Articles from:June 2020

• Brock study shows dramatic impact of COVID-19 on active Canadians

  Monday, June 22, 2020 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 18 June 2020 – R0105

  A significant reduction in outdoor activity due to COVID-19 may be having a harmful effect on mental health, according to the early results of a new Brock University study.

  A team of Brock researchers, led by Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies Tim O’Connell, set out to discover how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted outdoor recreation before, during and after physical distancing strategies were implemented in Canada.

  The most important aspect of these results are respondents reporting significantly worse mental health due to the lack of opportunity to take part in outdoor recreation activities, said O’Connell.

  “The magnitude of the impact was surprising,” he said. “We think it is a reflection of Canadians relying on outdoor recreation for healthy living and as a way to connect socially with others. We found that participants reported a significant change in mental health due to the lack of ability to get outdoors.”

  O’Connell and co-investigators, Recreation and Leisure Studies Associate Professor Garrett Hutson and Adjunct Professor Ryan Howard, collaborated with ALIVE Outdoors, an outdoor and experiential education company, to collect data from 1,550 participants across an eight-day span beginning in early May.

  The study reveals outdoor enthusiasts reduced their activities by six hours per week on average, but didn’t completely give up on being outdoors despite park closures.

  Instead, they pivoted from venturous activities such as camping, mountaineering or playing outdoor sports in favour of gardening, walking and nature photography.

  “Many of these more complex outdoor recreation experiences like canoeing, hiking and sea kayaking are pre-planned many months in advance,” said Howard. “What may have happened during COVID-19 is that many people had to go down their list of other outdoor recreation activities that they enjoy. We saw increases toward walking in the neighbourhood and bird watching.”

  There are some key motivations that come through in the data and many of the participants relate a core set of activities to their identity, added Howard.

  “We see these impacts coming to light over a very short period of time and that regular access to outdoor spaces with others is incredibly important to many Canadians for more than just exercise,” Howard said. “Individuals probably already enjoyed these activities, but they were likely secondary to their initial activities that formed a larger part of their identity.”

  Participants planned to change their behaviour and travel to different places with different people and modify their activities.

  They also vowed to return to their regular activities once the pandemic ends, will continue to honour the closure of recreational areas, and indicated that advocating for the protection of outdoor recreation resources was important to them in the future.

  “Finding creative ways to maintain access while adhering to physical distancing requirements needs more attention from policymakers and a higher priority on public health agendas,” said Howard. “Rather than restrict, we should support these individuals to maintain their physical and mental health in times when this is incredibly important.”

  The three researchers plan to delve deeper into the results of the survey and will be publishing their full findings in the coming months. The preliminary results will be shared with land management agencies, politicians and recreationists across Canada.

  They are also developing a follow-up to the first phase of this study.

  “We’re working on a second survey that continues to explore Canadians’ outdoor recreation experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic,” O’Connell said. “This is especially important as many outdoor recreation areas across Canada have reopened or are slated to reopen soon. We hope to launch the Phase 2 survey in the next few weeks and plan for a third phase, as well.”

  Brock University Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies Tim O’Connell is available for media interviews.

   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews: 

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected], 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases

• Documentary on historic protest against anti-Black racism now available online

  Wednesday, June 17, 2020 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 17 June 2020 – R0104

  The acclaimed documentary It Takes A Riot: Race, Rebellion, Reform is now freely available to stream online.

  Simon Black, Assistant Professor in the Department of Labour Studies, co-wrote and co-produced the film in 2017 with co-writer/director Howard Grandison and co-producer Idil Abdillahi.

  “While we have been screening the film in educational and community settings for the past three years, we want this history to be more widely known,” says Black. “Before Black Lives Matter Toronto, there was the Black Action Defense Committee, and we want the names of legendary activists like Dudley Laws and Sherona Hall to be commonplace in the telling of Canadian history.”

  Abdillahi, an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Ryerson University, says the goal of releasing the film now is “to remind people the concerns experienced by Black people in Canada from its inception as a nation state have not changed.”

  The documentary tells the story of the Yonge Street Uprising on May 4, 1992, a rally organized by the Black Action Defence Committee in protest of both the Rodney King verdict in Los Angeles and the shooting death of a young Black man, Raymond Lawrence, by Toronto police.

  “What is made clear in the film is that while time has shifted, the realities of anti-Black racism have not,” Abdillahi says.

  The documentary was first released on the 25th anniversary of the uprising at a time when the Black Lives Matter movement was gaining momentum in North America.

  Black says now in 2020, as Black Lives Matter protests continue around the world in the wake of the death of George Floyd, viewers will be all too familiar with attempts to focus on property damage rather than human lives, and efforts to criminalize protests by Black people decrying police brutality and systemic racism rather than acknowledge the urgent need for change.

  “We hope the film informs conversations about anti-Black racism in Canada and inspires a younger generation of anti-racism activists,” says Black, who views the film as “public sociology.”

  “We are working with director Howard Grandison on an updated, extended and final cut of the film,” he adds. “We hope to continue to use the film to do public education about anti-Black racism and the rich history of Black activism and resistance here in Canada.” 

  It Takes A Riot: Race, Rebellion, Reform, which was funded by The Akua Benjamin Legacy Project at Ryerson University and the Social Justice Research Institute at Brock, is available to view on Vimeo here.

  Simon Black, Assistant Professor in the Department of Labour Studies, is available for media interviews about the film.

   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected] or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases