Jan Burke-Gaffney
Associate Member
Team
Associate Members
Biography
Jan has been a passionate advocate for people with disabilities for 26 years. She is a founder of the Hamilton Family Network, a parent-to-parent support group that seeks to implement innovative strategies to support and strengthen families to thrive in their local communities. Jan is also the Past President of the Family Alliance Ontario, a provincial advocacy organization. She has also held the position of Vice-Chair of the Special Education Advisory Committee for the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board. Jan has been involved with numerous projects and articles at CanChild including the KIT, Youth KIT and Family-Centred Service Sheets. She holds a Professional Associate Appointment with the School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster. Jan and her husband have four wonderful children who have provided them with the inspiration that guides their work to support the self-determination and inclusion of people with disabilities.
Resources
Development of a Parent Information KIT (KIT: Keeping it Together™)
The KIT: Keeping it Together™ has been designed to help these parents use information as a tool that will help them to get 'the best' for their child(ren).
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.
Working Together for Change: The Role of Families in Generating, Using and Transmitting Knowledge in Higher Education and Research
Children, youth and young adults with disabilities and their families currently play a crucial role in changing the attitudes and expectations of their neighbours, those in the helping professions and public policy makers.
Transition into Adulthood for Youth with Disabilities: A Participatory Action Research Approach
This project will involve taking a participatory action research approach to developing a model for the transition to adulthood for youth with disabilities. This model will be based on capacity-building and community assets and resources.
Developmental Trajectories of Youth with Disabilities (age 12-25 years of age): A Knowledge Synthesis
This report is the outcome of a knowledge synthesis project on developmental trajectories of youth with disabilities, ages 12 - 25 years.
Youth KIT
The purpose of this study is to obtain the ideas, perspectives, and needs of youth with disabilities, parents, and service providers for the content and design of the Youth version of the KIT (Keeping It Together), and to test the utility of the Youth KIT for youth with multiple exceptionalities.
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.