Evaluation of FASD Mentoring Programs
This team is focused on the research and evaluation of Parent Child Assistance Programs (PCAP), or other mentoring support programs, that provide intensive mentorship support services to women considered most at risk to have a child with FASD. To better understand the role these programs play in the prevention of FASD, we are looking at how the programs are structured, what successes they achieve, what challenges they face, and what gaps exist. Our goal is to develop a more complete picture of the role of mentoring in the lives of women struggling with high-risk substance use.
Our Research
The team started in June 2010 and our objective in the first year was to develop an initial plan to guide our research projects. Initially, we conducted a comprehensive literature review. In October 2010, we held a Mentor Forum to engage mentor coordinators and learn what questions need to be asked, and answered, and to understand how mentoring programs make a positive difference in the lives of participants.
We followed up the Mentor Forum with a survey of participants to gather information about their programs, their clients, and their communities.
In March 2011, we produced a report, Establishing a Research Agenda which summarizes our first year of operations. We are also publishing a quarterly e-newsletter designed to build partnerships with mentoring service providers, researchers and policy makers.
Research Themes
The forum participants had a wealth of information to share about mentoring and how it made a difference in the lives of the women who were involved in the program. We listened closely and recorded the many insights, observations, and critical questions that were raised. We organized the information according to the common themes. The four themes, and examples of questions raised under each theme, are as follows:
Participants
- What are the characteristics of the women who participate in mentoring programs?
- How do they experience the process of mentoring?
- How should mentoring supports be adapted for women who themselves have FASD?
Mentors
- How do mentors experience their role?
- What are the challenges, stressors, or sources of support?
- How does supervision facilitate good mentoring?
- What kind of training do mentors need and want?
Mentor programs
- What are the goals of mentorship?
- How can they be best measured?
- To what extent are a program’s goals achieved for participants?
- Is there a time frame or sequence for the attainment of goals?
Contexts of women’s lives
- What do the lives of the women who enter mentorship programs look like?
- How can mentoring fit into, and address, the context of their lives?
- What do we know about the partners in their lives?
- Do they help or hinder women who are being mentored?
- What can be done to include women’s partners in a supportive way?
The next stage of our research is to inventory all FASD mentoring programs in Canada’s Northwest. Our goal is to compile information about the women who participate in mentoring programs as clients, and then reach out to those who have completed a mentoring program to learn about their experiences and their successes.
Publications
Establishing a Research Agenda - Our report for 2010-2011 which summarizes the first year of operations. Download
Evaluation of FASD Mentoring Programs - Poster presentation from the 4th International Conference on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder – The Power of Knowledge: Integrating Research, Policy, and Promising Practice Around the World, held in March 2010, Vancouver, BC. Download
Quarterly e-newsletter
Winter 2012, Volume 4
Fall 2011, Volume 3
Summer 2011, Volume 2
Spring 2011, Volume 1
Contact Information
Project Leads
Linda Burnside, Winnipeg, MB, lindaburnside@shaw.ca
John McDermott, Vancouver, BC, john@mcdermott-consulting.ca
Team Members
Amy Reinink, Winnipeg, MB, amyreinink@hotmail.com
Sherri Tanchak, Edmonton, AB, sltanchak@shaw.ca
Pamela Gough, Toronto, ON, pgough@sympatico.ca
|
