Support for families emerged as a major theme as the successful applications for the 2023 Embrace Seeding Grants were announced today.
Four successful applications were chosen from the 19 entrants for grants worth up to $25,000 each.
Among the successful applications were a trauma-informed parenting program and two projects respectively exploring and testing support for siblings of children with a developmental disability.
The final grant was awarded for the co-design of a digital resource to accompany a Youth Safe Haven for young people at risk of suicide in the Peel region. This follows research that determined a Youth Safe Haven was a beneficial and needed service to provide an alternative to emergency departments for young people at risk of suicide.
Clinikids Senior Research Fellow Dr Gail Alvares successfully applied for funding to test a new group program targeting psychological wellbeing and resilience in the siblings of autistic children.
“We know that siblings of autistic children are more likely to experience their own mental health challenges,” Dr Alvares said.
“This award will help us examine whether this program can support children to understand, accept and embrace their autistic sibling’s unique strength and capabilities, as well as support their own capacity for resilience and emotional wellbeing.”
Senior Research Fellow Dr Emma Glasson’s exploratory project will describe if, how and why siblings of children with a developmental disability seek mental health support as adolescents and young adults.
“Unfortunately, very few sibling-specific mental health supports exist, and little is known about whether siblings actively seek mental health supports, if they benefit from them, and what factors act as barriers or enablers for them in accessing support,” Dr Glasson said.
Our research is an important first step in unpacking what siblings know, seek and need, and how mental health supports can be best made available and visible to them.”
Dr Alix Woolard will use the funding to co-design WA’s first trauma-informed parenting program to improve infant and parent social and emotional wellbeing, support development and support parent-infant relationships.
“The negative impact of intergenerational trauma on children is enormous but early intervention during the first few years of life can be ideal to interrupt the cycle,” Dr Woolard said.
“We aim to bridge the gap in providing trauma-informed support for parents and their children.”
Finally, Dr Jacinta Saldaris’ co-design of a digital resource aligned with the Youth Safe Haven research will have the potential to reduce suicidality in young people in WA.
“Digital resources are an important avenue to improve mental healthcare access and may be especially successful for young people, as technology and device use is an integral part of their lives,” Dr Saldaris said.
Embrace Youth Community Group member Midaiah Harnett sat on the independent selection panel for the 2023 Embrace Seeding Grants.
The 21-year-old legal secretary and law student said she jumped at the opportunity to guide innovation and planned research in infant, child and youth mental health research.
“When the opportunity came up to be on the panel, I saw it as a chance to engage with the direction that The Kids Research Institute Australia would be moving and the direction of research.
It was also a chance to offer a perspective as a member of the Community Group and be able to see what researchers are currently looking into.”
Midaiah said she was pleased to see trends in the prospective research proposals that were reflective of her values.
“It was awesome to notice how what researchers were planning to do was reflecting what I valued as a community member,” she said.
2023 Embrace Seeding Grant winners (L-R): Dr Jacinta Saldaris, Dr Alix Woolard and Dr Emma Glasson. Dr Gail Alvares (not pictured) also successfully applied.