Rachel Schwartz
Biographic Data
| ID | 381926 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Rachel Schwartz |
| GIVEN NAMES | Rachel |
| FAMILY NAME | Schwartz |
| SIGNATURE | SCHWARTZ R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Toronto |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7838-0769 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 80 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 42 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 80 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1989 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Policy pathways and historical insights
Canada's evolving attitudes toward psychedelic interventions in palliative and end-of-life care reflect a departure from historically prohibitionist policies and an emerging recognition of their therapeutic potential for individuals facing end-of-life distress. This shift parallels international regulatory developments in jurisdictions such as the United States, Australia and parts of Europe, where cautious policy liberalization has signaled grow…
The health effects of vaping and e-cigarettes
Guidance has been informed by best available evidence and expertise, providing direction to support decision-making. The use of established methods to evaluate divergent published literature combined with consensus-building methods among a range of stakeholders on vaping is possible. As higher quality evidence continues to emerge, recommendations will require iterative refinement
Examining the Perspectives of Key Stakeholders on the Problems, Policies, and Politics Regarding Accessing Psychedelic Interventions to Alleviate End‐of‐Life Distress
Psychedelic interventions are not publicly available through Canada's healthcare system. Despite growing scientific evidence, public interest, and efforts to expand access to psychedelic therapies for end‐of‐life psychological suffering, Canadian policies remain restrictive. Efforts are underway to expand access, but knowledge gaps exist regarding the policy landscape in Canada. This study examines the barriers and facilitators to accessing thera…
“I think it made me a better person”
Purpose Immigrant youth face both unique and disproportionate barriers to sexual health. Targeted sexual health education to redress these disparities requires creative and inclusive approaches that consider personal and community challenges and strengths. This study piloted a novel intervention: SExT: Sex Education by Theatre, a theatre-based, culturally-relevant, participatory action research programme delivered in an immigration destination ne…
Seven Empathy Myths
The term empathy has become a buzzword in recent decades, and the concept has received both scholarly attention and has also been the focus of public interest, professional trainings, and policy initiatives. However, misconceptions about its nature persist. Our aim is to rectify these misunderstandings by highlighting claims about empathy that have been empirically refuted. We address seven myths about empathy: #1 People mean the same thing when …
Framing coalitions and the Canadian overdose crisis
The overdose crisis remains one of the most pressing public health emergencies in North America, with the marketing of prescription opioids identified as a key contributor to its escalation. Notwithstanding, the role of prescription opioids in the current overdose crisis, as well as the extent to which marketing and education can be distinguished, remains highly debated. Using qualitative framing analysis of four separate consultations obtained t…
Effects of cannabis legalisation on patterns of cannabis consumption among adolescents in Ontario, Canada (2001–2019)
A systematic review of theories, models and frameworks used for youth engagement in health research
The mediating effects of minority stress experiences on cannabis consumption among 2SLGBTQ+ youth
Teacher perspectives on partnerships on families of children with autism
The success of students with disabilities in school and community largely relies on productive family professional partnerships (FPPs). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) recognises the importance of family collaboration to student success by mandating that parents be involved in the Individualised Education Plan (IEP) process as full team members. While several previous studies examined the perspectives of parents of ch…
A Systematic Review of Campus Characteristics Associated With Sexual Violence and Other Forms of Victimization
Violence researchers have highlighted a need to understand connections between campus characteristics and violent victimization among students. Responding to those calls, we systematically reviewed research examining the characteristics of secondary and post-secondary educational settings associated with sexual violence and related victimization experiences, including dating/intimate partner violence, stalking, bullying, hate crimes, and crime mo…
Perceptions of cigarette smoking and vaping among 2SLGBTQI+young adults in Ontario and Quebec, Canada
Canadian young adults who identify as Two Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex (2SLGBTQI+) have higher smoking rates compared to their straight cisgender counterparts. One of the reasons for this trend is the perceived social acceptability of smoking and how it relates to stress, mental health and social connections. A sequential mixed-methods study was conducted with qualitative focus groups, followed by quantitative survey dat…
The Evolution of Vigilance and Its Atrophy Preceding the Covid-19 Global Pandemic
Introduction: Recent infectious outbreaks preceding the COVID-19 crisis resulted in the evolution of vigilance for preparedness against the next pandemic. This vigilance was maintained to varying degrees in different jurisdictions. Objective: To evaluate the evolution of vigilance following previous epidemics and pandemics and the subsequent atrophy of vigilance prior to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Methods: We evaluated documentation discussing…
