scholarly journals Community-Based screening and triage versus standard referral of Aboriginal children

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-86
Author(s):  
Nancy L. Young ◽  
Mary Jo Wabano ◽  
Diane Jacko ◽  
Skye P. Barbic ◽  
Katherine Boydell ◽  
...  

Health solutions for Aboriginal children should be guided by their community and grounded in evidence. This manuscript presents a prospective cohort study protocol, designed by a community-university collaborative research team. The study’s goal is to determine whether community-based screening and triage lead to earlier identification of children’s emotional health needs, and to improved emotional health 1 year later, compared to the standard referral process. We are recruiting a community-based sample and a clinical sample of children (ages 8 to 18 years) within one Canadian First Nation. All participants will complete the Aboriginal Children’s Health and Well-being Measure (ACHWM)© and a brief triage assessment with a local mental health worker. All participants will be followed for 1 year. Children with newly identified health concerns will be immediately connected to local services, generating a new opportunity to improve health. The development of the research design and its execution were impacted by several events (e.g., disparate worldviews, loss of access to schools). This manuscript describes lessons learned that are important to guide future community-based research with First Nations people. The optimal research design in an Aboriginal context is one that responds directly to local decision makers’ needs and respectfully integrates Aboriginal ways of knowing with Western scientific principles. Such an approach is critical because it will generate meaningful results that will be rapidly adopted, thus reducing the knowledge-to-action gap.

Author(s):  
Melanie A Ferris

Obesity is a growing issue for all children. Many experts say that preventing obesity is largely a matter of eating the right foods and getting enough physical activity. This advice doesn’t recognize the fact that First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children face unique barriers to growing up healthy and strong simply because of their identity. This paper discusses how the social determinants of health impact the ability of Aboriginal children to grow up free of obesity. The paper highlights results from a community-based research project conducted amongst Aboriginal parents and service providers in Ontario who wish to prevent obesity amongst their own young children and clients. Research was carried out over two years to help develop a “toolkit” and training program to help service provides increase efforts to prevent obesity amongst First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children from the ages of 2 to 6 in Ontario.


2021 ◽  
pp. 106082652110188
Author(s):  
Liza Lorenzetti ◽  
Vic Lantion ◽  
David C. Este ◽  
Percy Murwisi ◽  
Jeff Halvorsen ◽  
...  

The participation of men is critical to preventing domestic violence, however, there is still little understanding of the capacities and supports that men need for well-being and healthy relationships. A men’s survey was designed to explore and identify the capacities and resources required by a diverse population of Canadian men. Data was collected on-line and through trained community-based research assistants. Over 2,000 men from 20 ethno-cultural groups responded, and multiple challenges and enablers were identified. Responses from Indigenous and African Canadian men highlight the need for an intersectional lens in understanding men’s well-being and violence prevention.


Author(s):  
Bruce Wallace ◽  
Bernadette Pauly ◽  
Kathleen Perkin ◽  
Mike Ranfft

Homelessness is a growing social issue that is a consequence of structural inequities and contributor to the development of health inequities. Community-based research (CBR) has been proposed as an effective research strategy for addressing health equities and promoting social justice through participatory processes. The purpose of this article is to examine the application of CBR principles and practices in the homeless sector and the implications for the production of knowledge and social change to address homelessness. Drawing on our experiences as researchers and service providers, we reflect on the significant successes and challenges associated with using CBR in the homelessness sector. In our discussion we emphasise insights, challenges and lessons learned from a community-university partnership that focused on an evaluation of a transitional shelter program in a large urban centre where housing is expensive and often unavailable.Keywords: Homelessness, housing, transitional housing, transitional shelter, program evaluation, community-based research


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Racine ◽  
Sheri Madigan ◽  
Shelley Cardinal ◽  
Cailey Hartwick ◽  
Margaret Leslie ◽  
...  

