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Happy January everyone!
As we step into 2025, I want to ask: What are your family engagement goals this year?
In this field, opportunities to learn seem endless—webinars, workshops, blogs, and more, offered by organizations with valuable resources. Amid all this activity, it’s worth pausing to reflect on something essential that the Family Engagement in Research Training Program emphasizes: the importance of building a support community.
Whether you’re a person with lived experience who partners in research or a researcher seeking guidance for more meaningful family engagement, having a network to lean on can make all the difference. That’s why I encourage you to take one intentional step this year: reach out to someone who shares your commitment to this work.
It could be a quick email, a Zoom or Teams meeting, or even an in-person chat over coffee. Make the time to connect. When we invest in relationships, we empower ourselves and each other to grow, learn, and create lasting impact.
Here’s to a year of meaningful connections and strengthened communities.
Need some help building your community? Connect with me!
Warmest regards,
Rae Martens
Knowledge Broker
Research Engagement Strategist
| Request a Chat With Our Knowledge Broker Rae Martens | |
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Looking for Lived Experience Opportunities in this Newsletter?
Look for the "🌟" to find highlighted opportunities.
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FER Community Opportunities | |
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Now Accepting Workshop and Webinar Abstracts for the 2025 FER Knowledge Exchange Community of Practice Schedule 🌟
Patient and Family Partners Can Submit Too!
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🌟 Calling all graduates of the FER Course and FER Leadership Academy! 🌟
The FER Knowledge Exchange Community of Practice is seeking abstracts for upcoming webinars and workshops on family engagement. Share your insights, innovative practices, and lived experiences to help foster meaningful conversations and learning.
📢 Who can submit?
- Graduates and Instructors from the FER Training Program (FER Course)
📅 A few example topics include:
- Collaborative research strategies
- Engaging diverse voices
- Best practices in family engagement
Let’s work together to advance family engagement and create impact! Submit your abstract today by clicking the button below.
| Defining the Scope:Developing Mindful Lived Experience Partnerships for Health Research Ecosystems in an Era of Misinformation 🌟 | |
Many people are familiar with the term 'practicing within scope,' which refers to the services, knowledge, skills, and expertise specific to a particular role. But how do we define the scope of practice for research partners, especially in an era of widespread misinformation?
Join Rae Martens, Knowledge Broker for the FER Training Program, for a discussion on empowering health research partners as brokers of knowledge within the scope of their lived experience. Rae will also explore how researchers and clinicians can support and empower these partners to build their skills in understanding the research process as they start out as partners in this complex world.
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🌟Have an Engagement Challenge You're Working Through? Seeking To Design Something New?
Book a free consult with Rae Martens our Knowledge Broker.
Where possible, Rae provides support for partnership matchmaking, research collaborations, and knowledge mobilization planning. For support consider booking a consult by emailing Rae at martensr@mcmaster.ca
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Did you know that the Family Engagement Program has a blog on engagement? You can read and subscribe here.
The team is currently seeking researchers and partners who may wish to share their experiences, or best practices.
This is an opportunity for us to learn from you!
Submissions can be sent to Rae at martensr@mcmaster.ca
(1000 words maximum. Themes can vary.) 🌟
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Nicole Dauz and Brenda Blais Co-Chairs of the Canadian Caregivers Advisory Network 🌟 | |
FER Graduate and current instructor Brenda Blais was recently appointed as the new co-chair of Caregivers CAN! Brenda will be leading the advocacy group alongside fellow FER graduate Nicole Dauz, who has been co-chair since Jan 2024. | |
Two FER Graduates Share Why Working Together Makes Us better: Including Experience in Research 🌟 | |
In this podcast, FER Course graduate Olaf Kraus de Camargo discusses his paper "Working together makes us better: Including lived experience in research" with guest FER Course graduate and instructor Elizabeth Chambers. | |
Congratulations to Rae Martens 🌟 | |
Our FER Training Program Knowledge Broker Rae Martens was recently appointed to the CIHR IHDCYH (Canadian Institutes of Health Research Human Development, Child and Youth Health) Institute Advisory Board. Board members act in an advisory capacity to the Scientific Directors of the Institutes with respect to the full range of Institute activities. These activities include deliberations on Institute health research priorities and strategies and implementation plans for engaging the broader research community. | |
Have a milestone that you're celebrating? Let us know! Email Rae Martens at martensr@mcmaster.ca | |
Program Coordinator, Research Engagements 🌟
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The Program Coordinator, Research Engagements will facilitate how the voices of those who benefit from research at SickKids are heard and how they partner across the organization. The program coordinator will be responsible for connecting the SickKids' research community with persons with lived-experience to embed the perspectives of patients, families, and community members in everything we do. We are looking for a person who thrives on building authentic and meaningful relationships, with proven experience in executing impactful engagement strategies; someone focused on advancing how we listen to our community and improve the quality of research, education and care provided at SickKids. | |
Check Your Engine Light 🌟
Family engagement thrives on connection and trust, but how often do we pause to assess our own practices as engagement leaders? This blog explores why building in objective assessment is essential to creating sustainable, impactful engagement. It's time to check your engine light—because even the best practices need a tune-up.
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Opportunities From Kids Brain Health Network 🌟 | |
2024-2025 Kids Brain Health Network (KBHN) Outstanding Awards 🌟
Consider nominating your favourite lived experience leader!