Empathy, an important but problematic concept
The concept of empathy as it is used in scholarly discourse has been challenged for over 50 years, yet the same ambiguities and controversies associated with the concept persist and, indeed, have accelerated with the accumulation of definitions, subconstructs that are included under the empathy umbrella, and measuring instruments. In this article we address the following interrelated problems: many definitions, authors not offering definitions, a…
Understanding experts’ conflicting perspectives on tobacco harm reduction and e-cigarettes
The growing use of e-cigarettes has been condemned as a significant health crisis by some and welcomed as an unprecedented opportunity to eliminate combustible tobacco by others. Seeking to better understand the contestation and range of perspectives on this issue, this article employs an interpretivist approach to identify how experts communicate their perspectives on these issues. This debate is examined through interviews with twenty one tobac…
Sex Education by Theatre (SExT)
Despite rising rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and inequitable access to education and services, few studies have addressed the unique sex education needs of newcomer youth in Canada and other increasingly demographically diverse Western countries. This study involved the design, implementation and evaluation of a novel and innovative participatory action research project, SExT: Sex Education by Theatre. SExT is a theatre-based, c…
Impact of Canada’s menthol cigarette ban on quitting among menthol smokers
This pooled analysis of Canada's menthol cigarette ban provides the foundation for estimating the impact of menthol bans in the USA and other countries. Projections suggest that a US menthol cigarette ban would have a substantial impact on increasing quitting
Technical Standards in Social Work Education
Following larger developments within professional education, schools of social work have increasingly adopted technical standards as non-academic criteria for program admission and continuation. This paper examines the emergence of technical standards within schools of social work, articulates the distinction from and overlap with other forms of non-academic admissions and retention criteria, and considers their use in relation to the larger lite…
Structural Conditions as Cause
Background: E-cigarette use has spread rapidly and widely among youth, to an extent that has surprised some researchers.Objectives: We suggest that this surprise is owing to a particular limitation in the dominant models of addiction – namely, a strong focus upon addictive substances as cause. We argue that the phenomenon at hand is easier to comprehend when less attention is placed upon preventing the use of specific substances and more upon wha…
How do laypeople define empathy
The term “empathy” is popular, yet fuzzy. How laypeople define it has not been investigated. In Study 1, we analyzed 99 participants’ free narratives describing their personal definition, and in Study 1 (N = 191) and Study 2 (N = 351), we asked participants to rate a list of specific behaviors and tendencies for how well each one matched their personal definition. Out of 10 coded components, perspective taking was mentioned most often and persona…
Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Resources for 2SLGBTQ+ Youth during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Previous research has established that gender and sexual minority (2SLGBTQ+) youth experience worse mental health and substance use outcomes than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts. Research suggests that mental health and substance use concerns have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study used self-reported online survey responses from 1404 Canadian 2SLGBTQ+ youth which included, but were not limited to, questions…
Return on investment of Canadian tobacco control policies implemented between 2001 and 2016
This analysis has found that the costs to implement the Canadian tobacco policies between 2001 and 2016 were far outweighed by the monetised value associated with the benefits of these policies, making a powerful case for the investment in tobacco control policies
Strategy design for New Public Governance and horizontal initiatives
Governments deploy comprehensive strategies to address complex social problems with various New Public Governance and horizontal initiatives. Minimal attention, however, has focused on developing evidence‐informed strategy design for such initiatives. Using a systematic literature review, five strategy design principles were identified: 1) proper selection of interventions; 2) system enablers; 3) a guiding purpose; 4) substantive political commit…
Perceived addiction to vaping among youth and young adult regular vapers
More than half of youth and young adult regular e-cigarette users felt they had some level of addiction. The findings identify possible opportunities for targeted programming for education and treatment, as well as potential opportunities for policy change such as maximum allowable nicotine strengths
Empathy present and future
The empathy concept has central significance for social and personality psychology and in many other domains, including neuroscience, clinical/abnormal psychology, and the health professions. However, the current diversity in conceptual and operational definitions, and the promiscuous use of the term "empathy," threaten the ability of researchers to advance the field. The present article provides a quantitative review and conceptual analysis of e…
Formal and Informal Mentoring
Informal mentors likely play a substantial role in novice teacher learning, yet we know little about them, especially in relation to formal mentoring, which is the cornerstone to most induction programs. This study analyzes survey and interview data from 57 first-year mathematics teachers from 11 districts to investigate differences in the characteristics of formal and informal mentoring that can inform improvements in mentoring policy. Our findi…
