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Our Vision
Alberta is a leader in creating and mobilizing evidence to ensure the well-being of children.
Our Mission
To develop and integrate evidence to inform, identify and promote effective public policy and service delivery to improve the well-being of children, families and communities in Alberta, Canada and internationally.
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l-r: The Honourable Irfan Sabir, Minister of Alberta Human Services, joins PolicyWise' President and CEO, Robyn Blackadar, in welcoming Dr. James Talbot as Chair of the organization and thanking outgoing Chair, Dr. Roger Palmer, for his five years of service.
New name and Chair creates excitement
Two significant changes took place at The Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research Annual General Meeting on Friday, September 23 in Edmonton. A new name, PolicyWise for Children & Families, was ratified by Members of the organization, and Dr. James Talbot, former Chief Medical Officer of Health for Alberta and Nunavut, was elected to replace Dr. Roger Palmer as the organization's Chair.
"The name PolicyWise emphasizes our organization's long-term role in creating and mobilizing evidence to inform social policy," said Robyn Blackadar, President and CEO of PolicyWise. "And, we will benefit from Dr. Talbot's extensive knowledge of the social determinants of health and his commitment to evidence-informed decisions to improve the well-being of Albertans."
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The Supporting Every Student Series is complete with professional learning opportunities for school staff and education leaders. The series was developed with an aim of providing the tools necessary to create and enhance welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environments that improve student success and well-being.
The series provides access to information on research and evidence-based practices through recorded "TedTalk" style presentations and conversation guides.
There are 25 sessions within eight topics that can be accessed below.
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Highly successful Call receives 160 proposals.
Reviewers are needed.
An overwhelming response to the Maternal Newborn Child and Youth (MNCY) Strategic Clinical Network Call for Proposals was received.
MNCY is now seeking the expertise of external grant reviewers to ensure that applicants receive fair, objective and constructive feedback on their research projects. In addition, this feedback facilitates judicious allocation of resources and ensures transparency in the grant review process.
Interested reviewers will receive full electronic applications the week of October 3rd, with a final review deadline of November 18, 2016.
We request that reviewers provide feedback on at least five applications to accurately assess the quality of each application. Applications consist of a six-page proposal plus supporting documents related to team composition and budget. Reviews are completed electronically; you will be asked to provide numeric ratings in several categories and to provide written comments where appropriate.
If you have any questions about the review process or to express interest, please contact Courtney Lundy at [email protected] by Friday, October 7.
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2015/16 Annual Report Released
Our 2015/16 Annual Report is now available. You can also review funded research projects that were initiated, ongoing and completed over the fiscal year. We've also created a report that details the activities and results of our in-house managed projects and initiatives.
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Elevate your research to the next level with SAGE
SAGE, Secondary Analysis to Generate Evidence, is a data and research platform that enables the secondary use of data related to child and youth development, health and well-being. It is an initiative of PolicyWise for Children & Families (PolicyWise).
For Data Producers (researchers that wish to deposit their data),
SAGE
:
- supports metadata development and data validation
- takes the administrative burden of sharing off the shoulders of the Data Producer
- tailors sharing possibilities according to the Data Producer's needs
- ensures ethical use and privacy of participants
- acknowledges researchers and tracks impact when data is reused
- helps increase research productivity
For Secondary Users (researchers wanting to access datasets),
SAGE
:
- reduces the need to collect redundant data, making it a cost and resource-effective way to move your research forward
- facilitates collaboration between the Secondary User and Data Producer
- provides support for data analytics and knowledge mobilization by leveraging the Centre's expertise in secondary research
- ensures the highest return on public funding and population resources
Work with SAGE to help improve outcomes for Alberta's children, youth, families and communities by using and combining data in new ways to inform social, educational and health policy, practice and service planning.
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Evaluation of Skills for Psychological Recovery Training Program now available
The 2013 flood in southern Alberta demonstrated the crucial importance of providing psychosocial supports to people affected by disaster, and of the readiness to provide these services at any time. Following the flood, Alberta's Ministry of Health supported the implementation of the
Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR) Training Program to help flood survivors to cope with the mental and emotional impacts of their flood experiences.
The SPR Program - which was used in the US after hurricanes Katrina and Rita (2004) and hurricane Gustav (2008), and Australia after the Victorian bush fires (2009) - is an evidence-informed approach to supporting those with mild to moderate distress following a disaster. The program helps to cultivate five skills that are commonly related to improved recovery in post-disaster situations, including: problem-solving, positive activity scheduling, managing reactions, helpful thinking, and building healthy social connections.
PolicyWise for Children & Families has been working to evaluate and to generate evidence about the effectiveness of the SPR Training Program and to contribute to its appropriate implementation in Alberta.
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Mentoring: It's Catching On in Banff this November
Canadian mentoring partners collaborate to host national mentoring symposium
Come to Banff and be revitalized...fortified...energized.
Connect...network...share ideas with like-minded professionals.
Have your key program issues addressed by mentoring experts.
3
days
of sharing, dialogue, learning, practicing and growing.
4 keynotes
exploring, diving deep and going one step beyond.
6 researchers
from across Canada and the US whose work focuses on mentoring.
15 concurrent sessions
with 1001 ideas for you to think about, analyze and use.
20 organizations
to "speed date" with and discuss mentoring successes.
300+ Canadians
uniting, and making a difference in mentoring.
The registration fee includes:
- Three breakfasts, three lunches, and morning and afternoon breaks
- A catered opening evening reception
- Four keynote presentations, 15 concurrent sessions and 20 Cracker Barrel sessions
- Access to the Research Forum
- Networking opportunities with agency leaders, mentoring professionals, policy makers and the research community
- Delegate bag, free gifts
- Outstanding views (all meeting and guest rooms overlook Alberta's Rocky Mountains)
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Research Watch
An initiative of the Child Welfare Research Portal
Normative and problematic sexualized behaviours among children and youth in the child welfare system
Sexualized behaviours can be observed throughout childhood and adolescence. In this study, the authors examined the patterns of normative sexualized behaviours (NSB) and problematic sexualized behaviours (PSB) among boys and girls in a high-risk child welfare sample. More...
The impact of childhood maltreatment on depressive and anxiety disorders: Examining personal characteristics, childhood maltreatment domains, and remission
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between childhood maltreatment and personality characteristics in order to determine the chance of remission of depressive and anxiety disorders in adults. Data was gathered from a longitudinal cohort study (Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety) that included 2,981 participants, aged 18-65 years. The study reports data from baseline, 2-year, and 4-year follow-up assessments of adults who had a depressive and/or anxiety disorder within the past 6 months (the response rate was 49.4%; n=1,474). More...
KEEP parent training program leads to reduction in caregiver reporting of problematic child behaviour and increase in placement stability
Sixty-five foster and kinship caregivers in Maryland, USA participated in a 16-week caregiver training intervention, Keeping Foster Parents Trained and Supported (KEEP). This intervention teaches foster and kinship caregivers skills to reduce and manage child problem behaviours. The authors measured the impact of the intervention on child behavioural problems, parenting style, placement stability, and permanency. More...
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