From June 9-11th, researchers from around the world involved in the study of care work engaged together for the annual Global Carework Summit. This year, the event was held in the lecture halls of the Hart House at the University of Toronto’s St. George Campus.

Several Faculty members and graduate students attended and presented at the event, including Dr. Pat Armstrong, who delivered the well-received keynote address The Feminization of the Care Labor Force on the second evening.

Below are abbreviated abstracts of some of the research involving care work and residential care research presented by YU-CARE members and affiliates:

Tamara Daly, York University, “Temporal Tensions in Care Work.”

This paper comparatively explores the micro-politics of time as it is experienced in front-line nursing home care work — in Ontario, Canada, New South Wales, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand — and set within a macro-politics of time that variously employs NPM tools. Read more.

Kate Laxer, York University, Tamara Daly, York University “The Formal Labour Force in Long-term Residential Care in Canada: Preliminary Analysis of New Survey Data on Gender, Work Organization and Working Conditions.”

In 2006, our team conducted the Long-term Care Workers’ Survey (LTC-WS) to better understand the work of Canada’s LTRC labour force and to compare conditions in Canada with Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland). This paper presents preliminary analysis of data from a new, expanded LTC-WS. Read more.

Vasuki Shanmuganathan, York University, “Quality, Cultural Care, and Labour in Canadian Long-Term Care Settings.”

This paper will explore the interconnectedness of culture, care, and quality and use examples of innovations in Canadian long-term care settings. In employing data gathered using rapid side-switching ethnography from site visits to Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Nova Scotia, this paper will advance discussions on cultural care, quality, and labour. Read more.

Jacqueline Choiniere, York University, Ruth Lowndes, York University, “Tensions for Nurses in Long-term Residential Care.”

We describe a German apprenticeship model that allowed for training and higher staffing levels. In the Canadian context, we draw on a promising Manitoba example, where staff were trained on the equipment they use for residents, a form of training that facilitated building of experiential insight and empathy for the residents and their positions as care recipients. Read more.

For an event program and more about how to become involved in the next Carework Summit, visit the Global Carework Summit website.