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Nominations for the 2024-2025 Annual Outstanding Awards are now open! These awards celebrate the dedication and achievements of individuals across the KBHN community who are making a difference in neurodevelopmental disability research and family engagement.
Award Categories:
- Outstanding KBHN Trainee Member Award
- Honours trainees who have shown exceptional commitment and active participation in KBHN’s activities and network initiatives.
- Outstanding KBHN Promising Researcher Award
- Recognizes early-career researchers who have demonstrated significant potential and contribution to advancing research on neurodevelopmental disabilities.
- Outstanding KBHN Mentor/Supervisor Award
- Celebrates individuals who inspire, guide, and support the development of trainees, fostering an inclusive and dynamic learning environment.
- Outstanding KBHN Leadership Award in Family Engagement in Research
- Recognizes outstanding family leaders and inclusive researchers who have demonstrated exemplary leadership and active engagement in research focused on improving the lives of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
Award Details for All Categories:
- Certificate and $1,500 to support attendance or presentation at a relevant event by March 2025.
- Awardees will be featured on the KBHN website, newsletter, and social media.
Nomination Deadline: January 24, 2025
Award Announcement: February 28, 2025
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Have questions about whether the FER Leadership Academy is the right next step for you? Consider emailing Rae with your questions. For more information, check out this link. | |
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Statistics Canada is conducting a consultative engagement campaign to understand the perspectives of persons with disabilities, external partners and stakeholders. The goal is to help identify, prevent and eliminate any barriers that persons with disabilities may experience when accessing and using our services and products.
If you or someone you know identifies as a person with a disability, please consult Statistics Canada’s consultative engagement campaign.
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Resources and Learning Opportunities 🌟 | |
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CAHSPR Conference (Canadian Association for Health and Policy Research) 🌟
May 26-29, 2025, Ottawa, Ontario
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The Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) is hosting their 2025 Annual Conference from May 26-29, 2025 in Ottawa, Ontario. | |
Co-design for Digital Health Course 🌟
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The King’s Health Partners Digital Health Hub has launched a FREE online course and methods library to support anyone interested in using co-design to develop a digital health innovation! | |
Building Authentic Partnerships with Patient and Community Partners 🌟
January 23, 2025, 1:30pm EST
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Learn about the importance of fostering trust and engagement among patient and community partners at the Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Children’s next Trainee Hub event on Jan. 23! One of the guest speakers is Patient and Family Engagement Specialist Dalya Kablawi who is also and FER course graduate. |
What’s the Story? Part 1: How to make your writing more accessible 🌟
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Are you looking to improve your ability to communicate with a range of audiences and increase your impact as a public scholar? Join us for "What’s the Story?", a three-part introduction to patient-oriented communications!
In "Part 1: How to make your writing more accessible," the CHILD-BRIGHT Communications and Marketing team and Mathias Castaldo, former co-chair of our National Youth Advocacy Council, will lead an interactive workshop on how to write about health care research for different audiences, including partners with lived and living experience of a disability.
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Right-Sizing Health Systems for Kids: Creating the Future Together 🌟
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Registration for our 2025 Annual Conference will open on January 29th. Keep an eye on our feeds to be the first to sign up to join us in Ottawa on April 14-15, 2025 for our Annual Conference, Right-Sizing Health Systems for Kids: Creating the Future Together. | |
The Patient Perspective: Barriers and Facilitators to Patient Partnership in Research 🌟
February 5, 2025, 5:30-7pm EST
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The webinar series is all about patient engagement in health research, also known as patient and public involvement (UK) or consumer involvement (Australia). It is worth mentioning that ‘patient engagement’ in health research is distinctly different from signing up to be a research participant. Taking part in a study as a participant (for example trying a new treatment or management program) can be a great way to help advance healthcare, but the role would not generally include giving input into the research study itself. Panel features Francine Buchanan who is an FER course graduate. | |
Working with each other and our communities: Co-creating meaningful relationships in research projects 🌟
January 20, 2025, 2-3pm EST
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Join 2022 Training Innovation Fund awardees Rosslynn Zulla (University of Calgary) and Andrea MacLeod (University of Alberta) on January 20 from 2 p.m.-3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m.-1 p.m. MT for an interactive webinar on building meaningful research partnerships with immigrant and refugee families who have neurodivergent children, as well as with the organizations that support them.
This CHILD-BRIGHT event aims to provide practical tools and key information to researchers hoping to forge relationships with these communities, whose members often face multiple barriers preventing their participation in research projects. Rosslyn and Andrea will discuss case studies and present a guide specially developed to support researchers wishing to improve the health and well-being of immigrant and refugee families with neurodivergent children. They will also outline key processes to help researchers align with the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion, as well as examples of meaningful research processes and products.
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Writing About Family Engagement | |
2024 was the year of building consensus — let’s resolve to make 2025 the year of action 🌟 | |
Last year, we defined patient engagement and committed to embedding patient experience into Canada’s health care system. This year must be about brave, authentic, and meaningful alliances that bring these ideas to life. | |
Applying a Trauma Informed Care Approach to Family Engagement in Research 🌟
By Angie Goldsmith, Erin McCabe, Morgan Pelley, Robyn Land
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Contact us at fer@mcmaster.ca
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