Tools that help children with trauma need your vote

A video and infographic developed by a UCalgary team to help caregivers and children with trauma are competing in a national contest held by the Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH) at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Often, children who have experienced trauma must wait months to get treatment while suffering with flashbacks, hypervigilance and nightmares — symptoms that can lead to life-long issues. 

To help families and caregivers during this difficult time, psychologists and social workers co-created Caregiver Online PsychoEducation (COPE). Now, two of COPE’s tools, a five-minute video and a two-page infographic, are competing in the month-long contest. 

Now In its 11th year, the competition is designed to share evidence-based messages with the public that help children, youth and families.

The COPE website went live in June, but the CIHR competition in November will help promote the tool across the country, says Dr. Sheri Madigan, PhD, a professor of clinical psychology in the Faculty of Arts.

“In just a few months, we already have 400 registrants and thousands of visitors to the website," she says. 

"We've done a variety of presentations, but this is our first big push to let people know this resource is available."

A cross-country collaboration

Madigan and her team in the Department of Psychology worked with Dr. Gina Dimitropoulos, PhD, a professor in UCalgary's Faculty of Social Work; Dr. Nicole Racine, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Ottawa; and clinicians from the Luna Child and Youth Advocacy Centre. 

The team also had significant input from youth and caregivers.

“We're not trying to replace treatment. We're working to support families as they wait for, and eventually engage in, trauma care,” says Madigan. 

“COPE provides information about some of the initial things we cover in therapy, serving as a steppingstone toward recovery. And, when they get off the wait list and come to treatment, they've got a strong foundation of knowledge about trauma and how to support recovery.”

COPE offers basics of psychoeducation, including what trauma is and what the signs and symptoms are, along with coping strategies such as why it’s important to pay attention to and validate a child’s emotions. 

“If you have a safe, reliable, consistent caregiver to support you through your trauma recovery, it can make an enormous difference,” Madigan says. “Our initial goal was to create a resource for caregivers. Along the way, we learned that to reach caregivers we need to work closely with practitioners.”

Prize money already earmarked for future development

The COPE team is competing with dozens of other programs across Canada. First-place winners in each of the three categories — Video, Infographic and Podcast — win $3,500, second-place winners receive $3,000, and third place wins $2,500. 

Madigan says sheand her colleagues would be pleased to win the money to help fund more tools that are in development, including a new psychoeducation website, “created by youth, for youth.”

But, in the meantime, the COPE team is excited about the promotion offered by the competition and getting the video and infographic (and other COPE resources) to the families and caregivers of children who have experienced trauma.

“About one in three mental health disorders in adulthood emerge from a traumatic experience in childhood,” says Madigan. “If we can reach families early and give them the tools to support children through difficult experiences, we have the potential to reduce a lot of lifelong risks and help set kids on a healthier path forward.”

Anyone can vote in the contest over the course of November here.