Browsing by Author "Rock, Melanie"

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    Characteristics of urban parks associated with park use and physical activity: a review of qualitative research
    (Elsevier, 2010-07) McCormack, Gavin R; Rock, Melanie; Toohey, Ann M; Hignell, Danica
    Given that recent literature reviews on physical activity in urban parks deliberately excluded qualitative findings, we reviewed qualitative research on this topic informed by a published classification scheme based on quantitative research. Twenty-one studies met our inclusion criteria. These studies relied mainly on semi-structured interviews with individuals or in focus groups; only five studies involved in situ observation. Our synthesis aligns with previous quantitative research showing that attributes including safety, aesthetics, amenities, maintenance, and proximity are important for encouraging park use. Furthermore, our synthesis of qualitative research suggests that perceptions of the social environment entwine inextricably with perceptions of the physical environment. If so, physical attributes of parks as well as perceptions of these attributes (formed in relation to broader social contexts) may influence physical activity patterns. Both qualitative and quantitative methods provide useful information for interpreting such patterns, and in particular, when designing and assessing interventions intended to improve the amount and intensity of physical activity.
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    Does dog-ownership influence seasonal patterns of neighbourhood-based walking among adults? A longitudinal study
    (BioMed Central, 2011-03-04) Lail, Parabhdeep; McCormack, Gavin R.; Rock, Melanie
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    Enhancing Access to Quality Rental Housing for People with Pets as Healthy Public Policy
    (2019-01-25) Graham, Taryn M.; Rock, Melanie; Adams, Cindy L.; Milaney, Katrina J.
    When pets are considered in housing studies, attention tends to be paid towards vulnerable pet owners, namely in the context of homelessness, domestic violence situations, or disaster circumstances. Targeted interventions are important since vulnerable pet owners may risk their lives if they anticipate being separated from their pets or being turned away from shelters because of them. Intervention strategies that target the whole population are also needed, however, since pets are regularly restricted, if not banned outright, from the private rental sector and in social housing. Moreover, a “no pets” policy may force homeowners, specifically condominium or strata owners, to give up their pets. This thesis is comprised of three papers linking housing, health, and pet ownership in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As a relatively new area of study, issues surrounding housing accessibility, affordability, location, and quality among pet owners were mainly explored qualitatively. The first paper drew upon online rental listings and focused on housing recovery for tenants with pets in the aftermath of a flood. The second paper moved beyond disaster circumstances and compared perspectives towards pets in rental housing more generally. Finally, the need to address housing issues for pet owners must be considered within the context of social, economic, and demographic pressures. Millennials not only represent a majority of pet owners today, they are also disproportionately tenants and they tend to move frequently. As a result, the third paper considered what life is like for millennials with dogs once they are housed in the rental market, paying close attention to the potential influence of pet ownership on their identities, relationships, and environments. Overall, this thesis begins to answer important questions about how restrictive policies on pets in rental housing impacts human health and development. Without the proper supports in place, people with access to fewer resources may face greater challenges keeping their pets, because they cannot opt for homeownership. Improvements in access to housing for pet owners, and integrated programs and services to support pet ownership in housing and neighbourhood contexts, are essential to addressing animal relinquishment and to reducing inequities in health outcomes among pet owners.
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    Exploring the Role of Communication in Companion Animal Obesity in the Veterinary Practice
    (2017) Phillips, Alexandra; Adams, Cindy; Hecker, Kent; Rock, Melanie
    Veterinarians are tasked with an important communication challenge when treating obese cats and dogs, as obesity among pets remains a prevalent health and welfare concern. Our objectives were to 1) foster further understanding of the owner and veterinary perspectives of the complex factors that influence obesity in dogs and cats; and 2) to contribute to the evidence surrounding the nature of obesity and diet discussions between veterinarians and cat owners. A review of diverse literatures suggested that a complex and multi-faceted set of influences complicate obesity management, and utility of communication between owners and veterinarians. A thematic analysis of an archive of video-recorded veterinarian-client-feline consultations revealed a lack of in-depth nutritional assessment by the veterinarian and communication misalignment between veterinarians and owners. Emergent themes included the use of humour and patient-directed speak to facilitate obesity conversations. Exploration and description of how veterinarians and owners of obese pets are communicating can inform veterinary education programming and continuing education opportunities.
