New grant funding for sports, youth wellness, and violence prevention research
We are proud to announce that BCIRPU team members have been awarded a series of grants for their research endeavours!
With the support of these grants, the team will continue to advance research that promotes injury prevention and supports overall well-being.
Co-designing eLearning modules with youth for mental wellness and injury prevention
BCIRPU and RainbowVI, a Vancouver-based non-profit organization, have received an Evidence to Innovation (E2i) Seed Grant from BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR) to co-design eLearning modules focused on mental wellness and injury prevention. The project will focus on the health and safety needs of youth who are facing an increased risk of injury and mental health challenges due to social, economic, and environmental factors. Drs. Shelina Babul and Michelle Bauer will lead this project for BCIRPU.
The resulting modules will be freely available through the RainbowVI online platform and accessible to communities across the province, including youth-serving organizations, schools and school boards, community and family centres, and government and policy partners.
Improving injury prevention programming in girls’ soccer
Dr. Allison Ezzat has received an E2i Seed Grant for a project focused on identifying effective ways to develop and implement injury prevention programs in girls’ community soccer. Evidence suggests that similar programs can prevent two out of three common musculoskeletal injuries.
The project aims to reduce injury rates in girls’ community soccer and support better long-term health outcomes for girls and women affected by sports-related injuries. Dr. Ezzat previously received a 2024 Catalyst Grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) in support of this work.
Publication support for article on hospitalization trends of children and youth during the COVID-19 pandemic
BCIRPU has received an E2i Publication Support Award to support a recently published article examining trends in hospitalizations due to violent injuries among children and youth in BC during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The analysis found that COVID-19 stay-at-home measures did not appear to affect the already steadily declining rates of violence-related injury hospitalizations among children and youth in British Columbia. Learn more about this project that was funded by CIHR.
Expanding the delivery of Brain Waves classroom presentations to Interior Health
The BCIRPU is collaborating with Interior Health (IH) to expand the delivery of Brain Waves, a national brain injury prevention program, to southern British Columbia. The Public Health Association of British Columbia (PHABC) has awarded the BCIRPU a Strengthening Public Health Collaborative Action Plan (SPH-CAP) grant to deliver the program to approximately 15 classrooms across southern BC in 2026.
Brain Waves is a fun, hands-on program for grades for 4 to 6, which highlights the importance of the brain and introduces the idea of brain injuries and how they can be prevented.
Developing new resources to strengthen parenting and soothing practices among newcomer and refugee parents
Prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome BC (PSBSBC) has been awarded a SPH-CAP from PHABC for a project to co-design new resources to promote positive infant parenting practices among newcomer and refugee families. The aim of this project is to design resources to better address the needs of newcomer families who lack access to culturally sensitive information and social supports. This project builds upon previous work funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
- distress when a child was in pain and when a family was grieving; and
- sadness in the event they were not able to save a child in their care.
- concern for the injured child and the child’s family;
Particularly traumatic events, such as those involving vivid sights and sounds (e.g., families holding each other and having extreme reactions), stuck with the practitioners, having long-lasting impressions on them and causing them to re-live these events in the years following their exposure.
Even after their shift was over, practitioners said that they changed how they approached parenting and how they perceived safety during play as a result of witnessing these traumatic events. They reported having more knowledge of the causes and consequences of severe injuries, such as those that require hospitalization or emergency care. For example, practitioners were more likely to enforce boundaries around where their children could play, such as by forbidding their child to play near busy streets. They also were more likely to tell their child about safe play environments and equipment, and put this equipment on their child before play, such as explaining the benefits of using helmets while riding bikes.
Practitioners were more likely to enforce boundaries around where their children could play, and use safety equipment, such as bike helmets.
Practitioners also described being concerned about their children’s play near open windows, around large bodies of water unsupervised, and in environments where firearms were present. They also expressed worry about their children’s play on trampolines and on motorized vehicles, such as ATVs. Findings related to trampoline play safety concerns were published in the journal Injury Prevention.
Observing family grief due to child injury or death affected the mental well-being of health care practitioners, drawing attention to the need for mental health supports for those involved in caring for severely injured and dying patients.
"Raise more resilient children through play...watch and see how your child handles challenging tasks without intervening right away." —Dr. Michelle Bauer
Building resilience through play
How can parents help their children build resilience? By letting them play!
The experiences that practitioners witnessed encouraged them to support their children in building resilience through play; specifically, by supporting children in learning to cope with failure, overcome fear, build self-confidence, develop distress tolerance, and regulate negative emotions. Findings related to building resilience through play were published in the journal Child: Care, Health, and Development.
Parents fostered resilience in their kids by:
- helping their kids get back on bikes after they fell off and wanted to try again;
- sitting on their hands so they did not instinctively reach for their children when their children fell down; and
- encouraging participation in challenging and thrilling activities in forests and water while safety equipment was used.
"There are a few ways that parents can raise more resilient children through play that are supported by literature and our study findings," said Dr. Bauer. "One: watch and see how your child handles challenging tasks without intervening right away."
"Two: Ask your child how they want you to help—let them tell you what makes them feel safe and happy during play. Let them lead. And three: make play both safe and exciting by encouraging risk-taking, teaching them how to avoid hazards, and using safety equipment.”
This research was supported through Drs. Bauer’s and Gilley’s receipt of a clinical and translational research seed grant from the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR), Dr. Bauer’s BCCHR postdoctoral fellowship award, and additional training provided to Dr. Bauer through her participation in the Programs and Institutions Looking to Launch Academic Researchers (PILLAR) program through ENRICH, a national organization training perinatal and child health researchers.
Learn more about the study through two infographic posters:
Graphics and posters by Milica Radosavljevic
