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Associated Projects
Besides the projects that the CCDR funds and supports directly, the Centre also strives to be a Canadian intellectual hub for scholarship on disasters. To that end, we are proud to intellectually support a number of projects current happening:
Alberta Resilient Communities Project
Caroline McDonald-Harker, PhD, Mount Royal University (Faculty Affiliate) has teamed up with Julie Drolet, PhD, University of Calgary (Faculty Affiliate) and Robin Cox, PhD, Royal Roads University to conduct a research study on disaster resilience in the wake of the devastating and costly 2013 Southern Alberta Flood Disaster. This collaborative interdisciplinary research partnership has been formed in order to explore the complex interrelationships between vulnerability, risk, and resilience among children, youth, and their communities impacted by the 2013 Southern Alberta Flood Disaster. Their research study entitled “Alberta Resilient Communities Research Project: Engaging Children and Youth in Community Resilience Post-flood in Southern Alberta”, is funded by an Alberta Innovates — Health Solutions (AIHS) CRIO-Population Resiliency research grant of $1.06 million. This research study examines and focuses on the lived realities of flood-impacted children, youth, and their communities in order to better understand the social, economic, health, cultural, spiritual, and personal factors that contribute to resiliency. The partnership also includes academic and community-based researchers, knowledge end-users, government stakeholders, and numerous community partners (schools, social service agencies, community organizations, etc.) from Calgary, High River, and the outlying Foothills region. This community-based research is grounded in a child- and youth-centred participatory approach in which children and youth are engaged and empowered as active participants in the research process.
Principal investigator: Caroline McDonald–Harker
Student Research Assistants:
- Alex Christison, Mount Royal University, Sociology Graduate
- Isabelle Sinclair, Mount Royal University, Sociology Honours Student
- Sierra Shaw, Mount Royal University, Sociology Student
- Imogene Roulson, Mount Royal University, Sociology Student
- Sean Colvin, Mount Royal University, Psychology Honours Student Gaduate
- Maddie Engel, University of Lethbridge, Masters of Education in Counselling Psychology Student
- Keira MacKenzie, Mount Royal University, Psychology and Sociology Student
- Kasandra Jones, Mount Royal University, Psychology Honours Student
- Logan Cain, Mount Royal University, Sociology Honours Student
- Emilie Bassi, Mount Royal University, Sociology Honours graduate, and University of Alberta REES graduate
Community Partners:
- Alberta Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies (AAISA)
- Alberta Health Services
- Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (Foothills Community Immigrant Services)
- Calgary Counseling Centre
- Canadian Red Cross
- Calgary Rural Primary Care Network
- Christ the Redeemer Catholic School Division
- Defense Research and Development Canada Centre for Security Science
- Foothills Fetal Alcohol Society
- Foothills School Division
- Foothills Special Needs Association for Parents and Siblings
- Hearts & Minds High River
- High River Centennial Library
- Hillsborough County Florida (USA)
- Hull Services
- Immigrant Sector Council of Calgary (ISCC)
- Literacy for Life Foundation
- Rowan House Emergency Shelter
- Town of High River — Family & Community Support Services
- Wild Rose Community Connections
Arts-Informed Research with Children and Youth in a Post-Flood Community
Academics to Gather Lessons Learned from Flood Survivors — Calgary Herald
High River Family Study
With Support from an SSHRC Partnership Development Grant ($165,336) and an Institute for Environmental Sustainability standard research grant ($19,800), this project is a 3-year research study on the 2013 High River, Alberta flood. This research study explores family members' struggles, difficulties, coping strategies, and needs resulting from the 2013 floods in the community of High River. This research examines communication, coping, and caring in family life post-disaster in order to determine how family life is altered by the disaster context, how experiencing a disaster influences family interactions and relations, and how families manage and function during and after a disaster. This study uses a qualitative research approach, which consists of 105 face-to-face in-depth interviews with parents in High River who have child/children under the age of 18 yrs and who were directly impacted by the 2013 High River, Alberta floods, as well as 10 focus group interviews with community agencies within High River, Alberta who directly provide services, resources, and assistance to residents in the town, particularly during and post-flood. This research study consists of a highly involved, cooperative, and equitable collaboration with several key community partners in High River, Alberta. The central purpose and immediate goal of the research is to use the research findings and results to influence, shape, and structure the programs, services, and resources that local community organizations offer to families residing in the community of High River who have been impacted by the flood disaster. The long term goal of the research is to provide a useful tool to assist families in other communities who have experienced major disasters, or who may in the future experience major disasters in Canada or internationally to best prepare for, respond to, cope, and prevent environmental disasters.
Principal Investigator: Caroline McDonald-Harker
Co-Researcher: Timothy Haney
Student Research Assistants: Alex Christison, Emilie Bassi, Kathryn Wells, Imogene Roulson, Kaylea Schwengler, Zachary Cox, Sylvia Ulatowski
Community Partners
- Bow Valley College, High River Campus
- The Town of High River
- Foothills School Division
- Christ the Redeemer Catholic School Division
- Foothills Community Immigrant Services (FCIS)
- Rowan House Emergency Shelter
- Family & Community Support Services (FCSS)
- Parent Link
- Hearts & Minds High River
- Alberta Health Services
- Hull Services
High River Family Study — Socio-Demographic Outcomes
Calgary Flood Project
With support from an SSHRC Insight Grant ($103,000), this project is helping to reveal how families and households make difficult decisions during a disaster, what factors (gender/household composition, physical vulnerability, race/ethnicity/nativity, income/wealth, religion, etc.) predict timely evacuation, and how affected people mobilize their social networks to secure needed resources (housing, clothing, childcare, and so forth) during evacuation and displacement. To do this, the project collected a unique set of survey data from residents of all 26 of Calgary's evacuated and/or flooded neighbourhoods. The project follows the experiences of evacuated households through the temporal arc of the disaster: warning, evacuation, displacement, and in some cases, return and rebuilding, to help us better understand how households mobilize both economic and social resources in a time of need.
Principal Investigator: Timothy Haney
Student Research Assistants: Priya Kaila, Angela Laughton, Travis Milnes, Morah Mackinnon, Grace Ajele, Isabelle Sinclair, Victoria Stamper
"Rising Waters, Difficult Decisions": Findings and Recommendations from the Calgary Flood Project
Move Out or Dig In? Risk Awareness and Mobility Plans in Disaster-Affected Communities
Single Session Therapy After Disaster
- Guthrie, B. (2016). Single session therapy post disaster in low and middle-income countries. Intervention; International Journal of Mental Health, Psychosocial Work and Counselling in Areas of Armed Conflict.Intervention, (14) 1. pp 18–32.
- Guthrie, B, (2016). Reflections on providing Single Session Therapy in post-disaster Haiti. One At a Time: Single Session Therapy by Walk-In or Appointment. M. Hoyt, A. Slive, M. Bobele, J.Young, & M.Talmon, (Eds.).