Social enterprises are businesses whose primary purpose is to create social and/or environmental impact. This study will seek to understand how to grow these businesses to create more social or environmental impact while being financially sustainable. This study will interview social enterprises to understand how they work, how they are trying to grow and what challenges they encounter while doing so. From the findings of this research, we hope to better understand how to strengthen the social enterprise sector in Canada.
A significant percentage of children around the world are affected by vision problems, such as lazy eye, that cannot be fixed by eyeglasses. When left untreated, vision problems may lead to learning difficulties. Vision therapy offers treatment to many of these problems where eye-trackers are tools used to diagnose and measure the progress of patients undergoing vision therapy for these vision problems. However, vision therapy remains out of reach for many patients due to the cost of eye-tracking services.
To address local food system issues like loss of farmland, people without enough food, or climate change impacts, it is important to see such issues as all related. This project will assess Durham Region food system resources, like local research and policy documents, to find strengths, areas to be addressed, and areas to be studied more. It will develop a more comprehensive picture of the local food system.
Orthognathic surgery is a procedure used to correct facial deformities and is a mainstay treatment in the oraland maxillofacial surgery field. Another common procedure in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery is dentalimplant surgery that is used to replace missing teeth. Currently, dental implants are one of the most preferredtreatment options for recreating tooth form and function.The surgical procedure is complex and requires extensive planning and accuracy to obtain a successfuloutcome.
Sexual assault support centres and services across Canada are working to adapt their resources to the reality that an increasing number of young Canadians are meeting romantic and sexual partners through geo-social networking apps (GSNAs): dating and hook-up apps like Tinder and Bumble. Combined, the world’s top four GSNAs have over 90 million users. While recent research has focused on the misogyny, sexism, and harassment that users endure on social media, there is little research into understanding what roles GSNAs are playing in sexual and gender-based violence online.
Persons with disabilities encounter many barriers to workplace inclusion. Prior research on strategies to mitigate such barriers has primarily been focused on recruitment and access to entry-level positions, with limited consideration given to career success. However, mentorship has been identified as an important element of career success for persons with disabilities—even though we know little about the design and implementation of disability inclusive mentorship programs, or how successful mentor-mentee relationships are fostered and sustained for persons with disabilities.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating disease that affects many parts of patients’ lives, such as the abilities to think, move, and speak. Speech problems in ALS can have a substantial effect on patients’ quality of life. They are also related to faster disease progression and shorter survival time. It may be possible to detect the onset of ALS head and neck muscle problems early using speech recordings, which could improve planning of care for ALS patients. Speech recordings may also be useful measures for ALS clinical trials.
Persons with disabilities encounter many barriers to workplace inclusion. Prior research on strategies to mitigate such barriers has primarily been focused on recruitment and access to entry-level positions, with limited consideration given to career success. However, mentorship has been identified as an important element of career success for persons with disabilities—even though we know little about the design and implementation of disability inclusive mentorship programs, or how successful mentor-mentee relationships are fostered and sustained for persons with disabilities.
This project aims to improve how people with Parkinson Disease (PD) walk. Typically, people with PD develop a shuffling gait and limits walking for health and fitness and can also lead to falls and fractures. This project is based on a SMART sensor, Heel2ToeTM, that attaches to the outside of the shoe and gives a “beep” when the wearer makes a good step, one in which the heel is the first point of contact with the surface. Starting a step with a strong heel strike, changes a stooped shuffling gait to one that is upright and striding.
This study will develop a novel smart rehabilitation device and gaming software that is versatile and will provide highly effective, individualized exercise programs with embedded electronic records, timely feedback, and support for safe independent use in community centers and private homes. Through this study we will further gain deeper insights into the type of person who will find “therapeutic” games compelling, fun, and effective, and why this works.
