Overview
In this episode of asPERusual, host Anna Chudyk sits down with Carrie Costello, Annette Majnemer and Gillian Backlin from the CHILD-BRIGHT Network. Our discussion includes:
An overview of CHILD-BRIGHT, including its key activities and ways to get involved;
Different ways in which CHILD-BRIGHT is actively seeking to increase diversity within their network;
Practical considerations for engaging with youth and families in research - from initiating relationships to evaluating engagement work.
Tips for fostering authenticity, respect, and reciprocity, and creating environments where engagement can thrive.
The CHILD-BRIGHT Network is a pan-Canadian patient-oriented research network based at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Created in 2016, it works to create brighter futures for children and youth with brain-based developmental disabilities and their families. Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) under Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) and 15 funding partners across the country, this national network includes 500 researchers, clinicians, decision-makers, youth, and parents.
Meet our guests
Carrie Costello is the Implementation Support Coordinator for The Center for Implementation. She is a graduate of the University of Victoria BFA program and came into research after her middle child was diagnosed early in life with a profound intellectual disability and a seizure disorder. She has been a parent partner in research on over 15 projects and is the primary co-investigator on two of these research studies. She specializes in facilitating conversations with children and youth. Carrie is the parent liaison for the CHILD-BRIGHT Network and previously was the Patient Engagement Coordinator at the Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. In 2023, she won the Frank Gavin Patient Engagement Leadership Award and the Made With Patients Rising Star award for her work. Carrie is also an award-winning playwright for young audiences and an avid puppeteer
Annette Majnemer, OT, PhD, FCAHS is an occupational therapist with doctoral training in the neurosciences. She is Professor at the School of Physical & Occupational Therapy, a Senior Scientist at the Research Institute - McGill University Health Centre (Montreal Children’s Hospital), and a member of Montreal’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation. She is the nominated principal investigator of CHILD-BRIGHT, a CIHR SPOR Network with patient-oriented research focused on children with brain-based disabilities and their families. CHILD-BRIGHT’s mission is to foster a movement for change: moving patients into research teams, moving research into improved practice and policy, and moving children and families forward towards brighter futures.
Gillian Backlin is a member of the CHILD-BRIGHT Network’s National Youth Advocate Council and serves on other panels and committees within CHILD-BRIGHT, where she uses her skills and draws from lived experience to contribute. Gillian has completed the technical writing certificate at the British Columbia Institute of Technology and currently works as a research assistant while pursuing her bachelor's degree in public health. She also manages an online platform called Spastic & Fantastic to share her life and raise awareness about the stigmas associated with labels, such as “disabled.” In her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends, family, and her dog.
Email the host (Anna M. Chudyk): anna.asperusual@gmail.com
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