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.

What's Inside

  1. PolicyWise' Inspiring Connections: Research and Practice Showcase is November 29. Register today!
  2. Understanding the barriers to sharing data across studies
  3. Apply for a $5K Secondary Data Use Funding Grant
  4. The Current State of Data Sharing: An Alberta Perspective
  5. Help Line for First Nations and Inuit children and youth launched
  6. PolicyWise developed tools for schools support welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environments
  7. Final Report: Indigenous Women's Economic Security and Well-Being in Alberta
  8. Preventing depression during pregnancy
  9. Child Welfare Research Portal: Friend support and long-term psychological impacts of surviving child maltreatment; A cultural approach to child welfare practice within American Indian/Alaskan Native communities
  10. 2016 RESOLVE Conference recorded keynotes now available
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Showcase2Last chance to register for The PolicyWise Research and Practice Showcase 
 
November 29, 2016 ~ 8:15 am to 4:30 pm ~ Lunch provided
Edmonton and via live webcast

This showcase involves:
  • A facilitated conversation on the importance of evidence-informed policy with GOA Deputy Ministers; Dr. Carl Amrhein, Health, Dr. Curtis Clarke, Education and David Morhart, Human Services. This panel will be Chaired by Dr. Pierre-Gerlier Forest, Director and Palmer Chair, School of Public Policy, University of Calgary
  • A group of Alberta researchers, whose work was supported by PolicyWise, will share their key scientific learnings and experiences engaging policy and decision makers. Research areas include: Maternal, Child and Family Health, Indigenous Populations, Child Development, Mental Health and Access to Services
     
  • Opportunity to connect, network and collaborate with researchers, policy makers and communities working in areas of similar interest
     
  • Launch of SAGE, a secure digital platform to share research and community data
     
  • Scientific Cafe: An opportunity to hear the evidence related to specific topic areas. These projects were also funded by PolicyWise
There is no fee to attend in person or via webcast.
All are welcome. 
Click here to register.





BarriersThe ACCESS Study: Looking to better understand barriers to sharing data across studies

Open Science is the new watchword in contemporary science. It calls for scientific research and its data to be widely accessible. But sharing isn't always easy - and health data is different: it's confidential and cannot be released openly. Moreover, research cultures and contexts in different countries impact data sharing. The ACCESS study team is exploring these impacts internationally. The team is particularly keen to explore the Canadian context, with its wealth of well-established longitudinal studies.

The ACCESS study is an interview study that aims to better understand the barriers and facilitators to data sharing among biobanks and longitudinal studies. ACCESS is led by Professor Madeleine Murtagh Head of the Data to Knowledge (D2K) research group in the School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, UK (www.bristol.ac.uk/d2k).

The ACCESS study began by considering stakeholder experiences within Europe and is now seeking to compare these experiences to those of researchers and other professionals working with biobanks and longitudinal studies internationally. We are now recruiting participants in Canada. Interviews take between 20 and 30 minutes to complete (longer if a participant wishes). Experienced social scientists from D2K will conduct the interviews.

If you are interested in taking part in the study, please contact the project leads to receive further information and an interview time.  Prof Madeleine Murtagh,  Project Lead, madeleine.murtagh@bristol.ac.uk  or  Dr Joel Minion,  Social Scientist/Interviewer, joel.minion@bristol.ac.uk.


SAGEGrant
SAGE - Secondary Data Use Funding Opportunity

SAGE, a data initiative at PolicyWise, is a data and research platform that enables the secondary use of data related to child and youth development, health and well-being. SAGE is requesting proposals for their Secondary Data Use Grant. This grant provides $5000 to five successful applications to undertake research utilizing research data that is stored and managed by SAGE. 

For more information about this grant, please go to our websiteDeadline for this grant is January 30, 2017 at 4:00 pm. 

If you have any questions about the SAGE Secondary Use Grant, please contact the SAGE team at data@policywise.com .


DataSharingThe Current State of Data Sharing

The global movement toward data sharing is gaining momentum. An increasing number of governments and research communities are developing initiatives and policies to promote data sharing and greater access to data, recognizing their enormous potential for scientific, social, and economic growth. 

For government, data sharing is the core of their Open Government and Open Data initiatives. Open data is "data that can be freely used, re-used, and redistributed by anyone- subject only, at most, to the requirement that preserve provenance and openness". 

For the research community, while open data is desirable, various types of data require special considerations (i.e. protection of participant privacy and confidentiality) and cannot be re-used or redistributed as openly. As a result, research data sharing occurs at varying levels of openness. 

While advancing technologies have made data sharing possible, a number of factors must be considered prior to developing and adopting data sharing policies within the research community. There are multiple stakeholders that can play a role in policy development, each with their own set of responsibilities. The paper, The Current State of Data Sharing  focuses on the considerations required at the level of the research funder.


For more information, please visit the  SAGE area on The PolicyWise website or contact  SAGE staff at data@policywise.com.

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HelpLineHelp Line for First Nations and Inuit children, youth and young adults launched

A new national help line has recently been launched to support Canada First Nations and Inuit communities. The Hope for Wellness Help Line will provide immediate, culturally competent telephone-based crisis intervention counselling to First Nations and Inuit young people and adults experiencing distress. Help Line calls will be answered by experienced crisis intervention counsellors, and service will be available in English and French. Callers may also ask about the availability of service in Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut.

Callers can access the Help Line 24/7 effective immediately. 
The toll-free phone number for the line is 1-855-242-3310.





WCRSLETools f or schools support welcoming, caring, respectful, safe learning environments for ALL students 

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.

