Browsing by Author "Foster-Boucher, Caroline"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Collective consciousness: wading into the discomfort of systemic discrimination
    (2022) Foster-Boucher, Caroline; Maykut, Colleen; Bremner, Sydney; Nelson, Jody
    Background: Racism in nursing towards Indigenous peoples has been evident and well documented (Allen, & Smylie, 2015; Browne, 2005; Vukic et al., 2012). Canadian schools of nursing have been called upon to incorporate teaching of colonial history and address systemic discrimination against Indigenous peoples in response to Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) findings (Baker, 2019; Blanchet Garneau et al., 2017, 2021; Truth and Reconciliation Commission [TRC], 2015). Methods: Our faculty of nursing has charged a team with forging a path forward in addressing the TRC Calls to Action. Our collective approach in pursuit of transformative nursing education for reconciliation aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (2015): Quality education. Results: Learning and pivoting to meet the needs of the professional development for faculty and staff is an iterative process. This team has discovered the transformative potential of collective learning in moving towards systemic change (Jakubec & Bourque Bearskin, 2020; TRC, 2015) to inform curricular decisions. Conclusion: As a team seeking ways to decolonize pedagogies and practice, we are collectively engaged in the learning necessary to confront and unsettle our own thinking. In doing this difficult yet vital work together, we hold one another accountable and support each other; we are developing a collective, anti-oppressive consciousness as we solidify our commitment to this ongoing work. By wading into collective discomfort as a group of learners and educators, we can foster true disruptive change (Blanchet Garneau et al., 2021; Kenney, 2008).
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    Contributions and challenges of cross-national comparative research in migration, ethnicity and health: Insights from a preliminary study of maternal health in Germany, Canada and the UK
    (2011) Salway, Sarah; Higginbottom, Gina; Reime, Birgit; Bharj, Kuldip K.; Chowbey, Punita; Foster-Boucher, Caroline; Friedrich, Jule; Gerrish, Kate; Mumtaz, Zubia; O’Brien, Beverley
    Background: Public health researchers are increasingly encouraged to establish international collaborations and to undertake cross-national comparative studies. To-date relatively few such studies have addressed migration, ethnicity and health, but their number is growing. While it is clear that divergent approaches to such comparative research are emerging, public health researchers have not so far given considered attention to the opportunities and challenges presented by such work. This paper contributes to this debate by drawing on the experience of a recent study focused on maternal health in Canada, Germany and the UK. Discussion: The paper highlights various ways in which cross-national comparative research can potentially enhance the rigour and utility of research into migration, ethnicity and health, including by: forcing researchers to engage in both ideological and methodological critical reflexivity; raising awareness of the socially and historically embedded nature of concepts, methods and generated ‘knowledge’; increasing appreciation of the need to situate analyses of health within the wider socio-political setting; helping researchers (and research users) to see familiar issues from new perspectives and find innovative solutions; encouraging researchers to move beyond fixed ‘groups’ and ‘categories’ to look at processes of identification, inclusion and exclusion; promoting a multi-level analysis of local, national and global influences on migrant/minority health; and enabling conceptual and methodological development through the exchange of ideas and experience between diverse research teams. At the same time, the paper alerts researchers to potential downsides, including: significant challenges to developing conceptual frameworks that are meaningful across contexts; a tendency to reify concepts and essentialise migrant/minority ‘groups’ in an effort to harmonize across countries; a danger that analyses are superficial, being restricted to independent country descriptions rather than generating integrated insights; difficulties of balancing the need for meaningful findings at country level and more holistic products; and increased logistical complexity and costs. Summary: In view of these pros and cons, the paper encourages researchers to reflect more on the rationale for, feasibility and likely contribution of proposed cross-national comparative research that engages with migration, ethnicity and health and suggests some principles that could support such reflection.
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    Learning to bounce back: a scoping review about resiliency education
    (2019) Low, Rebecca; King, Sharla; Foster-Boucher, Caroline
    Background: Health care professionals face high levels of stress from working in a demanding environment. Resiliency training has emerged as an approach to overcome occupational stress. The purpose of this study was to understand what is known about educational strategies for teaching resilience. Method: The five-stage approach from Arksey and O'Malley was used as the methodological framework. Resources were evaluated thematically to identify key strategies and interventions. Results: Included resources (Included resources (N= 25) were organized into six themes: (a) Reflective Practice; (b) Storytelling; (c) Peer Support and Mentoring; (d) Professional Support and Mentoring; (e) Mindfulness and Meditation Practice; and (f) Enhancing Self-Knowledge and Personal Competencies. Conclusion: This scoping review has confirmed that there are relevant education strategies to assist students in developing resilience. Recommendations for integrating resilience education at the undergraduate level are included. Preparing nursing students to persevere through adversities is essential for maintaining physical, mental, and emotional health throughout their career. This scoping review has confirmed that there are relevant education strategies to assist students in developing resilience. Recommendations for integrating resilience education at the undergraduate level are included. Preparing nursing students to persevere through adversities is essential for maintaining physical, mental, and emotional health throughout their career.
