In her presentation, she focused on Alzheimer and its related stresses suffered by caregivers, the majority of them being women, and the challenges caregiving represents for government services where the population is growing and aging. The purpose of her research was to create an interface between individuals and systems. Her work uses critical theory and a feminist qualitative standpoint. The caregivers' mental and emotional health is affected by the following factors, which intensify as the needs of the Alzheimer patient increase: stress related to an overwhelming sense of obligation towards the patient/partner; a sense of loss of the person (memory loss, loss of reasoning of the partner); a sense of fear (fear of family disintegration, of financial difficulties, of abuse); an immense responsibility faced by the caregiver; and a difficult or impossible communication. However, the caregivers expressed a sense of satisfaction derived from their commitment and from the received appreciation whenever the patient was able to convey it.
Kathleen Cruttenden noted the importance to caregivers of continuing education on the disease and on the issues they face. She also stressed the importance of what she called "the fraternal groups" of caregivers which she helped create. Those groups proved to be vital for the purpose of information sharing, mutual support and empowerment, social interaction, particularly in more rural areas where care givers are isolated.
On February 5th, Karen Messing, a known researcher on women's occupational health, from l'Université du Québec à Montréal, spoke on behalf of CINBIOSE, the Centre for the Study of the Biological Interaction between Health and the Environment, on "Light Work: A Heavy Burden for Women Workers". The workshop, presented by the Labour Studies Programme, was co-sponsored by MRCPOWH and by the Programme for Research on Occupational Safety and Health. Karen Messing reported on a Participatory/ Action Research project which looked at light and heavy work in a hospital cleaning service. She noted that work-induced problems are often invisible to the women themselves, so are health problems, thus the title of the book, Invisible Issues in Women's Occupational Health, which she co-edited with Barbara Neis & Lucie Dumas (Gynergy, 1995).
Her team's research consisted in organizing focus groups with employees and observation of work activity to identify determinants of occupational health, and to propose strategies to change some of those determinants. It involved the joint participation of the employer & the union's occupational safety committee.
The cleaners listed problems that affected them such as: a perceived lack for respect for their work, the invisibility of their work, feeling rushed, poor equipment and not being consulted when equipment needed to be changed, crowded workspace, traffic in the hallways or the hospital and exposure to chemicals and to infections with no information provided. Workers also complained that what was cleaned did not stay so for very long. The observation and data collection included the timing of tasks, a table of postures (angle; duration; flexion/extension, etc), and a sample of what is being moved in six minutes.
After reading the report, the participants met and suggested improvements such as better communication strategies aimed at leaving proof of completed work, in order to make the invisible work visible (eg. lights on; curtains moved). Those suggestions were successfully implemented. Also, perception of what is light and what is heavy work proved to be misleading, and both concepts may become fused as a consequence. This will prevent repetitiveness of work and gender stereotyping (eg. light work = women's work), as well as allow for more flexibility. Karen Messing remarked that stress and lack of respect were of bigger concern to the workers than ergonomics.
The study was based on a 1993 Statistics Canada Survey (a first in the world) on "Violence Against Women", in which 12,000 women over 18 were surveyed. The costs of three forms of violence against women were estimated: sexual assault/rape, woman abuse in intimate relationships and incest/child sexual assault.
The cost estimation includes the cost of perpetration (eg. loss of income if incarceration occurs) and the cost incurred by a third party such as the cost of visits or court expenses. Only partial estimates of costs of violence can be provided, as complete data are lacking. Costs occur in four policy areas:
| Social Services/Education: | $2,368,924,397 |
| Criminal Justice: | $ 871,908,583 |
| Labour/Employment | $ 576,764,400 |
| Health/Medical | $ 408,357,042 |
| For a total selected estimate of costs of | $4,225,954,322 |
Lorraine Greaves (Project Manager) and Olena Hankivsky (Research Associate) discussed the benefits and problems that arise when undertaking this kind of research. Benefits derive from looking at the economic impact of a social issue, an approach to which governments and policy makers are always sensitive, especially during hard economic times. Bringing to light the hidden cost also helps convey the severity of the problem; it helps us understand the connection between the safety of women and it's economic aspect; and it helps us to evaluate programmes and policies. Such a study is likely to have an important ripple effect on other potential areas of research. However, it remains very difficult to measure the psychological cost of violence against women, and the cost of the loss of a life.
Health Promotion is the process of Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion |
Workshop #16
On April 23th, Chris Sinding, MSW, and a recipient of a MRCPOWH grant, shared her research experience in a workshop entitled: "Counting on Desire: Supporting Lesbians with Breast Cancer". Chris initiated and coordinated the WEB, a support group for a lesbian with breast cancer and she came accompanied by Lesley, and her partner, Ruth, as well as other members of the WEB.
The workshop was highly interactive. Lesley told her story: from the shock upon receiving the news that she was the victim of breast cancer until her present- flourishing - state of heath. She attributed a great deal of her recovery to the WEB. It is a story about organizing offers of help that poured in after the news was shared with friends. A coordinator was needed to make help as constructive and as unobtrusive as possible, as more than 30 women were involved, and more joined in as casual helpers. A community emerged; women cleaned, cooked, drove, created a garden in the shape of a web and celebrated friendship and healing. Through a newsletter, the WEB communicated with the "geographically challenged people" i.e.: the circle of friends and relatives from the rest of Canada and from England. It was argued that structuring help was help in itself; it also helped alleviate the overwhelming feeling of indebtedness that Lesley and Ruth felt and it forced them to give up some control and keep their energies to focus on the treatment.
A member of the audience asked: "What was unique and important about this being a lesbian network?" Chris Sinding explained that services (eg. healthcare, homecare) or the work environment tend to be more "husband friendly" than "lesbian partner friendly" and one wants to be spared homophobia during such trying times.
Becoming open and public, this project has also contributed to inform breast cancer organisations and services to understand better the needs of lesbians with breast cancer.
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