ENRRICH researcher Dr. Roberta Woodgate has spent her impressive career focusing on families in Manitoba and across Canada. An early adopter of understanding the value and role of child, youth, and family partners, we asked her questions about the importance of involving partners in research, and about her recent knowledge translation videos focusing on respite care.

We are very excited to have the second year of the ENRRICH summer studentship underway! You can find more information and the application form here. For those interested in applying, we have compiled a few frequently asked questions answered by studentship committee member Alana Slike. Please note, applications MUST be submitted no later than 4:00 p.m. on April 5, 2024.

ENRRICH member Dr. Jacquie Ripat was recently announced as the new endowed chair in technology for assisted living. We spoke with Dr. Ripat about this new position, her research with assistive technology, and the importance of involving children and families throughout the research process.

ENRRICH member Dr. Mojgan Rastegar was recently awarded the Merit Award by the University of Manitoba. We asked Dr. Rastegar to tell us more about the award and her research.

The way I have been doing research has shifted over the years, from writing syntax in statistical programs at The Manitoba Research Data Centre on the Bannatyne campus and spending countless hours reading hundreds of studies, to ordering lemon potatoes and cheese trays. If anyone else is confused about this statement, let me provide some context.

Kristene Cheung is a clinical psychologist who works with children, adolescents, and their families at SSCY Centre. She is also a researcher at the University of Manitoba.

When working as an occupational therapist in my home country, there was an unwritten rule: never eat children’s food or snacks. Who wants to see a child cry after they tell you that you can eat their chips only to discover that they did not mean it? Not me!

Minoo Dabiri is a post-doctoral fellow in the occupational therapy department at the University of Manitoba.

At ENRRICH we love to highlight all the work our student researchers are doing. This summer we were lucky to have the recipients of our first ENRRICH studentship working on unique projects. We asked all four what they were working on and what they learned during the summer term. This year our students’ projects demonstrated the broad range of topics being researched by ENRRICH members. We’ll be featuring two students each month in September and October. The next two are featured in this blog.

At ENRRICH we love to highlight all the work our student researchers are doing. This summer we were lucky to have the recipients of our first ENRRICH studentship working on unique projects. We asked all four what they were working on and what they learned during the summer term. This year our students’ projects demonstrated the broad range of topics being researched by ENRRICH members. We’ll be featuring two students each month in September and October. The first two are featured below.

ENRRICH Co-lead Dr. Kelly Russell has dedicated her research career to understanding pediatric injuries, including how concussions affect children and youth through their lives. Research has shown that professional athletes and military personnel have a greater risk of mental health disorders and may struggle in life after having a concussion, multiple concussions, or repetitive head trauma. But professional athletes and military personnel are quite different than the child who gets one concussion playing soccer or who falls off their bike. We do not really know a lot about the long-term risks among youth who have a concussion. 

“When talking to families, it is important to remember that there is always a name before the diagnosis, a human who is valued and loved. In fact, for some of us, the diagnosis is merely a footnote.” (Maria, Parent partner) 

In preparing to write this blog, the parent advisory members met to discuss using lay language in research.  And as with many conversations involving patients and families, we came up with considerations rather than definitive answers. Read on to learn more about those considerations and how you can try to find the “right” words for your practice.

We are currently wrapping up Phase 1 of Connecting for Care, and the survey will close on June 30^th. This phase has involved the collection of survey data from individuals involved in child development and rehabilitation. If you are a researcher, clinician, a person who supports knowledge sharing, or a caregiver for a child with development or rehabilitation needs, and have not yet completed the survey, click on the link in the blog to participate before June 30, 2023.

Read on to meet our Summer Student Emma, and hear what she is excited to learn about.

For children with food allergy and their families, risk exists every time a child eats. A reaction could occur due to mislabeled foods, a serving spoon that wasn’t cleaned properly, or a young child whose innate desire to explore their world through sensory play leads to accidentally eating something to which they are allergic. These are only a few examples that could lead to a food allergic reaction.

At a conference a number of years ago, I was sitting over dinner with some colleagues in various health disciplines, all of whom have a role in enhancing children’s eating and drinking experience. I asked the question: “Would you stop eating if someone told you that you were at risk of an aspiration event?” Without hesitation, everyone at the table said: No! That got all of us thinking about eating in the face of risk and if there were strategies that we could employ to encourage more children who are traditionally tube fed to be at the table.

Lack of available language translation or interpretation can prevent people from participating in research. To design research that better reflects the diversity of the community that our research serves, it is important to tailor the recruitment approach to the needs of potential participants. This includes developing strategies to support language concordance to allow for participation in a wide variety of primary languages.

In today’s post, we hear from Dr. Paul Marcogliese about his important research involving fruit flies.

Read on to learn about fruit fly usage in human research, and their application to therapeutics and rehabilitation!

Whether you are a student applying for the ENRRICH Summer Studentship, or other studentship opportunities, it can be difficult to know how to reach out to potential supervisors. For today’s blog, we spoke with Dr. Jennifer Protudjer about her advice for students. Read on for all of her tips!

One of ENRRICH’s priorities is to support trainees to conduct research in the field of pediatric neurodevelopment and rehabilitation.

The purpose of the ENRRICH Summer Studentship is to recognize and prioritize the valuable skills and knowledge that comes from life experience. It has been developed to support principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and justice, and to enhance participation of groups who have been historically and systematically marginalized and excluded from studentship participation at the University of Manitoba.

Two studentships will be available per competition, and selections will be made by a two-round lottery system.

Recently, Dr. Lauren Kelly shared some thoughts on Twitter (@PharmaLauren), reflecting on her first five years as a researcher. We reached out to see whether she’d be willing to share with our members and readers, thinking her words would resonate.

In the spirit of the New Year, we asked her a few more questions about upcoming projects and resolutions. Read on to learn more!

Our project title is Using social network analysis to understand knowledge translation in child development and rehabilitation.

The goal of this work is to improve families’ access to safe, effective health care.