With new CIHR funding, UCalgary nursing professor continues her advocacy for at-risk children

UCalgary Nursing professor, Dr. Nicole Letourneau RN, PhD, has received one of six Scientific Team Grants awarded in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Mental Health in the Early Years (MHITEY) initiative. The Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, made the announcement of the $6.5 million investment earlier this month.   

Letourneau’s project, Attachment and Child Health (ATTACH™) Online: Implementation Across Alberta to Promote Healthy Parent-Child Relationships and Mental Health and Development of Children Affected by Early Adversity, will address parents’ capacity to understand their own and their child's thoughts, feelings and mental states.

Designed for in-person delivery, ATTACH^TM is already a successful intervention program for parents and their preschool-aged children at risk from early adversity. This funding will implement and evaluate ATTACH^TM delivery online to promote greater flexibility for parents and accessibility in rural and remote locations.

“Along with ATTACH^TM co-creator Dr. Martha Hart, we are dedicated to addressing the impact of early childhood adversity – so family violence, low-income, parental depression – through strengthening parent-child relationships and buffering those negative impacts on children,” explains Letourneau.

“In foundational research with 90 families, we found the ATTACH^TM intervention significantly improved parent-child relationship quality and children's mental health and development.”  

The new grant, over five years, will implement and evaluate the online program with 100 families across Alberta who are affected by domestic violence or mental health concerns to scale and spread ATTACH^TM through online delivery. Key partnerships that make this possible include the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters and partner agencies, as well as Hull Social Services, Highbanks and Brenda Strafford Centre.

MHITEY, led by the CIHR’s Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health, will help to advance Canada’s mental health strategy by identifying solutions for safe and equitable programs and services for diverse populations, and through adopting, adapting and improving the use of evidence-based practices in clinical, community and public health settings.