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    Migration and maternity: Insights of context, health policy, and research evidence on experiences and outcomes from a three country preliminary study across Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom
    (2013) Higginbottom, Gina; Reime, Birgit; Kuldip, Bharj; Chowbey, Punita; Ertan, Kubilay; Foster-Boucher, Caroline; Friedrich, Jule; Gerrish, Kate; Kentenich, Heribert; Mumtaz, Zubia; O'Brien, Beverley; Salway, Sarah
    A group from Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom undertook country-specific scoping reviews and stakeholder consultations before joining to holistically compare migration and maternity in all three countries. We examined four interlinking dimensions to understand how international migrant/minority maternal health might be improved upon using transnational research: (a) wider sociopolitical context, (b) health policy arena, (c) constellation, outcomes, and experiences of maternity services, and (d) existing research contexts. There was clear evidence that the constellation and delivery of services may undermine good experiences and outcomes. Interventions to improve access and quality of care remain small scale, short term, and lacking in rigorous evaluation.
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    One child, one appointment: how institutional discourses organize the work of parents and nurses in the provision of childhood vaccination for First Nations children
    (2022) Foster-Boucher, Caroline; MacDonald, Shannon; Graham, Bonny; Paragg, Jillian; Waters, Nicola; Shea-Budgel, Melissa; McNeil, Deborah; Kunyk, Diane; Bedingfield, Nancy; Dubé, Eve; Kenzie, Lisa; Svenson, Lawrence W.; Littlechild, Randy; Nelson, Gregg
    To effectively support childhood vaccine programs for First Nations Peoples, Canada’s largest population of Indigenous Peoples, it is essential to understand the context, processes, and structures organizing vaccine access and uptake. Rather than assuming that solutions lie in compliance with current regulations, our aim was to identify opportunities for innovation by exploring the work that nurses and parents must do to have children vaccinated. In partnership with a large First Nations community, we used an institutional ethnography approach that included observing vaccination clinic appointments, interview-ing individuals involved in childhood vaccinations, and reviewing documented vaccination processes and regulations (texts). We found that the ‘work’ nurses engage in to deliver childhood vaccines is highly regulated by standardized texts that prioritize discourses of safety and efficiency. Within the setting of nursing practice in a First Nations community, these regulations do not always support the best interests of families. Nurses and parents are caught between the desire to vaccinate multiple children and the requirement to follow institutionally authorized processes. The success of the vaccination program, when measured solely by the number of children who follow the vaccine schedule, does not take into consideration the challenges nurses encounter in the clinic or the work parents do to get their children vaccinated. Exploring new ways of approaching the processes could lead to increased vaccination uptake and satisfaction for parents and nurses.
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    Restoring the blessings of the Morning Star: childbirth and maternal-infant health for First Nations near Edmonton, Alberta
    (2015) Wiebe, Adrienne Dawn; Barton, Sylvia; Auger, Laura; Pijl-Zieber, Em; Foster-Boucher, Caroline
    It is not only remote Aboriginal communities in Canada that have poorer maternal-infant health status than Canadian averages; residents of First Nation communities located close to large urban centres also experience this health status gap. Alexander, Alexis, Enoch, and Paul First Nations are located within an hour of healthcare services in greater Edmonton. The narratives of 75 predominantly Cree and Stoney women from these communities were gathered through seven talking circles and five semi-structured interviews. The participants described their experiences of loss and separation as pregnancy care and childbirth moved out of the community and into the hospital over the last two generations. This shift was not only a geographic relocation; it also disconnected the childbirth experience from elders, family and community, traditional teachings, and spiritual meaning. Conversely, the participants’ hospital experiences were characterized by a limited sense of cultural safety. Participants highlighted the urgent need to reintegrate culturally based community support and health perspectives into the childbirth experience. The implementation of such a culturally integrated healthcare model in all Aboriginal communities—remote, rural, suburban, and urban—may be the key finally to closing the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal maternal and infant health status in Canada.
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    The importance of being uncomfortable and unfinished
    (2022) Foster-Boucher, Caroline; Nelson, Jody; Bremner, Sydney; Maykut, Colleen
    Our initial intention was to outline the structure of an entity, the Bear Healing Lodge, within the Faculty of Nursing at MacEwan. This structure was created out of the Truth and Reconciliation’s Calls to Action. However, as we engaged in critical discussions we realized that who we were becoming as persons, as we unpacked out privilege and power, was invaluable and informative to prepare us for authentic allyship and partnership. We realized that outcomes and endings were not the end goals, but being uncomfortable and unfinished were necessary for the creation of an ethical space for members to engage in decolonization of self. Authentic allyship and partnership must fundamentally be relational, create a brave space for vulnerability, and stimulate a shift in paradigms for multiple perspectives. We have humbly offered learning intentions, as solution-oriented perspectives, for others to learn which may lead to positive change.
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    What nurses should know when working in Aboriginal communities
    (2006) Foster-Boucher, Caroline
    Nurses working in Aboriginal communities need to understand the history, socio-political climate and culture within the specific community. In addition to placing a high priority on this learning, nurses should also understand the concept of respect in Aboriginal terms and apply respect in all their dealings in the community Self-awareness of their own beliefs and assumptions is critical if nurses are to have an effective relationship with the community. The author, an Aboriginal person who grew up in a non-aboriginal home, illustrates these concepts with anecdotes from her own experiences when she returned to her Dene community.