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    Governing cities as more-than-human entities: From the population of databases to the legibility of urban populations
    (2022-01-30) Mouton, Morgan; Rock, Melanie
    The field of urban studies has scrutinised digital technologies and their proliferation, but rather little attention has been paid to databases. Furthermore, contributions to date have focused almost exclusively on how digital technologies interface with human populations in cities. By contrast, we draw attention to databases maintained by city governments that contain identifying information about pet dogs and their legal owners in cities. Methodologically, our study merges database ethnography with multi-species ethnography. Conceptually, we contend that “dog data” contribute to orderly conduct in urban space. This orientation to urban governance illustrates “trans-biopolitics,” in the sense of socially-situated and technologically-mediated power relations that operate through multi-species entanglements. As such, this article extends the literature on (neoliberal) urban policing by providing a fine-grained analysis of how emergent forms of social control become palpable. In general terms, the adoption and use of digital technologies by city governments has increased their capacity to enforce rules and regulations. Overall, we find that the more legible dogs and their legal owners become in databases, the more governable both dogs and people become in urban life.
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    Hunting for Food Citizenship: Food, Politics, and Discourses of the Wild
    (2017) Carruthers Den Hoed, Rebecca; Elliott, Charlene; Schneider, Barbara; Rock, Melanie; Colpitts, George; Knezevic, Irena
    In the words of food hunting advocate Tovar Cerulli (2012a), hunting is taking a seat at the table of food “citizenship”: it is increasingly positioned as a way for people to engage with questions about how food and people ought to be governed. While a burgeoning literature on food citizenship exists, it focuses on agrarian citizenship projects and overlooks wilder food practices, like hunting. Given that several prominent food activists are now advocating the practice, food hunting warrants careful examination as a model of food citizenship. This study uses a Foucauldian view of discourse to explore the food citizenships mobilized in food hunting lifestyle manuals. It finds that models of food citizenship mobilized by these food hunting texts echo elements of agrarian food citizenships, but also diverge from them in startling ways—rendering hunting-based food citizenships nigh unrecognizable as expressions of food citizenship, at least by agrarian standards. Rather than champion reconfigurations of agrarian-industrial food networks to foster close-knit communities and relations of care, food hunting citizenships aim to reconfigure human-nature relations so that humans are compelled—via appeals to biological and genetic destiny—to govern themselves in ways suited to the Anthropocene, the current ‘age of humanity,’ in which humans must contend with (and check) their power to threaten nature, and endure the power of nature to threaten humans (Davoudi, 2014, p. 360). As of and for the Anthropocene, hunting-based food citizenships are rather grim and defeatist: prudent hunters exercise vigilance and self-control in the wild, minimizing human-wrought destruction threatening human and food security; whereas resilient hunters cultivate the readiness and resourcefulness required to endure disruptive changes wrought by wild-nature and the perpetual vulnerability of humans in wild food systems. Hunting-based food citizenships, however, open up space to consider the role of sentient animals—as autonomous, self-governing actors—within models of food citizenship. They also render visible wild species, wild lands, and wild discourses as integral to debates about food policy.
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    Neighbourhoods, dogs and walking: An exploration of factors relevant to healthy aging in place
    (2013-10-10) Toohey, Ann Madeline; Rock, Melanie; McCormack, Gavin
    The aims of this thesis were to: 1) understand factors related to healthy aging of older adults living in urban environments (i.e., aging in place); and 2) contribute to the evidence-informed case for viewing dogs as contributing to neighbourhoods in ways that may influence healthy aging in place. A scoping review of diverse literatures suggested that dogs may increase physical activity for both dog-owners and non-owners, but that dogs will not have a standard effect across all neighbourhoods. An analysis of data for a sample of older adults (50 yrs and older) living in Calgary, Canada, found that the dog-owners who frequently walked dogs (4 times/wk or more) reported more neighbourhood-based recreational walking and high sense of community relative to non-owners. Interventions promoting dog-walking in neighbourhoods, while supporting the specific walking needs of older adults, may help support healthy aging in place.
