Child Health & Well-Being Program
The Child Health and Well-Being Program is an interdisciplinary research
initiative that focuses on a broad range of topics.
Those topics include:
- The social determinants of child and family health
- Studies of children with chronic illnesses and the consequences
for them and their families
- Studies of psychosocial interventions
The approach to these research questions involves several different research methods: survey questionnaires and interviews, qualitative interviews, psychometric tests and assessments and economic impact analysis.
Research
The focus of most of the Program’s research is on children living in
the community.
Some projects identify risk and protective factors for children’s
health problems.
For example, Dr. M. Karen Campbell, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics,
has received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to
identify psychosocial, nutritional and endocrine risk factors for pre-term
birth. Her team has been conducting interviews with more than 2,700 pregnant
women, from their first ultrasound at 12-20 weeks gestation, through delivery
and until their child is three years old. The study will identify factors
associated with pre-term birth and determine the impact on children’s
health and development.
Other research focuses on the consequences of childhood illness
for children’s quality of life and the well-being of their families.
Dr. Kathy Nixon Speechley, Department of Paediatrics, is supported by
the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to study the impact of epilepsy
on children’s quality of life. Her team is contacting the families
of children with epilepsy from several cities across Canada to complete
surveys that will provide detailed information on the experiences of these
children and their families.
Still other studies examine the effects of various social trends
on maternal and child health. Dr. William. R. Avison, Department
of Sociology, is supported by both the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
and Health Canada’s Health Policy Research Program to examine the
impact of single parenthood on parents’ and children’s health.
His team is relocating and interviewing more than 1,000 mothers and their
children who were part of the largest study of single-parent families
in Canada. That study initially interviewed these families 14 years ago,
and the new study will determine whether there are long-term effects of
single parenthood on health.
Benefits of Improved Health
Population health, epidemiologic and psychosocial research of this nature
provides us with crucial information about conditions and experiences
in the community that put children at greater risk for various health
and developmental problems. If we can identify important risk and protective
factors, it may be possible to suggest social programs and social policies
that could reduce exposure to these risks, or increase protective factors
that prevent illness or disease. The importance of these studies is that
they tell us a great deal about the health of our society and the risks
that children encounter in everyday life.
Studies of the consequences of serious illnesses for children’s
lives are also important because they alert us to the needs of children
with health problems. They also suggest changes in the delivery of health
and social services to better meet the needs of these children.
Unique aspects of the program
1. The Child Health and Well-Being Program is an interdisciplinary program
in which there are many strong collaborations across the areas of expertise.
2. Many of the scientists and associate scientists collaborate with other
researchers in other CHRI programs, such as Fetal and Newborn Health and
Developmental Biology.
3. This program has strong ties with a number of children’s services
in the Greater London area. This means the research produced by the Child
Health and Well-Being Program often has immediate relevance for children
in our community.
Our Team
Chair:
Dr. William R. Avison
Scientist:
Dr. Kathy Speechley
Associate Scientists:
Dr. Prudence Allen
Dr. Helene Berman
Dr. Karen Campbell
Dr. Graham Chance
Dr. Lorraine Davies
Dr. Sandra Fisman
Dr. Marilyn Ford-Gilboe
Dr. Elizabeth Hayden
Dr. Carol Herbert
Dr. Alan Leschied
Dr. Greg Moran
Dr. David Pederson
Dr. Jan Polgar
Dr. Graham Reid
Dr. Moira Stewart
Dr. Evelyn Vingilis
Dr. Vicki Wolfe
Research Associate:
Mr. Jamie Seabrook
