The arrival of COVID-19 added potentially deadly consequences to incarceration. In response, jurisprudence developed allowing for some to be spared the deprivation of their liberty. However, there is insufficient empirical evidence that this avoidance of incarceration occurred in practice in Ontario. Using fieldwork methods conducted in Ontario criminal courts coupled with data from Statistics Canada, we investigate if a change in the use of incarceration during the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, and if friction emerged between those who may and may not espouse this new outlook. We find a notable and persistent decrease in the use of incarceration, that this was welcomed by many court actors but also that a fatigue with such leniency grew among others. We discuss what this fatigue might signify for the potential longevity of this more exceptional use of incarceration and more largely what this can signify about changes in Canada’s criminal justice system.

The last decade has seen the establishment of eight community courts (CCs) in Israel, representing a significant shift from the mainstream criminal justice approach. Inspired by the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, New York, the Israeli CCs reflect an understanding of the links between local communities, crime and rehabilitation. The authors have evaluated the CCs since their inauguration, first in a formative study and then in an evaluation study. The present article focuses on three research modules that were utilized in these studies: the process characterization, which was based on structured observations of court hearings during the formative study; the subjective experiences of court participants, which were collected via in-depth interviews with programme participants; and the recidivism module, which compared the repeat offending patterns of programme participants with those of mainstream court defendants. Rather than detailing the findings of these modules, the paper uses them as examples, offering an open discussion about the process of conducting such studies: the selection of research questions that go beyond the traditional question of repeat offending and their possible theoretical contribution; the methodological, logistical and ethical choices that are made and their underlying considerations; and the obstacles that researchers face en route.

This mixed-methods complementarity study explored family members’, friends’, and health care providers’ perspectives of acceptability of group leisure activities as an intervention for loneliness experienced by older adults living with dementia. A sample of 25 family members, friends, and health care providers of people living with dementia in ON rated the acceptability of group leisure activities (adapted Treatment Perception and Preference questionnaire) and discussed their ratings in an interview. Quantitative (descriptive statistics) and qualitative (conventional content analysis) results were integrated to understand acceptability. Participants viewed group leisure activities as effective, logical, and suitable for use with people living with dementia. Participants described the need for flexible programs, careful facilitation, and attention to activity selection. Group leisure activities were seen as low risk, but stigmas related to dementia could prevent participation. The findings inform the design of acceptable group leisure activities, promoting their use to address loneliness in people living with dementia.

One third of older adults in Canada are foreign-born, yet there is a dearth of literature on this population. When our team set out to engage in a mixed-methods study on the physical activity and mobility of foreign-born older adults (FBOAs), we found limited guidance. The objective of this Research Note is to share the lessons that we learned in implementing a mixed-methods study in five languages, with 49 visible minority FBOAs from diverse ethno-cultural groups. With an emphasis on practical implementation, here we share our reflections on early community engagement, linguistic accessibility and literacy considerations, facilitating communication with the research team, creating a support role for multilingual family members, organisational suggestions, and working with interpreters and monolingual transcribers. The older Canadian population is projected to become increasingly diverse in the coming decades, and it is our hope that this note will further facilitate research in this understudied area.

The global population including Canada’s is aging, which demands planning for housing that will support older adults’ quality of life. This mixed-method study is the first Canadian study to examine the impact of cohousing on older adults’ quality of life and involved 23 participants. The older adults rated their quality of life very high, especially in the environmental, physical, and psychological domains of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL_BREF) survey; quality of life in the social domain was rated low, which was surprising in light of the focus group data findings. Four themes of “belonging in a community”, “life in the community”, “changes associated with aging,” and “aging in place” emerged from the qualitative data to explain factors that influence older adults’ quality of life. This research provides foundational, strong evidence that seniors’ cohousing is an innovative housing solution that can support older adults’ quality of life.

Care for older people is a complex phenomenon, and is an area of pressing policy concern. Bringing together literature on care from social gerontology and economics, we report the findings of a mixed-methods project exploring networks of informal caring. Using quantitative data from the British Household Panel Survey (official survey of British households), together with qualitative interviews with older people and informal carers, we describe differences in formal care networks, and the factors and decision-making processes that have contributed to the formation of the networks. A network approach to care permits both quantitative and qualitative study, and the approach can be used to explore many important questions.

Leisure represents a positive way to keep relationships satisfactory between caregivers and a person with dementia. Adapted leisure education is a promising approach to assist the family to discover new ways to share good times with their relatives. This study aimed to develop an adapted leisure education program. It included an evaluation of the caregivers’ needs, the program content development, and a pilot study to experiment with the content of the program. Three focus groups of dementia caregivers (n = 19) were conducted to investigate caregivers needs. Based on content analysis of these focus groups and a literature review, the content of the program was developed. The pilot study (n = 4) included a quasi-experimental trial and an implementation evaluation. This study led to the development of an adapted leisure education program that puts caregiver support in a new perspective, focusing on positive aspects rather than the burden of caregiving.