U.S. Abortion in Context
The implications and effects of restrictive abortion laws depend on the characteristics and motivations of women obtaining abortions. Using secondary analysis of abortion patient data, this article documents substantial diversity in reproductive histories, family responsibilities, resources, and reasons for abortion among minors and adults who differed in marital and parental status. Abortion patients had substantial family responsibilities; near…
Do crises help remedy regulatory failure? A comparative study of the Walkerton water and Jerusalem banquet hall disasters
This study explores whether and how policy changes in the aftermath of a crisis. The authors ask why pre‐existing regulatory regimes that are identified as contributory factors to “failure” are not necessarily reformed in the wake of a crisis. The investigation adds to the literature that addresses the classic tension between reformism and conservatism in post‐crisis periods. Regulatory failure is identified as being largely responsible for two c…
Smoking and binge-drinking among adolescents, Ontario, Canada
The Career Pathways Movement
As the movement to raise academic standards has grown over the past 25 years, so has the notion grown that the primary purpose of the American high school is to prepare all students for college. High school students and their families have increasingly bought into the notion that the only legitimate destination after high school is “college.” The “college for all” mantra has to some degree been fueled by the dire predictions of economists that we…
Regulatory Ethics in Theory and Practice
This article examines the usefulness of regulatory capture theories for understanding breaches in oversight ethics. Unethical oversight was found responsible for two crises: the Walkerton drinking water tragedy in Canada and the Versailles Banquet Hall collapse in Israel. The cases differ in respect to retrospective oversight ethics involving policy change to improve regulatory vigilance. Regulatory capture theories cannot adequately explain the …
The Politics of Evaluation Reconsidered
Recent experience suggests that the effect of political considerations on the incidence of evaluation is not constant across programs. The article attempts to refine the politics of evaluation theory by identifying affective variables when political considerations are more likely to inhibit the conduct of evaluation. Evaluation activity for 63 programs was measured over the course of an 11-year period. Two important refinements emerge: (1) contra…
A common public health-oriented policy framework for cannabis, alcohol and tobacco in Canada
The Contracting Quandary
Problems with competitive transactional contracting raise the possibility of relational contracting as an attractive alternative for managing local authority–VNPO (voluntary non-profit organisation) relations. This empirical study of 45 relational social service contracts examines the conditions under which advantages such as flexibility and social capital development emerge as opposed to dangers of political abuse, defiance and resource frustrat…
Collaboration with the ‘Third Sector’ - Issues of Accountability
This article explores the possibility, expressed in the literature, that Third Sector Organisations present a solution to what has been called the crisis of accountability. The paper addresses conceptual issues of holding collaborative government to account. Using Israel's Third Sector as a case in point, we illustrate several problems in holding Third Sector Organisations to account. Some of these problems have been well established in the liter…
Perceptions of cigarette smoking and vaping among 2SLGBTQI+young adults in Ontario and Quebec, Canada
Canadian young adults who identify as Two Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex (2SLGBTQI+) have higher smoking rates compared to their straight cisgender counterparts. One of the reasons for this trend is the perceived social acceptability of smoking and how it relates to stress, mental health and social connections. A sequential mixed-methods study was conducted with qualitative focus groups, followed by quantitative survey dat…
Strategy design for New Public Governance and horizontal initiatives
Governments deploy comprehensive strategies to address complex social problems with various New Public Governance and horizontal initiatives. Minimal attention, however, has focused on developing evidence‐informed strategy design for such initiatives. Using a systematic literature review, five strategy design principles were identified: 1) proper selection of interventions; 2) system enablers; 3) a guiding purpose; 4) substantive political commit…
Measuring one century of railway accessibility and population change in France. A historical GIS approach
Smoking Low-cost Cigarettes
Controlling government
(2002). Controlling government: Budgeting, evaluation and auditing in Israel. Israel Affairs: Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 65-86
Hospital policy, practice re HIV testing for pregnant women and newborns
Hospital policy, practice re HIV testing for pregnant women and newborns. R M Schwartz, and E C MaynardCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.80.10.1276 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Rosalynde among the Familists
Case I
Hospital policy, practice re HIV testing for pregnant women and newborns
Hospital policy, practice re HIV testing for pregnant women and newborns. R M Schwartz, and E C MaynardCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.80.10.1276 Published Online: October 07, 2011
U.S. Abortion in Context
The implications and effects of restrictive abortion laws depend on the characteristics and motivations of women obtaining abortions. Using secondary analysis of abortion patient data, this article documents substantial diversity in reproductive histories, family responsibilities, resources, and reasons for abortion among minors and adults who differed in marital and parental status. Abortion patients had substantial family responsibilities; near…
