Community connections improve family and child wellbeing

Researchers and Indigenous partners are confirming the strength of community by melding empirical data with lived experience.

Through a culturally-relevant collaboration with members of Indigenous organizations, Dr. Judy Gillespie hopes to use cultural strengths and community-based approaches to improve child and family wellbeing, and combat the destructive legacy of colonial relationships with First Nation peoples.

Dr. Gillespie, now an Associate Professor in UBCO’s School of Social Work, was first taken down this path years ago as a social worker in Grande Prairie, Alberta. “One thing I saw repeatedly was the families that did best in child welfare cases were those who had stronger connections within their communities. The families that didn’t do well were more disconnected,” she explains.

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