|
In
writing the RDI proposal to receive project
funding, the co-investigators worked to identify
areas of mutual or interrelated research interest
that could draw on and inform different theoretical
orientations and knowledge bases. Within the
broad interest in child and family health and
well-being, three meaningful groupings of
complementary research questions were
created.
Each
co-investigator is aligned with a working group,
although there is much overlap, reflecting the
interdependencies among factors that impact on the
lives of children, youth and families. Across
the three areas, our inquiries are also informed by
an understanding of the multicultural richness of
Canadian society, the impact of immigration on
health and well-being and the challenges faced by
First Nations communities.
Determinants
of optimal health and development in the early
childhood years:
In
their careers, co-investigators in this group
conduct research on infant and child language
development, the impact of parental and
non-parental child care environments on young
children, early literacy, breast feeding,
epidemiological studies of child health and the
identification of learning disability in the
preschool and early school years.
These
factors have been shown to contribute to measures
of children's subsequent school readiness and
success.
The
group is addressing the underlying lack of
systematic work that has been done on the
interaction among these factors.
Two
of the past activities implemented by this group
are two speaker series: "Another Look at Human
Development" (ANLAHD) and "Multiple Lenses,
Multiple Images: Perspectives on the Child Across
Time, Space and Disciplines" (Green College)
.
Violence
prevention:
In
Canada every year, more than 50 children and about
100 women die as a direct result of family
abuse. Animal abuse is also a serious
problem. Overlap between these different
types of abuse has been estimated at over
50%. U.S. researchers such as Frank Ascione
have begun to explore the linkages between the
various types of abuse with a view to improving
early detection and intervention.
The
interdisciplinary representation on this working
group includes nursing, social work, education and
animal welfare. The community agencies
represented are Vancouver General Hospital, BC
Institute Against Family Violence, BC/Yukon Society
of Transition Houses, and the SPCA.
"Linkages
between child, wife and animal abuse" is the stated
research focus of the violence prevention
group. Research in this area has just begun,
and there is considerable scope for
expansion. The major goals of this working
group include (1) the development of further
interdisciplinary linkages and expanded community
partnerships, and (2) the development of a more
focused research agenda.
The
group cosponsored a symposium at the Humane Society
Conference in Vancouver in May, 2000. The
symposium, entitled "Exploring the Links between
Human Violence and Animal Abuse", aimed to 1)
increase health professionals' awareness of the
links between human violence and animal abuse, and
2) expand the network of professionals interested
in pursuing this topic further.
A
literature review related to the links among animal
and human violence was conducted, and the group is
preparing proposals related to furthering this
research, with a focus on risk assessment.
Participation
of young people in health and community
development:
Children
and youth rarely have the opportunity to
participate fully in decisions that affect their
lives. The theoretical literature on participatory
models only infrequently mention children and
youth. In contrast, children and youth advocates
reiterate that cities need to be planned and
managed as if children and youth mattered and that
health programs need to be delivered with children
and youth in mind.
This
group is undertaking an exploratory study to define
what participation means in this context, address
why children and youth should be involved, identify
barriers to children's and youth participation,
provide examples of effective participation models
for children and youth and develop a set of
research questions that could be investigated in
further studies.
The
group has carried out focus group interviews with
different youth organizations to identify some of
the working models that these groups have for
engagement in community development work. The
resulting research paper is being reviewed by the
editors of a Planning journal.
|
