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COVID 19 has created a need for effective online delivery of mental health supports for moms and their children. Dr. Linda Duffett-Leger, PhD, has received nearly $200,000 to support children's mental health and development. A researcher in user-engaged health technology design, Duffett-Leger will work with co-principle investigator Dr. Nicole Letourneau, PhD, to adapt Letourneau’s interventions, and , to online delivery.

“COVID-19 has placed unprecedented strains on already vulnerable families,” explains Duffett-Leger, who is also a member of the (ACHRI) at the (CSM). “We will build on the success of Dr. Letourneau’s two intervention programs —��which were successfully designed for in-person (home or clinic) visits to improve the parent-child relationship —��by transitioning them to virtual delivery.”

ATTACH��(Attachment and Child Health) is a parenting intervention program, designed with community agencies serving families of preschoolers affected by toxic stress, to improve their reflective function, a skill that underpins parental sensitivity and responsiveness.

VID-KIDS (Video Feedback Interaction Guidance for Depressed Mothers and their Infants) aims to promote children’s mental, emotional and behavioural health and development by helping mothers with postpartum depression to be more sensitive and responsive to their infants. Both programs are positioned for transition to virtual formats and the timing is ripe for rapid uptake in Canada.

One of four UCalgary research projects��

The initiative is among four research projects at the university that are being funded through from the��Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

“Mental health and addiction are critical issues as Canadians manage day-to-day life during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Dr. William Ghali, vice-president (research) at the university. “These projects will support the well-being of citizens as we navigate our current challenges, and we are grateful to CIHR for their commitment to this work.”

Duffett-Leger adds that early attempts to move the programs to online delivery, in an effort to help families during the pandemic, revealed insurmountable barriers to using commercially available technologies. “That just affirmed the need to develop and implement user-informed virtual care delivery platforms and mobile tools,” says Duffett-Leger. ��

“This is a unique opportunity for nursing and software engineering to work together on a project that will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the virtual delivery of parenting interventions to promote child mental health and development,” she continues. “The design team has been working hard with nurse interventionists and parents involved with the programs on the prototype designs and we plan to launch both virtual platforms by the end of the year.”

This is Duffett-Leger’s first CIHR grant; it ranked 10th out of 21 funded applications and 167 total applications.

The other UCalgary��research projects that received funding are:

• "Traumatic Stress and Mental Health Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Front-Line Workers in Homeless Services": Dr. Jeannette Waegemakers Schiff, PhD, an associate professor in the ��and member of����within Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) at the CSM.
• "Nothing Without Us: Towards Inclusive, Equitable COVID-19 Policy Responses for Youth with Disabilities and Their Families": Dr. Jennifer Zwicker, PhD, director of health policy at the , assistant professor in the , and member of the at ACHRI and the at the CSM. Zwicker also holds a Canada Research Chair in Disability Policy for Children and Youth.
• "Screening Student Resiliency and��Mental��Health��Indicators During School Re-Entry":��, is an associate professor in School and Applied Child Psychology at the university’s�� and a member of the Owerko Centre at ACHRI��and The Mathison Centre��for��Mental Health Research��&��Education within HBI at the CSM.��Read more��

Nicole Letourneau��is a professor with the Faculty of Nursing, and a research professor in the departments of , Paediatrics, and at the CSM. She is the Chair in Parent Infant Mental Health, and member of ACHRI and The Mathison Centre��for��Mental Health Research��&��Education within HBI at the CSM.

• Top image:����photo by