FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ALL WE ARE DOING
TARGETED FOR CHILDREN
7-12 YEARS
backwards
is STRESSED
...but there's
nothing sweet
about it!
Assessing Health Equity in an evualuation of two parenting programs
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OUR CURRENT PROJECTS
Please select from our current project list below
Stress Workshop for Children
Coming Soon …
The Strong Families lab at McMaster University has developed and will be facilitating psychoeducational stress workshops, ‘DESSERTS spelled backwards is STRESSED, but there’s not much sweet about it!’ that are targeted for children aged 7-12 years.
Our goal is to work with organizations to provide opportunities for children to learn about where stress comes from, good stress versus bad stress, and strategies on how children can help themselves work through their own stress.
Scoping Review
Analyzing the Engagement of Racial and Ethnic Minority Children in Mental Health Services: A Focus on Barriers and Facilitators.
The objective of this scoping review was to identify barriers and facilitators related to the engagement of racial and ethnic minority children and their caregivers in mental health services.
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Process
- 2 independent reviewers assessed each article
- 7286 articles were screened and assessed
- 18 articles met the inclusion criteria
Mental Health Inequities Knowledge Mobilization
Research Question:
How do we improve engagement of marginalized families in mental health services?
For the past 3 years researchers from McMaster University’s Offord Centre for Child Studies have been exploring why most community organizations are struggling to engage marginalized families in services through:
- Health Equity Impact Assessments
- Scoping Review
- Parents under Pressure (PuP)
Recommendations
- Systemic – increase resource allocations
- Community – raise community awareness of services
- Families – develop services that address their needs holistically
Health Equity Impact Assessments (HEIAs)
Health Equity Impact Assessments (HEIAs) should be conducted prior ti implementing new policy, programming, or initiatives.
McMaster’s Offord Centre for Child Studies evaluated two group-based parenting programs to access health equity of caregivers to young children.
Conducting a HEIA:
- A review of the published literature and unpublished agency documents.
- Interviews with the agency and community members.
- A synthesis of findings.
- An evaluation of the impact of strategies.
Parents under Pressure (PuP)
Pregnancy to early years – A qualitative examination of barriers and facilitators to perinatal services for at-risk women.
Social determinants of health (SDoH) are social;, economical, and structural factors that affect health and may increase health inequities for mothers and children.
- Pregnant individuals facing SDoH seek prenatal care late and are at increased risk of mental health issues.
- In Canada, pathways to services and provisions of evidence-based programming are not well articulated.
Process
- Conduct an environmental scan of organizations
- Agencies respond to questions
- Scan highlighted a lack of consistent programming for at-risk perinatal individuals
MIRA-iGen Study
The McMaster Institute for Research on Aging – Intergenerational Study (MIRA-iGeN) has officially launched in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area (GTHA). The study aims to create an intergenerational cohort that includes grandparents, their children, and their grandchildren. This intergenerational research platform will enable us to gain a better understanding of the origin, progression, and transmission of disease and help us develop interventions to improve health and well-being of individuals across many generations.
Promoting Healthy Families
The Promoting Healthy Families study has completed participant recruitment for the parenting programs offered at various agencies in Ontario.
We have a total of 517 participants, who have either completed the parenting programs and study visits; are currently attending the parenting programs or are in one of the follow-up stages of the study. We are so appreciative of every participant for taking part in this study on whether and how parenting programs help families, which in turn will help other caregivers and children in the future.
The purpose of the study is to understand if families with children between 2-6 years old benefit from one of two parenting programs, the Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) or the Circle of Security. Both programs offer ways for caregivers to develop practical skills which can help decrease challenging behaviours and emotions in young children, and help caregivers have a better relationship with their child.
Resources:
NEWS
Répercussions de la pandémie de la COVID-19 sur les familles ontariennes ayant des enfants :Suivi du sondage auprès des parents de l’Ontario (SPO3) de l’automne 2022
L’objectif du présent rapport est de résumer les constatations de notre troisième sondage auprès des parents de l’Ontario (SPO3), un sondage de suivi mené du 24 août au 9 novembre 2022, environ un an et deux ans après nos premier (SPO1; 2020) et deuxième (SPO2; 2021) sondages auprès des parents de l’Ontario, respectivement. La collecte […]
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Ontario Families with Children: Ontario Parent Survey (OPS3)
The purpose of the present report is to summarize the findings of our third Ontario Parent Survey (OPS3), a follow-up survey conducted from August 24th to November 9th, 2022, approximately one- and two-years after our first (OPS1; 2020), and second (OPS2; 2021) Ontario Parent Surveys, respectively. Data collection for the OPS3 took place during the […]
Katrina Abela
A huge congratulations to our Strong Families doctoral student, Katrina Abela, on being awarded the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral (CGS-D). Katrina is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Gonzalez within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University. Katrina’s research focuses on how preventative intervention can […]
Scoping Review
Analyzing the Engagement of Racial and Ethnic Minority Children in Mental Health Services: A Focus on Barriers and Facilitators. The objective of this scoping review was to identify barriers and facilitators related to the engagement of racial and ethnic minority children and their caregivers in mental health services. Process Click here to see the full […]
Mental Health Inequities Knowledge Mobilization
Watch our video on improving engagement on mental health services. PDF Click her for more information
Health Equity Impact Assessments (HEIAs)
Health Equity Impact Assessments (HEIAs) should be conducted prior ti implementing new policy, programming, or initiatives. McMaster’s Offord Centre for Child Studies evaluated two group-based parenting programs to access health equity of caregivers to young children. Conducting a HEIA: ENG Infographic FRE Infographic
Coming Soon…
The Strong Families lab at McMaster University has developed and will be facilitating psychoeducational stress workshops, ‘DESSERTS spelled backwards is STRESSED, but there’s not much sweet about it!’ that are targeted for children aged 7-12 years. Our goal is to work with organizations to provide opportunities for children to learn about where stress comes from, […]
McMaster Institute for Research on Aging – Intergenerational Study (MIRA-iGeN)
The McMaster Institute for Research on Aging – Intergenerational Study (MIRA-iGeN) has officially launched in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area (GTHA). The study aims to create an intergenerational cohort that includes grandparents, their children, and their grandchildren to investigate how family networks and intergenerational relationships impact health and aging, and to examine how biological, […]
Promoting Healthy Families
The Promoting Healthy Families study completed the final wave of recruitment for the parenting programs offered at various agencies in Ontario. We have a total of 517 participants, who have either completed the programs and study visits; are attending the parenting programs or are in one of the follow-up stages of the study. We are […]
The 2014 Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS)
Project summary: The research team recently published a manuscript in the journal of Child Abuse & Neglect, using data collected from the 2014 Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS). The 2014 OCHS is a province-wide study of child and youth health. The current paper includes data from almost 3,000 youth (age 14-17) and their parents. The […]