There is now a growing understanding that translational research must be co-created in collaboration with community partners and that solutions to real-world social problems require stepping outside the academic silo. Fewer than half of psychology programs in Canada, however, offer courses in community-based research or evaluation, leaving a gap in skill development amongst the next generation of scholars. In an effort to partially fill this learning gap, the current paper provides insights into lessons learned from the perspectives of researchers and community partners alike, who have been mutually engaging in community-based research over the last 25 years. Ultimately this paper seeks to provide a roadmap for conducting community-based research and illustrates why it should be a central component to research seeking to answer critical questions in psychological science. First, we provide a conceptual foundation of community-based research. Next, using three specific community-based research projects as examples, we share the challenges and benefits of conducting research in the community context. Finally, we highlight future directions for increasing the uptake of community-based research in Canada.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Eni ◽  
Wanda Phillips Beck ◽  
Grace Kyoon Achan ◽  
Josée G. Lavoie ◽  
Kathi Avery Kinew ◽  
...  

Abstract Background This paper focuses on a longitudinal research program in Manitoba, Canada, by the Innovation Supporting Transformation in Community-Based Research Project (iPHIT) to learn from First Nations across the province that have developed effective community-based primary healthcare models. The research is relevant and timely as First Nations across the country, and Indigenous populations globally, work towards improvements in population health and health equity via critical analysis and restructuring of health services. The purpose of the paper is to deepen an understanding of decolonization as it is defined within the communities, as a central aspect of health restructuring. Methods The study is a qualitative, grounded theory analysis, which is a constructivist approach to social research that allows for generation of theory in praxis, through interactions and conversations between researchers and research participants. Findings are based on 183 in-depth interviews and eight focus group discussions with participants from 8 Manitoba First Nation communities. The study was designed to understand strengths, limitations and priorities of primary healthcare strategies and frameworks of the communities. The iPHIT team was an active collaborative partnership between the First Nation communities, First Nation Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba, and the University of Manitoba. The First Nation partners led in all aspects of the research, from development to implementation, data collection, analyses, and dissemination. Respected Elders from the communities also guided in appropriate research and engagement protocols. Results Data was coded and then grouped into 4 interconnecting themes. These are: (1) First Nation control of healthcare, (2) traditional medicine and healing activities, (3) full community participation, and (4) moving out of colonization involves cleaning up and moving beyond the mess that colonization has inflicted. Conclusion Decolonizing health involves a taking back of Indigenous wisdom and traditional activities; connections to the land, resources; intra- and inter-community relationships. Participants emphasized the value of full community engagement with respect to inclusion of different interpretations of and experiences in the world, highlighting creation of a shared vision. The study focused on First Nation community experiences and interests in Manitoba specifically, though the data may be applicable to national and global decolonization efforts.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Suniya S. Luthar ◽  
Ashley M. Ebbert ◽  
Nina L. Kumar

Abstract When children are exposed to serious life adversities, Ed Zigler believed that developmental scientists must expediently strive to illuminate the most critical directions for beneficial interventions. In this paper, we present a new study on risk and resilience on adolescents during COVID-19, bookended – in introductory and concluding discussions – by descriptions of programmatic work anchored in lessons learned from Zigler. The new study was conducted during the first two months of the pandemic, using a mixed-methods approach with a sample of over 2,000 students across five high schools. Overall, rates of clinically significant symptoms were generally lower as compared to norms documented in 2019. Multivariate regressions showed that the most robust, unique associations with teens’ distress were with feelings of stress around parents and support received from them. Open ended responses to three questions highlighted concerns about schoolwork and college, but equally, emphasized worries about families’ well-being, and positive outreach from school adults. The findings have recurred across subsequent school assessments, and strongly resonate with contemporary perspectives on resilience in science and policy. If serious distress is to be averted among youth under high stress, interventions must attend not just to the children's mental health but that of salient caregiving adults at home and school. The article concludes with some specific recommendations for community-based initiatives to address mental health through continued uncertainties of the pandemic.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Shostak ◽  
Margarita Corral ◽  
Ann G. Ward ◽  
Alex Willett

This article describes a senior capstone, Neighborhoods and Health, which used community-based research (CBR) as its primary pedagogy. Students in the course drew upon multiple research methods and forms of data to provide our partner, the Urban Farming Institute of Boston, with an array of research products in support of the revitalization of a historic farm in the Boston neighborhood of Mattapan. Based on pre- and posttest assessment and analysis of students’ reflections in their journals, we identify how a multimethods approach—combined with a commitment to producing usable research products—simultaneously contributed to students’ research methods proficiency and their understanding of complex social processes. For both sociology departments and interdisciplinary majors that draw on sociological perspectives, CBR offers a compelling means of providing seniors with meaningful capstone experiences while adding capacity to the important work of community-based organizations.


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