1. Perspectives of Poverty Reduction Needs
Student: Shelbey Merrill
Supervisors: Dr. Anomi Bearden, Dr. Reiko Yeap
A comparison of experiences with poverty between service providers and those with lived experience in Red Deer.
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
Aligned themes between samples
Poverty is complex
Need to reduce stigma
Need affordable, quality housing
Need better communication & collaboration between services
Need affordable & accessible resources (food, clothing, transportation etc.)
Some lived experience respondents expressed denial or felt as if they lived well / had enough
Some acknowledgement from lived experience sample that they were not doing enough
INTRODUCTION
Prevalence of poverty in Red Deer 1
15% of families living in poverty
20% rate of lone income parent families
38% of lone parent families living in poverty
400,000 Albertans
143,000 Children
Central Alberta Poverty Reduction Alliance1
Conducting needs & opportunities assessment
2nd phase, Poverty Awareness Survey (phase 1)
Interviews & focus groups for in depth perspectives on poverty between service providers and those with lived experience
“At the systems level there is a lot of misunderstanding… of what other agencies roles are and what they can do.”
“There are a lot of people who are one paycheck away from being homeless.”
METHODS
PARTICIPANTS
Lived Experience: 40; Service Providers: 25
Lived Experience: Contacted from Poverty Awareness Survey, Recruited at Mustard Seed
Service Providers: Invited to CAPRA Alliance meeting & additional scheduled interviews
DESIGN & PROCEDURE
Exploratory Qualitative Research
Interviews & Focus Groups
2 sets of 5 open-ended questions; different questions for lived experience & service providers
Thematic analysis
LIMITATIONS
Possible unrepresentative sample
Potential for social desirability bias
RECOMMENDATIONS
Increase community education on poverty, efforts to reduce stigma
Enhance communication & collaboration between services & service providers
Importance of funding for access to resources (e.g., affordable housing)
References
Central Alberta Poverty Reduction Alliance (2005)
Rinne, G. (2018). Child poverty rate in thunder bay surpasses 20 per cent..