The activities of the Partnership Grant continue remotely, adjusting to the new constraints of life and work within the ongoing pandemic. This article offers a seasonal update of the work accomplished and ongoing since our Spring 2020 e-newsletter.
Executive Committee Update
Our project's Executive Committee continues to meet weekly, virtually, to strategize, set priorities and timelines, review progress, and oversee administration and reporting for the project.
Here are some of our collective achievements since the Spring 2020 newsletter. Together, we:
- launched and operationalized the Remote Learning Subcommittee
- recruited a new co-investigator and several new research assistants
- received conditional approval from the St. Mary’s Research Ethics Committee
- submitted the annual contribution summary to the funding agencies
- created a communications plan for the project and launched a SBNH Twitter
- began working on several manuscripts for future publication
- began planning for the ramp up research activities while co-existing with COVID-19
We are incredibly proud of our team, who have continued to show deep dedication and commitment to our project despite the trying personal and professional times we are living through.
Team Updates:
The Executive Committee is pleased to welcome the following new members to our team:
Kimberley Manning – Co-Investigator: Dr. Manning will hold the role of equity, diversity, and inclusion champion on our Partnership Grant. She will provide consultation, guidance, and expertise to the partnership's Training Program Committee and Evaluation Committee, to ensure that the project's intervention, the SBNH-Leadership Program, and its evaluation have integrated a sex and gender lens and are attuned to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Dr. Manning's advocacy work around institutional equity and her experience as the Principal of Concordia University's Simone de Beauvoir Institute make her an excellent fit and welcome addition to the partnership.
Alexandra Logushova – Remote Learning Research Assistant (McGill): Alexandra is a current cultural anthropology student at McGill University with a background in human resources. She is supporting our Remote Learning Sub-Committee.
Jillian Schneidman – Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Research Assistant (McGill): Jillian is a current med student at McGill University. She is supporting Dr. Manning by conducting a literature review on EDI in nursing/healthcare.
Erica Blekkenhorst – Clinical Research Nurse Coordinator (SickKids): Erica is a registered nurse and safety coach at the paediatric intensive care unit at SickKids. She will be supporting Pam Hubley with both Training Committee activities and research implementation at SickKids.
Julie Fréchette – Postdoctoral Fellow: While Julie has been a previous research assistant and intern on our project, this August she is starting a postdoctoral fellowship at Concordia University, where she will be working alongside co-investigator Kathleen Boies on the SBNH-L Program Evaluation. Congratulations, Julie!
Evaluation Committee Update
The Evaluation Committee is continuing their work on the evaluation design, including refining and updating tools, developing new instruments such as an SBNH-L scale, preparing the related ethics documentation, and updating their budget. They are pleased to welcome a new member to their team, Dr. Kimberley Manning of Concordia University.
SBNH-L Integrated Training Committee Update
SBNH-L Program: The Training Committee has completed its work in determining the structure of the training component’s modules, outcomes, and objectives, and has redirected its attention to advancing the mentorship component. This has included integrating ideas about SBNH Leadership into core mentorship structures and processes for the project, an integral part of advancing leadership into clinical practice. This work also includes developing an orientation program for mentors and a community of practice.
Creation of Two Story-Sharing Facilitative Approaches: Along with the subcommittee focused on mentorship the committee is re-examining the facilitation approaches used in stimulating conversations about the content of the film clips used in the pilot, and considering how we can deepen this experience further through the lens of story-sharing. Efforts are underway to build new methods from which to unpack stories through two novel facilitative approaches, for the classroom and for the clinical setting. These approaches will be further refined as they are brought to the story-sharing team for review. Practical guides for faculty and mentors have also been developed and are currently under review.
Liaising with Remote Learning Subcommittee: The pandemic has clearly made us rethink how we will deliver programming. The Training Committee will continue to liaise with and guide the Remote Learning Subcommittee to ensure that the remote learning proposal meets the needs of our unique program.
Subcommittee on Remote Learning
The Subcommittee held its first meetings in July. They took the opportunity to review key information concerning the project, and Michele Durrant presented a comprehensive summary of the SBNH-L Program to give group members an expert perspective to frame the work of developing a remote/virtual modality of the program. The group will be meeting every two weeks, and will work on a proposal to develop the remote/virtual modality of the SBNH-L program, which will be presented and approved by our stakeholders in fall 2020.
This new subcommittee is comprised of:
Co-chair: Annie Chevrier; Research Assistant for sub-committee: Alexandra Logushova (McGill); Katherine Logue (McGill, ISON); Maggie Lattuca ( McGill, TLS); Erica Blekkenhorst (Toronto, SickKids); Michele Durrant (Training and Learning Consultant, Training Committee member)
Story-Sharing Update
In the past few months, we have mobilized different aspects of story-sharing.
We have received conditional approval from the St. Mary’s Research Ethics Committee to conduct our story-sharing activities, but we are still waiting for guidelines on how our study will need to be amended to adjust to COVID-19 restrictions.
Meanwhile, co-investigator Steven High and RA Fred Burrill are developing a slimmed-down story-sharing methodology that will still allow us to collect nursing leadership narratives, but with a remote or mostly-remote methodology.
At the same time, our editing team is working on the pilot, to create updated materials which can be used in the SBNH-L Program.
Knowledge Mobilization Committee Update
The Knowledge Mobilization Committee has not met since our last update as members have been very busy due to the pandemic. A new Communications Plan has been drafted for the project, building off of the existing KM plan. The committee will review this in early fall.
IP, Agreement, and Ethics Committee Update
The Committee will meet in early September to discuss copyright and authorship guidelines and to check in regarding the status of REB submissions and approvals.
Accolades and Accomplishments
Congratulations to Steven High, SSHRC Grant Recipient
Co-Investigator Steven High was awarded a $2.5M SSHRC Partnership Grant funding a 7-year transnational investigation entitled "Deindustrialization and the Politics of our Time". Steven will lead a team of 24 researchers and many partner institutions investigating the political consequences of deindustrialization. Congratulations, Steven!
Congratulations to Annie Chevrier, Faculty of Medicine Honour List
Collaborator Annie Chevrier has been named to the 2020-2021 Faculty of Medicine honour list. The goal of the Faculty Honour List for Educational Excellence is to recognize outstanding contributions to education in the Faculty of Medicine, in the areas of teaching, educational leadership and innovation, faculty development, and research and scholarly activity. Congratulations, Annie!
Congratulations to Sylvie Lambert, Winner of Innove-Onco Competition
Collaborator Sylvie Lambert won the Innove-Onco Competition and received a grant in support of her project entitled "The integration of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in cancer care: learning from real-world implementation in cancer centres across Quebec." Sylvie's team has developed an innovative program of symptom screening for cancer patients to improve the quality of their care and lives. Congratulations, Sylvie!
Congratulations to Kitra Cahana, Winner of Two Documentary Film Awards
Videographer and Story-Sharing Consultant Kitra Cahana received both a World Press Longform Digital Storytelling Award and a prestigious Peabody Award for her film A Different Kind of Force: Policing Mental Illness, exploring the role of law enforcement in responding to incidents involving people with mental illness. You can view the film via links in the World Press writeup. Congratulations, Kitra!
We thank everyone working on this project for their continued dedication, enthusiasm, and hard work amidst an unprecedented and uncertain season. Within the constraints of the pandemic and the resulting changed timeline, this team continues to demonstrate creativity, tenacity, and a strengths-based approach, allowing our research to continue in line with the original planning and intent.
Wishing you a joyful and restful end to your summer, and looking forward to the good work we will continue to accomplish together in the fall!