusing on the time spent by parents with their children of compulsory school age and the links between family factors and school achievements. Learn more here. [Source: CSRL-newsletter]
Why Poor Kids May Make Sicker Adults - Cornell University researchers have identified several key mechanisms in 13-year-olds that may help explain how low socio-economic status takes its toll on health. In the first longitudinal study on the physiological effects of poverty in young children, the Cornell researchers report that the longer 13-year-olds have lived in poverty, the less efficient their bodies become in handling environmental demands. "We think that these mechanisms may be related to the fact that children who grow up in poverty have a steeper life trajectory of premature health problems than other children, regardless of their socio-economic status in adulthood." Learn more here. [Source: HandsNet WebClipper]
Vital Signs 2007 - The first national Vital Signs report highlights two disparate realities in our country. On one hand, it reveals the positive progress we have made: post-secondary education and family income are up; unemployment rates and property crime are down. But, another story lies just below the surface: Canada has barely moved the needle on poverty over the past 20 years. Download the report here. [Source: Community Foundations of Canada]
Measuring what counts to society - Around the world, writes Roy Romanow, a consensus is growing about the need for a more holistic way to measure societal progress – one that accounts for more than just economic indicators such as the Gross Domestic Product and takes into account the full range of social, environmental and economic concerns of citizens. Read more here. [Source: CSRL-News]
After-School Worries - Millions of working fathers and mothers are less productive at work due to concerns about what their children are doing in the after-school hours, according to a new study released by Catalyst. Read the full report here. [Source: HandsNet WebClipper]
Family Friendly Workplace Practices in Canada - The increase in two earner households has changed the structure of the labour market, presenting employees, government and firms with new challenges. These changes have spurred an increasing interest in new workplace practices and policies that may respond to the requirements of the New Economy. To what extent are these benefits being used by families? Download the report here. [Source: CSRL-newsletter]
Low Income Means Higher Risk for Heart Disease - Low-income adults are more likely to have very high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a risk factor for heart disease, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Southern California. The study, published in the current issue of Brain, Behavior and Immunity, finds that, among adults with income levels at or below the poverty line, 15.7 percent had very high levels of CRP compared to only 9.1 percent of those in families above the poverty line. Read more here. [Source: HandsNet WebClipper]
Getting Punched: The Job & Family Clock - Get the facts on the dramatic labor market changes that result in more and more workers facing dual and dueling responsibilities - those at work and those at home. Businesses that recognize this tension address it through responsive scheduling and paid time off; and, these businesses benefit from cost savings when they do. Getting Punched suggests 10 ways that government should get more involved in promoting responsive workplaces for workers of all wages. It's about time. Download the full paper here. [Source: Csrl-news]
Data on Children in Vulnerable Families - This paper from the Urban Institute presents trends over time in the number of children in particularly vulnerable families, including families facing such risks as domestic violence, child maltreatment, substance abuse, depression, and childhood disabilities. These families are of particular importance to policymakers given the considerable risk to children's safety and development, the challenges to parents' ability to support a family as well as raise children when they are facing these major stressors, and the potential requirement for strong public or community roles to meet children's needs when parents cannot. Learn more here. [Source: HandsNet WebClipper]
Growing Up in North America - A report that examines the state of child well-being in North America reveals that gains in human development across the continent have not kept pace with the last decade’s dramatic advances in technology, trade, and investment. In this first-of-its-kind report, the three project partners – the Canadian Council on Social Development, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Red por los Derechos de la Infancia en México – call for attention to child well-being against a backdrop of economic and social change in North America. Learn more here. [Source: CCSD Newsflash]
Work-life Balance: How the Regions Stack Up - How well do Canadian workers balance their roles as employee, spouse, and/or parent? Are there differences between regions in Canada? New indicators on CPRN's website provide some answers. This is the second set of indicators on Work-Life Balance by Region in Canada drawn from the research report "Where to Work in Canada? An Examination of Regional Differences in Work Life Practices" by Linda Duxbury (Carleton University) and Chris Higgins (University of Western Ontario). The updates focus on the themes of Work-Life Conflict and Family Outcomes. Check out this web section here. [Source: OHPE bulletin]
Canada Ranked Low in UN Native Report - Canada's high ranking on the United Nation's human development scale would dramatically drop if the country were judged solely on the economic and social well-being of its First Nations people. Click here to read the article or click here to read the full report. [Source: CBC online]
Vancouver 3rd in World in Quality of Life Survey - Vancouver's natural assets and temperate climate make it one of the best cities in the world in which to live, a new survey says. Read more here. [Source: CBC Online]
Social change threatening urban quality of life - A new report produced by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' (FCM) Quality of Life Reporting System (QOLRS) finds that social changes are placing demands on municipal governments that are beyond their jurisdiction and capacity. Changes studied in the 20 urban communities that took part in the report, entitled Dynamic Societies and Social Change, include: an aging population; a growing immigrant population; a rapidly expanding Aboriginal youth population in prairie cities; a shrinking labour force requiring ever-increasing levels of education; and growing demand for childcare. The report concludes that no single policy or program will fit all local situations, and that finding solutions will require a new intergovernmental partnership with the active participation of municipal governments. To download the report, click here. [Source: Charity Village]
Snapshot of Community Indicators Development - The Association for Community Health Improvement announces the release of a Community Indicators Report that presents a snapshot of community indicators' development, use and impact across a range of topics, by weaving together presentation summaries from the Community Indicators Conference held in March 2004 in Reno, Nevada. The document defines community indicators broadly as systems of measure pertaining to the quality of community life, and focuses on health-related indicators initiatives. It also provides links to the Community Indicators Consortium's new web site and its member organizations. Read the report here. [Source: HandsNet WebClipper]
Neighborhoods Influence Residents Asthma - Researchers from Ohio State University find that along with the usual risk factors for asthma such as smoking and poverty, another factor that may increase the risk of asthma: a neighborhood where people live in fear. Although researchers have known that disadvantaged urban residents are particularly vulnerable to asthma, this new research shows that specific characteristics of urban neighborhoods - over and above individual levels of poverty - can influence asthma levels among residents. Read more here. [Source: HandsNet WebClipper]
Quality of Life in Canadian Communities - The Federation of Canadian Municipalities developed a set of indicators of Quality of Life to measure social and economic progress in urban areas to capture living conditions that weren't always visible in traditional community assessments. Indicators include community affordability, employment, housing, community health, safety, community stress, community participation, human resources and social infrastructure. Study was conducted in 18 municipal regions, including 10 from all over Ontario. Download the report here. [Source: OHPE Bulletin]
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