View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by British Columbia's network of post-secondary digital repositories EXPLORING AND REDEFINING HOME VISITABILITY WITH THE SCIA’NEW AND ESQUIMALT NATIONS by Renée Ahmadi BCYC, University of Victoria, 2009 THESIS TO BE SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN DISABILITY MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA October 2016 © Renée Ahmadi, 2016 EXPLORING AND REDEFINING HOME VISITABILITY ii Abstract This qualitative study was designed in collaboration with the Scia’new and Esquimalt Nations to learn how home and community design impacts the health and quality of life of those living with mobility challenges in their communities. The research questions were: 1) How does the presence or absence of the three structural visitability features (a zero step entry, 32 inch wide doorway and a wheelchair accessible bathroom on the main floor) impact First Nations people with disabilities, 2) What barriers and supports most impact the quality of life of those living with disabilities, 3) How does reserve community infrastructure influence individual home visitability? Methods included: a community scan to assess the layout and physical infrastructure, and photovoice, employed to provide a medium for documentation by participants and to stimulate individual interviews. The study included interviews with nine participants who identify as First Nations (four from Esquimalt and five from Scia’new) living on reserve with mobility challenges. The thematic analysis included a group check-in session, where key findings were tested and themes verified or modified. Findings indicated that emergent themes were divided into two dimensions: physical safety, including themes of home visitability, physical barriers, home maintenance, and community infrastructure; and social capital, including reciprocity of support, community relations, and Band administration. The results showed that despite the many physical and social barriers experienced by the Scia’new and Esquimalt participants, the degree of social capital strongly mitigated the negative impacts of their limitations. Keywords: First Nations, visitability, Photovoice, people with disabilities, social capital EXPLORING AND REDEFINING HOME VISITABILITY iii Acknowledgements I will first acknowledge the traditional territories of the Lekwungen and W̱ SÁNEĆ people where I live and raise my family, as well as the Scia’new and Esquimalt communities, and especially the nine participants who worked with me and shared so much through this project. Thank you BCANDS for inviting and trusting me to do this work, and for the support to do this research. I was also very fortunate to have an exceptional thesis supervisor, Dr. Josée Lavioe. Josée you will be remembered for telling me this is not my life work, but just a beginning. From the bottom of my heart, thank you; I look forward to working with you in the future. I would like to also thank my co -supervisor Dr. Henry Harder, and other committee members Dr. Agnes Pawlowska-Mainville and Dr. Glen Schmidt, who have also influenced the finished product. I thank them too for their on-going support and feedback. Most of all I wish to thank my beloved partner in life, Bijan, who has been supportive of my educational process in every way while we started our family and made a home together. Bijan, your advice and willingness to read and slog through the roughest of drafts and offer feedback has taught me much about the writing and formatting process. I love you so much. Ezra and Arya thank you for being patient and sharing your mum. Gratitude to my parents, John and Rosemary Plummer, and my in-laws, Keyvan and Elisabeth Ahmadi, who have all supported our family in different ways through the last few years. And finally, thank you Jen Mah for sharing your uncluttered home and excellent espresso machine so that I could be highly productive and without distraction when I most needed it. EXPLORING AND REDEFINING HOME VISITABILITY iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ iii Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 Defined terms ........................................................................................................................ 8 Chapter 2: Literature Review .............................................................................................. 10 Preamble ............................................................................................................................. 10 Colonization, Housing, and Health on Canadian Reserves ................................................ 11 Federal jurisdiction and reserve housing ............................................................................ 18 Home Visitability ................................................................................................................ 26 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 31 Chapter 3: Methodology....................................................................................................... 33 Preamble ............................................................................................................................. 33 Theoretical support ............................................................................................................. 34 Research background .......................................................................................................... 43 Researcher Positioning.......................................................................................................... 5 Research Setting.................................................................................................................. 47 Research Methods ............................................................................................................... 55 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 74 Ethics................................................................................................................................... 79 Chapter 4: Findings .............................................................................................................. 82 Preamble ............................................................................................................................. 82 Community Scan Results .................................................................................................... 84 EXPLORING AND REDEFINING HOME VISITABILITY v Thematic Analysis Results .................................................................................................. 85 Home Visitability ................................................................................................................ 88 Social Capital .................................................................................................................... 101 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 108 Chapter 5: Discussion ......................................................................................................... 111 Preamble ........................................................................................................................... 111 Physical Safety .................................................................................................................. 112 Band Administration ......................................................................................................... 131 Chapter 6: Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 135 References ............................................................................................................................ 143 EXPLORING AND REDEFINING HOME VISITABILITY 1 Chapter 1: Introduction Despite being the subject of costly and time consuming studies and inquiries, First Nations communities remain burdened with a higher infant mortality rate and lower life expectancy; inadequate health care, high rates of substance abuse and suicide, violence, poverty, and a disproportionally high rate of incarceration (Health Canada, 2009; Kendall, 2001; Senese & Wilson, 2013). The deep social inequalities that produce many of the health disparities are related to a history of loss of lands and sovereignty, as well as cultural genocide brought about through state policies such as mandatory residential schools, foster care, inadequate educational support, job market discrimination, and the ever persistent jurisdictional complexities between federal and provincial governments (Adelson, 2005; British Columbia First Nations Leadership Council (BCFNLC), 2005; Kendall, 2001; Wilson, Rosenberg, & Abonyi, 2011). The history of failed oppressive state policies that aimed to eliminate Indigenous culture and fully assimilate the Indigenous population into the dominant western population has resulted in numerous contemporary policy complexities, jurisdictional barriers, and a fragmented uncoordinated approach to service delivery that continues to