Using Social Media to Engage Toronto Communities for Resiliency and Stress Planning
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Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) 2019 Using Social Media to Engage Toronto Communities for Resiliency and Stress Planning Martha Ta Wilfrid Laurier University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd Part of the Community Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Ta, Martha, "Using Social Media to Engage Toronto Communities for Resiliency and Stress Planning" (2019). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 2216. https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/2216 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Using Social Media to Engage Toronto Communities for Resiliency and Stress Planning by Martha Ta BA Psychology, Ryerson University, 2017 THESIS Submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Master of Arts in Community Psychology Wilfrid Laurier University © Martha Ta 2019 Abstract As Toronto’s low-income areas grow, the city’s neighbourhoods experience a segregation by low- and high-income, contributing to chronic stress as environmental determinants and leading to negative health outcomes and chronic diseases. This study identified Crescent Town as one of the Toronto neighbourhoods with potentially high levels of chronic emotional stress through an analysis of emotions indicated by Tweets, as well as triangulation with administrative data describing relevant neighbourhood indicators. Crescent Town community members (n=23) were engaged using concept mapping to identify existing neighbourhood stressors and assets and empowered to strategize solutions. The ten-cluster solution created with six clusters describing neighbourhood stressors and four clusters describing neighbourhood assets resulted in two potential strategies, a Crescent Town Residents’ Association and a community fair to promote neighbourhood resources and build social networks. This piloted methodology ultimately cultivated an opportunity for neighbourhood members to continue collaboratively planning asset-based solutions for resiliency and stress. ii Acknowledgements I would like to sincerely thank all of those who contributed to my journey in this program. First, I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to my thesis advisor, Dr. Ketan Shankardass, for providing the invaluable guidance, support, and understanding that you did throughout this process. Thank you for helping me grow as a researcher and providing all the learning opportunities that you did. Second, I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Maritt Kirst and Dr. Todd Coleman, and my external examiner, Dr. Kathleen Wilson. Thank you for sharing your insight, constructive feedback, and questions that has helped to me to reflect on and strengthen my thesis overall. Special thanks to Dr. Maritt Kirst for allowing me to take part in your lab and research opportunities. Third, I would like to express my thanks to the Crescent Town community members who I would not have been able to complete my thesis without. Thank you for donating your time and efforts, and sharing all the insight that you did. I would also like to thank my kind family members and friends. Thank you, Dad, Mom, and Sam for everything that you have done for me. To my cohort, thanks for your encouragement and support throughout our journey together. Thank you to my close friends, Cindy, Deidre, Caren and Dai ning for being the most generous and supportive group of friends I have had for years. My thesis would not be possible without you all. Lastly, I would like to thank my partner, Enrique Ramirez for providing the loving support and patience that you did. Thank you for being there through my best and worst moments. iii Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. iii List of Tables and Figures ................................................................................................................. vii Preface ................................................................................................................................................... viii Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................................................. - 1 - 1.1 Background and Rationale ............................................................................................................... - 1 - 1.2 Defining Chronic Stress and Stressors ......................................................................................... - 3 - 1.3 Understanding Stress Within Context ......................................................................................... - 6 - 1.4 Using a Systems View of Environmental Determinants to Understand Place-Based Stress and Chronic Disease ................................................................................................................... - 10 - 1.5 Defining Resilience ........................................................................................................................... - 14 - 1.6 Empowerment Definition and Model ........................................................................................ - 17 - 1.7 Evidence-Based Studies for Improving Stress and Resilience ........................................ - 18 - 1.8 Collective Framework of Stress, Empowerment, and Resilience ................................... - 22 - 1.9 Understanding the Potential of Big Data ................................................................................. - 23 - 1.10 Big Data and Emotion Mapping ................................................................................................ - 26 - 1.11 How Different Communities Use Social Media ................................................................... - 30 - 1.12 Community Advisory Board (CAB) ......................................................................................... - 32 - 1.13 Concept Mapping ............................................................................................................................ - 34 - 1.14 Research Questions ....................................................................................................................... - 37 - iv 1.15 Research Objectives ...................................................................................................................... - 38 - Chapter Two: Methods ................................................................................................................. - 39 - 2.1 Research Paradigm – Pragmatism and Social Constructivism ........................................ - 39 - 2.2 Research Context .............................................................................................................................. - 42 - 2.3 Research Design of Phase 1........................................................................................................... - 44 - 2.4 Background of Crescent Town Neighbourhood .................................................................... - 47 - 2.5 Research Design of Phase 2........................................................................................................... - 53 - 2.6 Participants ......................................................................................................................................... - 54 - 2.7 Data Collection ................................................................................................................................... - 56 - 2.8 Procedures ........................................................................................................................................... - 57 - 2.9 Establishing the Quality of the Data .......................................................................................... - 65 - 2.10 Data Analysis Plan .......................................................................................................................... - 66 - 2.11 Ethical Considerations.................................................................................................................. - 67 - Chapter Three: Results ................................................................................................................. - 70 - 3.1 Results of Concept Mapping ......................................................................................................... - 70 - Clusters of Neighbourhood Chronic Stressors .............................................................................. - 75 - Interpretation of Neighbourhood Chronic Stressors ................................................................. - 78 - Clusters of Neighbourhood Assets .................................................................................................... - 80 - Interpretation of Neighbourhood Assets ........................................................................................ - 81 - Strategizing to Reduce or Improve Neighbourhood Chronic Stressors .............................. - 82 - v 3.2 Observations of the Utility of Concept Mapping ..................................................................