<http://purl.org/dc/terms/description>
"Current social services provided in Canada for low-income women are primarily 'crisis management' in\r\nnature as they almost exclusively provide safe housing, adequate nutrition or employment training, and\r\nmany are under severe financial pressure due to a shifting public policy. As a result, services offered for\r\nsingle mothers living below the poverty line rarely deal with health promotion in terms of physical\r\nactivity, even though it has been demonstrated that socioeconomic status is a key determinant of health\r\n(Frankish, Milligan &amp; Reid, 1996). Although there are many positive mental and physical health benefits\r\nassociated with regular physical activity (King 1991), its organizational context remains problematic for\r\nthose who live in poverty and are unable or unwilling to conform to dominant expectations inherent with\r\nthe consumption of modern forms of physical activity. A moral reasoning tone pervades prescriptions for\r\nmaintaining and improving health, and those unable to achieve and maintain good health are considered\r\nindividually responsible, thus obscuring organizational and structural factors that limit involvement.\r\nThe purpose of this case study of the YWCA was to examine the provision and consumption of health\r\nand wellness services for low-income single mothers. Research questions were posed in four areas: i) what\r\nmeanings do low-income single mothers and YWCA service providers associate with the provision of\r\nhealth and wellness services; ii) how are health and wellness services located within the political, social\r\nand economic context of the YWCA; iii) are there points of disjuncture between the provision and\r\nconsumption of health and wellness services for low-income single mothers; and iv) if points of\r\ndisjuncture are uncovered, what are the possibilities for emancipatory change in service provision?\r\nSeveral bodies of literature were reviewed to inform the study: social construction of poverty,\r\nideologies of health and physical activity, feminist organization theory, and feminist action research\r\n(FAR). FAR is a research process that merges participatory action research with critical feminist theory.\r\nKey principles of feminist action research include: 1) gender as a central piece to emerging explanatory\r\nframeworks (Maguire, 1987); 2) collaboration and negotiation at all stages of the research process between\r\nthe researcher, the service providers and the research participants (Green et al., 1995); 3) empowerment\r\nthrough giving control of the research process and decision making to the research participant, while\r\ndeconstructing the power structures associated with social class (Fals-Borda, 1991; Fawcett, 1991); and 4)\r\nsocial/organizational action and emancipatory change enabled through the democratic production of\r\nknowledge (Green et al., 1995).\r\nThe research methodology involved an examination of:\r\n1) The meanings and experiences of eleven low-income single mothers participating in the FOCUS\r\nPre-employment Training Program which has a wellness component. The data collection strategies\r\nincluded focus groups; a validation meeting the original participants; observations during group meetings\r\nand program sessions; and informal discussions.\r\n2) The meanings and experiences of five service providers who were either facilitators of FOCUS or\r\noccupied managment positions in the YWCA. The data collection strategies included one-on-one semi-focused\r\ninterviews; observations of program meetings, group and informal discussions; and a final meeting\r\nto discuss potential change.\r\n3) Relevant documents, including brochures, pamphlets, reports and promotional flyers to obtain\r\nbackground and contextual information about the YWCA.\r\nThe data was analyzed using inductive analysis and the qualitative software program, Q.S.R. NUD.IST.\r\nThe overall finding was that neither the service providers nor the single mothers viewed wellness as a\r\npriority. At the organizational level, the explanation for this finding was that physical activity\r\nopportunities were not valued by the funders, whereas employment training was their primary concern. The\r\nYWCA's upscale health and wellness services, which offered another opportunity for single mothers to\r\nparticipate, catered on a fee-for-service basis to middle and upper income women and men and pursued a\r\nmarket-driven ideology towards service provision, thus making low-income single mothers' involvement\r\nless likely. The social, economic and political context in which FOCUS was situated had a profound\r\ninfluence on the nature of service delivery, and funding constraints were a source of stress for the service\r\nproviders and infringed on the nature and scope of the services offered for the single mothers.\r\nThemes related to points of disjuncture included the service providers' attitudes towards the provision of\r\nhealth and wellness services. Some providers believed that within the confines of the organizational\r\nstructure and the FOCUS program guidelines, the physical activity opportunities offered to the women\r\nwere sufficient. Conversely, other providers believed that the organization could take a more active and\r\ncritical role in determining routes for change and establishing stronger connections between health and\r\nwellness activities and the other components of the FOCUS program. All of the service providers alluded\r\nto the importance of the women's input and the \"organic growth\" of the program, however the program's\r\nstrict curriculum and scarce evaluations resulted in a non-collaborative approach to service delivery.\r\nFrom the single mothers' persepctives, stereotypes of the lazy and unmotivated \"welfare single mother\"\r\ninhited their involvement in community life, including organized forms of physical activity (Fraser &amp;\r\nGordon, 1994; Lord, 1994; Belle, 1990). The women reported experiences with discrimination, a cycle of\r\npoverty, complications with social assistance, social stigmas, and childcare responsibilities as their major\r\nconstraints. Three main reasons for the women's lack of participation were their low sense of entitlement\r\ntowards physical activity, their ambivalence towards their bodies, and little access to wellness facilities.\r\nHowever, involvement in health and wellness activities was a low-priority for the FOCUS participants,\r\nthough some of the single mothers mentioned the desirability of incorporating more regular activity\r\nsessions into the FOCUS curriculum.\r\nOther tensions arose between the realities and ideals of feminist organizing. Distinctions based on\r\nclass, ethnicity and age separated the upper managerial service providers, the on-site facilitators, and the\r\nwomen accessing the program, perpetuating an elitist, non-collaborative and hierarchical organizationial\r\nstructure.\r\nBased on the single mothers and the service providers' suggestions, four major recommendations for\r\nchange were provided. First, the participants should be central to and fully collaborative in the\r\norganizational processes of the YWCA. Second, if the women involved in the program value physical\r\nactivity, they should determine ways in which it can become a part of their daily reality. Third, for those\r\ninvolved with the planning and implementation of the FOCUS program, the role of the funders vis a vis\r\nthe needs of the participants should be determined, and a consistent and 'women-centered' approach to\r\nservice delivery established. Finally, the YWCA's approach to wellness service delivery should be\r\nevaluated and re-conceptualized so that it fulfills and is congruent with the YWCA mission statement.\r\nWhat remained unexplored by the service providers was the potential for the women to redefine hegemonic\r\nnotions of physical activity (Birrell &amp; Richter, 1987) and to be involved in a meaningful and self-expressive\r\nform of activity (Hargreaves, 1990).\r\nBy listening to the various perspectives and situating experiences within the organizational, political,\r\neconomic and social contexts, this study provided the beginnings of a critial understanding of the tensions\r\ninvolved in women organizing for women to promote physical activity."@en
<https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0077165>