EconomicSecurity Indigenous Women's Economic Security and Well-Being

In the summer of 2014, Blue Quills First Nations College (now University nuhelot'įne thaiyots'į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills, UnBQ) was awarded funding from Alberta Human Services through PolicyWise for Children & Families to research the relationship between community disparity and Indigenous women's economic security. The purpose of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of how Indigenous women, in the northeastern region of Alberta, feel and think about the economic welfare of their respective communities. The research project was completed within Cree ontology and was started in Cree ceremony. The Indigenous research method chosen was circle process. One hundred and twenty-six participants were brought together in community circles and key informant interviews spanning across ten First Nation, Métis, and Dene communities. Ages of participants ranged from 18 to 85.

The researchers set out to understand how Cree, Dene, and Métis women felt and thought about the economy in which they live and work and to hear what their views and aspirations were regarding their future.


DepressionDepression during Pregnancy


Written by Caitlin Crawshaw ( Apple Magazine, Fall 2016)

Depression during pregnancy has been linked to health issues in mothers and babies. In babies, these include premature birth and low birth weight.

Helping mothers and babies early is critical. Social factors such as poverty and discrimination put Indigenous women at a higher risk of depression, but there's been little research on how they fare during pregnancy.

With research funding from Alberta Innovates - Health Solutions,  Amrita Roy hoped to change that. She interviewed Indigenous women and health service providers, and analyzed information from thousands of  Alberta women of all ethnic backgrounds. Roy is a student in the  Leaders in Medicine MD/PhD program at the University of Calgary . She is also a PolicyWise for Children and Families funded researcher.

Her study showed that Indigenous women are much more likely to be depressed during pregnancy and they are often reluctant to get help out of fear of discrimination. Roy's research also identified some factors that could help prevent depression in pregnant Indigenous women, including social support and involvement in traditional cultural practices.

Roy says a bigger-picture approach is needed: "We need programs and public policies that address the social determinants of health, such as racism, sexism, intergenerational trauma from residential schools, and factors such as housing and economic inequality."


CWRPCanadian Child Research Portal: Research Watch

Friend support and long-term psychological impacts of surviving child maltreatment

This four wave longitudinal study investigated how friend support at age 14 and different forms of child maltreatment may impact the psychological distress trajectory of youth from age 14 to 24. A total of 1400 students from the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec were randomly selected from public and private high schools to participate in the study. Of those selected, a total sample of 1176 students completed the initial questionnaire and 605 of which received further consent to participate in the longitudinal study. Response rates for each wave were 84% (2002), 67.4% (2004), 68.3% (2006), and 61.2% (2012).
 
Findings indicated that the decline in psychological distress was greater in later adolescence (18 to 24 years of age), compared to the period between 14 and 17 years of age (Hypothesis 1). Overall, girls were found to show higher levels of psychological distress than boys (Hypothesis 2). Child maltreatment, as measured by this study, was found to be a serious risk factor that had a detrimental long-term impact on levels of psychological distress when compared with non-maltreated youth. Results also indicated that exposure to intimate partner violence might have a stronger impact on distress levels than sexual and physical abuse. Child sexual abuse had a more long-term negative effect on levels of distress than physical abuse. The experience of one or more forms of maltreatment increased the overall level of distress, but did not impact the rate at which their distress diminished over time (Hypothesis 3). Friend support at the age of 14 years was found to be related to lower levels of psychological distress for both maltreated and non-maltreated participants over the course of the study (Hypothesis 4).


A cultural approach to child welfare practice within American Indian/Alaska Native communities

Few studies have been published that focus specifically on examining child welfare practices within American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) communities. The purpose of this study was to fill this gap by conducting research on understanding the ways in which Tribal Child Welfare Programs (TCWPs) integrate tribal culture into child welfare practice. TCWPs are located within AIAN communities and are structured similarly to state child welfare agencies in that the mandate for practice and service provision is to prioritize the safety and well-being of children over all other concerns.

This study used a qualitative meta-synthesis methodological approach to answer the following research questions: (1) Are there elements of tribal child welfare practice that are distinctly cultural and different from child welfare practice in non-tribal contexts? and (2) How is tribal culture and context expressed in tribal child protection services practice? Given the lack of published research, the sample included only three studies conducted from 2010 to 2013 but included data from over 75 TCWPs. Within these studies, data was collected from workers in tribal-run programs and Bureau of Indian Affairs-administered programs. The authors analyzed data using Noblit and Hare's (2008) meta-ethnographic approach to qualitative synthesis and Aquirre and Bolton's (2014) qualitative interpretative meta-synthesis (QIMS) approach.

Four themes emerged that describe the practice elements in TCWPs that are different from child welfare practice in non-tribal settings. The tribal approach to practice incorporated: (1) cultural values (e.g., "being of service to one's people"); (2) cultural definition of native child well-being (e.g., "being nurtured and protected by family, kinship network, and community); (3) intentions of tribal child welfare practice (e.g., "preserving tribal culture by strengthening children's cultural knowledge and cultural involvement); and (4) practice mechanisms for incorporating culture (e.g., "use of cultural self" and "worker relatedness"). These themes formed the basis for a Tribal Child Welfare Practice Framework.




RESOLVERESOLVE 2016 Conference Presentations now available 

PolicyWise for Children & Families supported The 2016 RESOLVE Research Conference, Indigenous Healing and Trauma: Intergenerational Solutions, by webcasting its keynote speakers and presentation on Promoting resilience among Aboriginal youth through healthy relationships' programming. Keynotes were recorded and are available on the PolicyWise website. 


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