Discover CanChild

Dr. Gillian King

Associate Member

A woman with shoulder-length wavy hair wearing a blazer smiles at the camera in this black and white photo.

Biography

Gillian King is a Distinguished Senior Scientist at the Bloorview Research Institute in Toronto, with appointments at the University of Toronto, Western University, and McMaster University. Her primary interest is in the psychosocial aspects of pediatric services and child, youth, and parent well-being. Her research interests include the participation of children with disabilities, youth transitions, child, youth, and parent resiliency, clinical listening, and client engagement. Her research also encompasses the delivery of health services, including models of service delivery and practice, and service providers' approaches and expertise. Gillian holds the Canada Research Chair in Optimal Care for Children with Disabilities (Tier 1) and has developed more than two dozen evidence-based measures and assessment tools. Her current funded research includes investigations of client engagement, resiliency, and refinement of the Measure of Processes of Care (MPOC).

Other Projects

Pediatric Rehabilitation Intervention Measure of Engagement (PRIME) research

This research looks at engagement in pediatric rehabilitation therapy. A multidisciplinary team from Canada, the United States, and Australia has developed a suite of tools that measure the engagement of clients, parents, and service providers.

PRIME website​

CLEAR: Clinical Listening that is Effective And Research-based

This project studies the development of effective clinical listening skills, barriers to communication, and strategies for enhancing practice.

CLEAR website

Area of Focus

Psychosocial Aspects of Childhood Disability and Health; Child and Family Community Participation; Child and Family Engagement in Service Delivery; Family Wellness, Resilience, Belief Systems, and Worldviews; Expertise and Clinical Decision Making in Service Delivery; Measure Development; Models of Clinical Services and Intervention Approaches; Research Partnerships and the Production of Knowledge; Interprofessional Practice; Youth Transitions; Traumatic Brain Injury and Resiliency

Resources

Caring About Caregivers

Through this research, we are investigating how various child and caregiver characteristics impact the health of primary, informal (unpaid) caregivers (usually parents).
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Focus on Function

The Focus on Function Study will compare two treatment approaches (“child-focused” and “context-focused”) that are currently being used for children with cerebral palsy and other developmental and motor delays.
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Measure of Processes of Care

The Measure of Processes of Care (pronounced “em-pock”) is a well-validated and reliable self-report measure of parents’ perceptions of the extent to which the health services they and their child(ren) receive are family-centred.
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Family Centred Service Sheets

Family-centred service is an approach to providing services to children with special needs. As suggested by the name of this approach, the family is considered to be at the centre of the services. This makes family centred approaches different than…
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