Browsing by Author "Hardcastle, Lorian"
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- ItemOpen AccessHow Legal Problems Affect Health and the Role of Medical Legal Partnership in Canada(2021-09) van Olm, Alexander; Ducey, Ariel; McCoy, Ted; Hardcastle, Lorian; Banerjee, PallaviAt the moment, there is little research involving the connection between legal issues and an individual’s overall health. It makes sense that non-individual factors go into determining one’s health, such as physical environment, housing, and education. These factors are typically referred to as the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) (Mikkonen and Raphael 2012). However, at times, individuals experience issues that are legal in nature, which can in many ways affect one’s health. It is this recognition that has sparked the creation of medical-legal partnerships throughout the United States, and more recently in Canada. The health benefits of medical-legal partnerships are well documented in the United States and have created a network of medical-legal organizations, in addition to new practices in both legal and medical education (Theiss 2017; Tobin-Tyler 2011). This research explores the establishment of one of Canada’s first Medical-Legal Partnerships (MLP) between The University of Calgary’s Student Legal Assistance (SLA) and Calgary’s downtown community health center (CUPS). This research explores how legal supports included alongside healthcare service provision can work to address structural inequalities that exist in our social environment and are created or exacerbated by one’s “legal wellbeing". Interviews with healthcare and social service providers working alongside the CUPS and SLA MLP provides novel insight into the various ways legal issues can disrupt access to healthcare, interrupt health-seeking behaviours, or create unique health crises all on their own. The idea behind this is to prove that legal wellbeing is a distinct social determinant of health. The following research aims to establish a foundation for the further development of Medical-Legal Partnership throughout Canada and challenges readers to ask, what does access to justice really look like?
- ItemOpen AccessMedia representations of COVID-19 public health policies: assessing the portrayal of essential health services in Canadian print media(2021-02-03) Ogbogu, Ubaka; Hardcastle, LorianAbstract Aims The study assessed how the Canadian print media represented essential healthcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the controversial decision to include liquor and cannabis stores in essential services lists. Methods Mixed-method content analysis of 67 articles published in major Canadian English language newspapers between March 23 and April 1, 2020. Articles were analyzed and coded by two raters. Ratings were analyzed in SPSS. Results Few articles in the sample discussed essential healthcare services and the inclusion of liquor and cannabis stores in essential services lists. Majority of the articles that discussed both topics framed the discussion positively and consistently with current knowledge and evidence. Conclusion Canadian print media representations of essential healthcare services and associated public debate are largely descriptive and, therefore, fail to engage critically with or advance public understanding of an important health policy issue.
- ItemOpen AccessNatural Resource Funds and the Promotion of Environmental Protection through Socially Responsible Investment: An Evaluation of the Alberta, Norwegian and Nigerian Sovereign Funds(2022-09-06) Tawoju, Akindele; Oshionebo, Evaristus; Ingelson, Allan; Stewart, Fenner; Hardcastle, LorianEnvironmental protection remains a burning global concern and different approaches have been developed to achieve it. Consistent with the dynamics of these approaches, the world has discerned the enormous potential of the financial sector in contributing to subsisting efforts towards the realization of environmental protection. Due to their huge capital strength, risk appetite and investment horizon, sovereign wealth funds are regarded as major financial actors. This research reveals that the major mechanism deployed by financial players, including sovereign wealth funds, in contributing to environmental protection is the making of socially responsible investments. With expatiation on the concept and principles of socially responsible investment in a manner that promotes environmental protection, this research focuses primarily on investigating the investment practices of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority in comparison with those of the Norwegian Norges Bank Investment Management (which manages the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global) and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (which manages the Alberta Heritage Fund). By employing comparative, qualitative and doctrinal research methodologies, this research evaluates the legal, regulatory and governance frameworks of these three funds with particular attention on the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority. This research finds that while the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority lacks greatly in the implementation of its statutorily recognized obligation to make investments that contemplates environmental protection, the enabling statutory scheme of the Alberta Heritage Fund needs to be revisited to give legal force and credence to its policy implementation of socially responsible investment. The research further recommends that the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority create and implement policies that accommodate socially responsible investment in a fashion similar to the investment strategies adopted by the Norwegian Norges Bank Investment Management and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation.
- ItemOpen AccessPrecision health equity for racialized communities(2023-12-12) Valiani, Arafaat A.; Anderson, David; Gonzales, Angela; Gray, Mandi; Hardcastle, Lorian; Turin, Tanvir C.Abstract In the last three decades, a cohort of genomicists have intentionally sought to include more racially diverse people in their research in human genomics and precision medicine. How such efforts to be inclusive in human genomic research and precision medicine are modeled and enacted, specifically if the terms of inclusion are equitable for these communities remains to be explored. In this commentary, we review the historical context in which issues of racial inclusion arose with early genome and genetics projects. We then discuss attempts to include racialized peoples in more recent human genomics research. In conclusion, we raise critical issues to consider in the future of equitable human genomics and precision medicine research involving racialized communities, particularly as it concerns working towards what we call Precision Health Equity (PHE). Specifically, we examine issues of genetic data governance and the terms of participation in inclusive human genomics and precision health research. We do so by drawing on insights and protocols developed by researchers investigating Indigenous Data Sovereignty and propose exploring their application and adaptation to precision health research involving racialized communities.