NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Dehcho Region, North Slave Region

Tags: social sciences, recreation, elders, physical activity, cultural relevance

Objective(s): To understand the impact of the Elders in Motion (EIM) program; and to understand the challenges that program facilitators and communities have faced in regards to implementing the program and how they have dealt with these challenges.

Project Description: This project seeks to understand the impact of the Elders in Motion (EIM) program, which is a physical activity program developed by the Northwest Territories Recreation and Parks Association (NWTRPA), on past and current participants. It also seeks to understand the challenges that program facilitators and communities have faced in regards to implementing the program and how they have dealt with these challenges. This proposed research employs a postcolonial lens to determine whether the program is culturally safe. A culturally safe program demonstrates respect for Aboriginal peoples' history and the impact of colonization and addresses Aboriginal populations’ needs through the inclusion of Aboriginal peoples in the program’s development. A case study methodology typically involves multiple methods. For this research, the research team believe that using multiple methods will provide the most detailed and thorough data. Data will be collected through four methods: 1) semi-structured interviews, 2) focus groups, 3) participant observation, and 4) archival research. These methods were selected according to input from the NWTRPA. Semi-structured interviews use an interview guide (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009) that can range from being fairly structured with specific questions, to just being a list of topics that the researcher wishes to cover (Ayres, 2008). In a semi-structured interview the researcher typically asks open-ended questions to elicit responses from the participants. The semi-structured interviews will be conducted using an interview guide that is created with key stakeholders, such as the NWTRPA. The research team will conduct approximately nine semi-structured interviews with EIM program facilitators and NWTRPA staff members. Five of these interviews will be over the telephone due to the great distance between communities in the NWT, two of these will be held at the NWTRPA office in Yellowknife, and the other two interviews will be conducted in Hay River and Katl'odeehe First Nation at their program facilities. The duration of the interviews will be approximately one to two hours and all of the sessions will be digitally recorded (with permission from the participants). With focus groups, the researcher generally acts as the moderator by directing questions and guiding interactions among the group (Fontana & Frey, 2005). The objective of the focus group is to stimulate the participants to talk and respond to each other in order to compare experiences and opinions of the different respondents (Gaskell, 2000). Generally, focus groups are relatively informal, where the researcher informs the participants about the topic of the study and then discussions are facilitated around that (Neuman, 2011). The research team will conduct focus groups with approximately 20 EIM program participants, 10 participants from Hay River and 10 participants from Katl’odeeche First Nation. The team will conduct each focus group with about 5 participants at the location where the programs are run in the communities at a time that is convenient for the majority of the participants. The focus groups will last approximately one to one and half hours and all of the sessions will be digitally recorded (with permission from the participants). As a part of the research, the research assistant will be participating in different aspects of EIM, such as volunteering with the program in the community. As such, participant observation will be another important method for the research. The research assistant will be observing the participants during EIM to learn more about the program, the participants, and the community. Participant as observer is the most common type of observation that researchers use in the field (Van den Hoonaard, 2012). The researcher makes his/her research intention known to the participants, but still remains actively involved with the community in order to build trusting relationships (Angrosino, 2007; Van den Hoonaard, 2012). The research assistant will be using this type of observation as the participants in the research will be aware of her role as a researcher, but she will be actively volunteering with EIM and the community to ensure that she has a trusting relationship with the group and to learn more about each of the participants and the community. There are important aspects to the method to which the researcher must be attentive. It is important to record not just what is seen, but also what is heard, felt, and done to gain the most detailed data possible, especially on the first day as this is when the researcher observes the most that he/she ever will as a new participant (Van den Hoonaard, 2012). The researcher’s initial observations are recorded as jottings. Jottings are brief notes (phrases, quotes, and key words) taken during observation that will help the researcher to jog his/her memory later on when writing out full field notes (Van den Hoonaard, 2012). It is important to not get too carried away and write full field notes during the observation process as this can result in missing out on key information. Field notes are written up once the researcher has left the research setting; they are full accounts of everything that the researcher observed (Van den Hoonaard, 2012). The research assistant will take jottings during her observation of EIM, followed by field notes written up directly after the daily observations are completed. As demonstrated, participant observation will be an important method to use in the research. Patton (2002) noted that archival research can produce detailed, useful data about organization or programs, which is why this will be used for the research on EIM. Archival research will be used to look at EIM’s annual reports, program evaluations, advertisements, and program descriptions to help determine the development, implementation, and evaluation strategies of the program. Archives can be difficult to navigate, but can be very useful for researchers who wish to gain further insight into an organization or program. Since this proposed research will be involving two different groups of participants, EIM program coordinators and participants, the research team will be using both convenience sampling and judgment sampling. Convenience sampling will be employed for EIM participants, as it is likely that not everyone in the program will want to be a part of this research. With input from the EIM coordinators, the research team will develop the sampling criteria; however, the team would like to only include individuals who have participated in the program for at least one month, which will have given them enough time to become familiar with the program. The research team will reach the most participants by using this approach. Judgment sampling will be used for EIM program coordinators, which is the most common sampling technique (Marshall, 1996). It involves actively selecting participants based on certain criteria that the researcher establishes, which makes it a more intellectual strategy (Marshall, 1996). The specific criteria will be that these participants must be program coordinators for EIM. The research team will be able to determine who the organizers are from the NWTRPA and will be able to contact them directly regarding participation in this research. The principal investigator would like to work with the Elders in Motion program leaders and the NWTRPA staff to create interview guides for the semi-structured interviews and focus groups. To ensure that the results are communicated to NWT residents, the final research results will be presented back to the participating community, which will likely be in the Spring/Summer 2014. The participants will also receive copies of the research outcomes. It is with hope that the NWTRPA will use the findings from the research to strengthen its program and create a resource for other communities with suggestions on how to implement or strengthen an Elders in Motion program. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from June 19, 2013 to December 31, 2013.