Tobacco control in the United States
Reflections on Projection
The Politics of Evaluation Reconsidered
Recent experience suggests that the effect of political considerations on the incidence of evaluation is not constant across programs. The article attempts to refine the politics of evaluation theory by identifying affective variables when political considerations are more likely to inhibit the conduct of evaluation. Evaluation activity for 63 programs was measured over the course of an 11-year period. Two important refinements emerge: (1) contra…
Coping with the Effectiveness Dilemma
Collaboration with the ‘Third Sector’ - Issues of Accountability
This article explores the possibility, expressed in the literature, that Third Sector Organisations present a solution to what has been called the crisis of accountability. The paper addresses conceptual issues of holding collaborative government to account. Using Israel's Third Sector as a case in point, we illustrate several problems in holding Third Sector Organisations to account. Some of these problems have been well established in the liter…
Controlling government
(2002). Controlling government: Budgeting, evaluation and auditing in Israel. Israel Affairs: Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 65-86
Prevalence and correlates of HCV infection among methadone maintenance attendees
The Contracting Quandary
Problems with competitive transactional contracting raise the possibility of relational contracting as an attractive alternative for managing local authority–VNPO (voluntary non-profit organisation) relations. This empirical study of 45 relational social service contracts examines the conditions under which advantages such as flexibility and social capital development emerge as opposed to dangers of political abuse, defiance and resource frustrat…
Regulatory Ethics in Theory and Practice
This article examines the usefulness of regulatory capture theories for understanding breaches in oversight ethics. Unethical oversight was found responsible for two crises: the Walkerton drinking water tragedy in Canada and the Versailles Banquet Hall collapse in Israel. The cases differ in respect to retrospective oversight ethics involving policy change to improve regulatory vigilance. Regulatory capture theories cannot adequately explain the …
Governing after Crisis
The constant threat of crises such as disasters, riots and terrorist attacks poses a frightening challenge to Western societies and governments. While the causes and dynamics of these events have been widely studied, we know little about what happens following their containment and the restoration of stability. This volume explores 'post-crisis politics,' examining how crises give birth to longer term dynamic processes of accountability and learn…
Do crises help remedy regulatory failure? A comparative study of the Walkerton water and Jerusalem banquet hall disasters
This study explores whether and how policy changes in the aftermath of a crisis. The authors ask why pre‐existing regulatory regimes that are identified as contributory factors to “failure” are not necessarily reformed in the wake of a crisis. The investigation adds to the literature that addresses the classic tension between reformism and conservatism in post‐crisis periods. Regulatory failure is identified as being largely responsible for two c…
Challenges and Approaches to Evaluating Comprehensive Complex Tobacco Control Strategies
Challenges to evaluating comprehensive complex strategies revolve around addressing comprehensiveness, attribution, and complexity. The latter requires attention to synergies amongst interventions, feedback loops, and other forms of nonlinearity. The article reviews and assesses how well six approaches to evaluating strategies succeed in dealing with these challenges, including one developed in light of the initial review. None of the approaches …
A Review of Rape in the Social Work Literature
This article reports on a content analysis of the social work research literature to assess the level of attention that the profession has paid to the rape of adults. The analysis of 66 social work articles published between 1975 and 2008 revealed that rape was a primary focus in about one third of the articles. However, 94% of the articles connected rape with another issue that was central to the profession (such as domestic violence or mental h…
TreeCovery
Smoking Low-cost Cigarettes
Exploring the adequacy of smoking cessation support for pregnant and postpartum women
The current cessation system in Ontario is not equipped to adequately reduce smoking among pregnant and postpartum women. A comprehensive, multi-sector strategy designed to provide tailored and sustainable support through different system entry points is needed. A cultural shift in practice is also necessary to eliminate mixed messaging, strengthen practice and encourage open channels of communication about smoking between women and their provide…
The effect of MPOWER on smoking prevalence
Higher levels of MPOWER combined, as well as continued and frequent monitoring of tobacco use (M) and increasing taxation (R), were associated with a decrease in current tobacco smoking over time
Un mot du rédacteur
Editor’s Remarks
Patterns of cigarillo use among Canadian young adults in two urban settings
Formal and Informal Mentoring
Informal mentors likely play a substantial role in novice teacher learning, yet we know little about them, especially in relation to formal mentoring, which is the cornerstone to most induction programs. This study analyzes survey and interview data from 57 first-year mathematics teachers from 11 districts to investigate differences in the characteristics of formal and informal mentoring that can inform improvements in mentoring policy. Our findi…
Psychology (39 works) · Medicine (37 works) · Political science (34 works) · Sociology (24 works) · Public health (19 works) · Environmental health (18 works) · Smoking Behavior and Cessation (18 works) · Business (14 works) · Social Psychology (14 works) · Law (13 works)