Dr. Gillian King
Associate Member
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.
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.
Areas 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
PARTICIPATE STUDY: The Participation of Children with Disabilities
The PARTICIPATE study has been designed to examine the participation of children with physical disabilities in formal and informal everyday activities.
Developing All About Outcomes, Part 1: Measuring clinical outcomes in children's rehabilitation centres in Ontario
This project was the first of two studies designed to develop and test a computerized software program that would enable health service providers in children's treatment centres to select the most appropriate outcome measure to use with individual clients and/or in program evaluations.
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).
Evaluation of an information KIT for parents of children with special needs: Use, utility and impact
The focus of this two-year prospective evaluation (N=500) is to determine the perceptions of impact and use of the Parent Information KIT (KIT: Keeping it Together™) in pediatric rehabilitation settings.
Family-centred service: Moving ideas into practice
This study is designed to develop and evaluate educational materials about family-centred service.
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.
Measuring the External Impact of University-Community Research Alliances and Partnerships Addressing Social/Health Services Issues
The aim of this 3-year research program is to develop a reliable and valid survey measure of the community impacts of research partnerships between universities and community agencies that address social or health services issues.
Measures of Participation: CAPE & PAC
The Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) and the Preferences for Activities of Children (PAC) are two companion measures of children's participation.
Understanding the Values, Priorities, and World Views of Families Raising Children with Chronic Developmental Conditions
This three-year study will look at how parenting a child with a disability affects family values, priorities, and views of their place in the world.
Patterns and Predictors of Recreational and Leisure Participation for Children with Physical Disabilities
For children and youth, involvement in life situations includes participation in recreational and leisure activities as well as school and work activities.
Creating the MPOC, Part 2: Validation of a measure of processes of care-giving
This cross-sectional study continued a multi-year program of research conducted to understand the relation between caregiving offered to parents of children with neuro-developmental disabilities and parents' mental health
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.
Children with disabilities in Ontario: A profile of children's services.
Part 1: Children, families and services, Part 2: Perceptions about family-centred service delivery for children with disabilities and Part 3: Factors affecting family-centred service delivery for children with disabilities.
Family-Centred Service: Completed Studies Reports
A studies series on the topic of Children with disabilities in Ontario: A profile of children's services.
Family Centred Service Sheets
Family-centred service is an approach to providing services to children with special needs, where the family is considered to be at the centre of the services.