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    Neighbourhoods, dogs and walking: an exploration of factors relevant to healthy aging in place
    (2012) Toohey, Ann Madeline; Rock, Melanie; McCormack, Gavin Robert
    The aims of this thesis were to: 1) understand factors related to healthy aging of older adults living in urban environments (i.e., aging in place); and 2) contribute to the evidence-informed case for viewing dogs as contributing to neighbourhoods in ways that may influence healthy aging in place. A scoping review of diverse literatures suggested that dogs may increase physical activity for both dog-owners and non-owners, but that dogs will not have a standard effect across all neighbourhoods. An analysis of data for a sample of older adults (250 yrs) living in Calgary, Canada, found that the dog-owners who frequently walked dogs (24 times/wk) reported more neighbourhood-based recreational walking and high sense of community relative to non-owners. Interventions promoting dog-walking in neighbourhoods, while supporting the specific walking needs of older adults, may help support healthy aging in place.
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    Occupational health and safety among officers who enforce animal laws in the Province of Alberta (Canada): An examination of the risks and rewards
    (2019-01-23) Rault, Elfriede Dawn; Rock, Melanie; Adams, Cindy L.; Springett, Jane
    Worldwide, laws exist to protect animals and to stop them from becoming public threats or nuisances. The officers who enforce animal laws precariously straddle justice and health systems. Nonetheless, these officers rarely receive recognition as skilled professionals, neither in the realm of public health nor in justice. Furthermore, their work is poorly understood in society, and within the academy. My research examined how officers who enforce animal laws perceive the risks and rewards associated with their employment, with a focus on occupational health and safety. To help with mitigating risks to this workforce, I worked closely with two professional associations in the Province of Alberta, Canada. Two tragic events, the death of an officer in the line of duty in 2012 and an assault on an officer in 2014, informed my entire study. Designed as an action research project, this qualitative ethnographic case study included in-depth interviews with officers and managers; intensive participant-observation; first-hand observations in courts of law; and an analysis of legal texts and government policies. Over the course of this study, I engaged in robust knowledge translation and mobilization activities alongside officers to advocate for improvements to their working conditions. My findings suggest that the enforcement of animal laws can contribute to public safety and community well-being. Officers spoke about the societal benefits of their work with pride, yet they consistently felt unsafe and devalued. The main findings with respect to officers’ health and safety were resource inadequacies, insufficient information, poor patterns of communication and intelligence sharing, and a culture of normalized disrespect in the law enforcement hierarchy. Significant opportunities exist in Alberta, and beyond, to improve the working conditions for officers who enforce animal laws in particular, as well as municipal bylaws and provincial statues more generally. Operationally, there is a need for greater inter-agency collaboration within and outside the justice system, consistent intelligence-sharing with other law enforcement agencies, a robust operational safety training program, improved communication with dispatch, and consistent access to personal protective equipment and defensive tools. In the academy, greater attention should be given within criminology as well as in public health to animal laws and their enforcement.
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    Uptake, Impact, and Lessons Learned from the Provision of 11 Years of Annual Subsidized Veterinary Services in the Sahtu Settlement Area, Northwest Territories, Canada
    (2018-09-13) Baker, Tessa M.; Kutz, Susan; Rock, Melanie; van der Meer, Frank
    Veterinary services are unavailable in many communities, which contributes to issues with human and animal health and well-being. Providing veterinary services in an evidence-based manner is important, but programs are rarely evaluated. The objectives of this research were to scope the literature to determine how subsidized veterinary services are evaluated in terms of impacts on animal and human health, followed by an evaluation of a decade-long program in the Sahtu Settlement Area of the Northwest Territories to understand the uptake and impact of annual services. Using methods commonly found in literature, a door-to-door survey, a dog census in each community, and a chart review of dog medical records from clinics in 2008-2018, were completed to evaluate community perspectives, the uptake of services, and changes in 7 dog population health and welfare measures over time. The number of owners and dogs attending clinics increased over time, as did the sterilization, vaccination and deworming of dogs, and dog body condition and age. Community differences, however, were evident in program reach, service uptake, dog husbandry practices, and community concerns about dogs. Results from this evaluation will improve future clinics and may guide programs in other underserved areas.