University of Northern British Columbia. College of Arts, Social, and Health Sciences

Hospice care can improve quality of life for persons nearing end of life. Little is known about hospice care practices in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) in Canada. This thesis included 185,715 residents in LTCFs in Canada in 2015 and followed their death records to 2016 to examine the characteristics of residents who received hospice care and those who did not but may have benefitted from it. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses were used depending on the variable type. Results show the actual use of hospice care in LTCFs is very low in Canada (i.e. less than 3%). Residents who received hospice care had more severe and complex clinical needs than those who did not. Findings suggest several possible barriers to hospice use in the LTCF population including ageism, rurality, and disease diagnoses. Immediate action is needed to provide improved access to, and utilization of, hospice care in LTCFs in Canada.

This thesis examines three Gothic novels: The Romance of the Forest and The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. In these three novels, the female heroines of each struggle against the patriarchal power structures of eighteenth-century society. Immersion in a natural environment strengthens these female Gothic heroines, aiding them to resist the will of male characters and to establish agency. Gothic nature is an ally to women, while Gothic urban settings act as a domain of oppression for both women and nature. The authors Ann Radcliffe and Jane Austen wrote active heroines who in turn influenced female readers. These novels and their heroines were an active influence on feminist thought and ideas in eighteenth century England.

Divisive political discourse today reflects a need to address issues of oppression in North American society. Accordingly, teachers can help students confront these problems. Linking critical pedagogy and transformative learning theory, this interdisciplinary research examines whether reading and discussing March Book Two, a historical nonfiction graphic narrative written by civil rights activist John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, led students in a British Columbian Adult Basic Education English class to transform their perspectives on social-justice related issues. Qualitative data were collected from student work, classroom observations, and post-semester interviews in an instructor-led action research case study.

Following a protracted attempt at voluntary metropolitan planning in the Calgary region, that was characterized by ongoing rural-urban tensions, in 2017, the Government of Alberta mandated seven urban and three rural municipalities to participate on the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB) to develop a regional growth strategy. The purpose of this research was to inform metropolitan planning that protects farmland within the context of the CMRB mandate. Using the Municipal District of Foothills, a rural municipality with membership on the CMRB, to focus the research, the local legislative framework for farmland protection was evaluated and land use priorities were identified. Farmland was found to be at risk of conversion and fragmentation to support commercial, industrial, and residential development, and urban growth as a result of deficiencies in the legislative framework that allowed conversion. Based on these findings, it was recommended that Calgary metropolitan planning include policies that enable farmland protection.

Counsellor identity development is a unique and challenging journey which involves both academic training and personal formation. Research shows that who the counsellor is, personally and interpersonally, is of greater impact in the therapeutic alliance than theory or technique. The counsellor's ongoing individual work on self, experiences in life, and growth in self-awareness, empathy, and compassion are important tasks as the counsellor moves from a novice counsellor to a master therapist. This thesis is meant to add to the body of research on counsellor identity development following the progression of a counsellor in training through this process. Evocative autoethnography was utilized to provide a deeply personal perspective of the process and change that occurred. It was found that spirituality, creativity, and play, as well as the integration of emotional, mental, and somatic parts of self were essential elements of this transformational journey of becoming.