Abstract

ABSTRACT


The Governance of Developmental Disability Supports for Older Adults in Ontario and Québec

Daniel Dickson


This project aims to analyze the effects of Canadian provincial governance structures on support work provision for older adults with developmental disabilities. Drawing from multilevel governance literature, it compares Ontario's more centralized and policy-driven governance structure with Québec's more disentangled and multi-jurisdictional structure, which gives more autonomy to developmental support agencies in planning support provision. To facilitate this comparison the project uses semi-structured interviews with personal support workers for older adults with developmental disabilities in both provinces. By using an 'institutional ethnography' interview methodology, the work experiences of primary support workers are situated within operant policies and rules, specifically with respect to supporting their clients in 'social inclusion', a widely recognized core domain for quality of life outcomes for adults with developmental disabilities. Owing to dramatic improvements in life expectancy resulting from healthcare advancements and deinstitutionalization, Canadians with developmental disability are increasingly living into older age. Consequently, support work practice is challenged by the intersection of social constructions of aged and disabled identities, which can act against the social inclusion of this ‘new’ population. By comparing these two divergent provincial governance structures from the important perspectives of frontline workers, this project contributes to a discussion of best practices in Canadian policy and administration.