The Lifespan Institute’s works collaboratively across a variety of partners to co-produce research that has measurable and authentic/relevant impact within and beyond academia.
The Lifespan Institute’s partnerships vary from informal collaborations to formalized Memorandums of Understanding, or MOUs. MOUs are signed non-binding agreements between two organizations around shared goals, solidified collaborative efforts, future directions, and generally symbolize a high degree of trust and respect between two organizations.
Click here to see a list of some of our current partnerships – please note that some partners are involved in multiple projects with the Lifespan Institute and its members. For more information on each partnership, or for information on Lifespan Institute partnerships in general, please email us at lifespan@brocku.ca.
Below is a listing of our current MOUs.
Pathstone Mental Health and Brock University signed an MOU on Friday, March 22, 2019, that solidified a collaboration that will positively impact children suffering from mental health issues in Niagara and beyond. This MOU between Pathstone and Brock outlined a variety of projects based within the Lifespan Institute and various faculties/departments across the university, all collaboratively involving staff and practitioners from Pathstone.
Some of the projects highlighted in the MOU include:
- Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of Neuroscience Dawn Good and PhD candidate Caitlyn Gallant research the neuropsychological and socioemotional factors that predict the severity and complexity of mental health challenges in children and youth.
- Professor of Psychology Sid Segalowitz and Associate Professor of Child and Youth Studies Ayda Tekok-Kilic, along with a number of students, are using an electroencephalogram (EEG) installed at Pathstone to study anxiety disorders and ADHD. By examining brain activity, researchers are able to evaluate in what way interventions are effective when appearing to use standard psychological measures.
- Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies Colleen Hood and PhD student Lauren Cripps are examining the impact of therapeutic recreation intervention designed to support the development of positive identity for youth with mental health challenges.
- Associate Professor of Psychology Angela Book and PhD student Nathalie Gauthier are examining factors around anti-social behaviour and specifically looking at how parenting style may mitigate the effect of childhood adversity on these behaviours.
- Associate Professor of Child and Youth Studies Tricia Vause is launching a project evaluating the benefits of blending behaviour therapy with recreational dance to equip children with coping strategies while giving them the added benefit of improved motor skills, self-esteem and helping them form new friendships.
- A collaboration between Professor of Linguistics Gary Libben, Professors Tekok-Kilic, Segalowitz, and their students and postdocs will develop an EEG tool for assessing reactivity to common words with negative/positive versus neutral connotations (such as ‘destroy’ vs ‘build’ vs ‘change’) to assess vocabulary and emotional reactivity in children and youth with psychological challenges.
In addition, Brock’s Faculty of Education is working with Pathstone to develop a training program aimed at helping teachers deal with complex mental health issues in the classroom.
To learn more about this MOU between Pathstone and Brock University please see this Brock News article or email us at lifespan@brocku.ca
