Gissele Damiani-Taraba

Maitri Centre for Love and Compassion · Research

Child welfare workers are faced with suffering on a daily basis. Workers report experiencing empathetic distress (also known as compassion fatigue) and many feel discouraged from showing self-compassion or compassion toward others. However, the literature on compassion suggests that self-compassion and compassion for others builds resiliency, impro...

In this paper we present the results from a Youth Lead Project on the voices and participation of children in state care in Ontario Canada. The purpose of this project was for youth to share their voice around what they wish child protection workers and agencies could do to improve their experiences within the child protection system. Many youth in...

The philosophy that siblings entering foster care should be placed together (co-placed) rather than separated has endured throughout both the policies and practices of child welfare. The underlying belief seems to be that co-placement can alleviate trauma and the presence of a sibling may ease the difficulties of transition to care. The authors con...

Discussion on new definition of quality assurance which is grounded on voices of clients and anti oppressive practice

This paper reports a study that aims to increase the understanding of the relationship between workers and their child protection clients through the development of a client engagement model. A conceptual exploratory structural equation model (SEM) of caseworker skills, engagement and client outcomes is presented. Results indicate that including pa...

Children involved with child protection services (CPS) are diagnosed and treated for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at higher rates than the general population. Children with maltreatment histories are much more likely to have other factors contributing to behavioural and attentional regulation difficulties that may overlap with or...

Asynchronous e-learning is an appealing option for interprofessional education (IPE) as it addresses the geographic and timetabling barriers often encountered when organizing activities across educational programs. This study examined the extent to which pre-licensure students were able to learn with, from, and about each other through completion o...

To describe the use of formal respite services among caregivers of children with cerebral palsy in Ontario and discuss the factors that may contribute to respite use and non-use. A total of 468 caregivers were interviewed about their experience with formal respite services. Interviews were part of a larger cross-sectional study on caregiver health....

To clarify perspectives on women's mental health needs, services and policy, a survey was undertaken of the 54 World Psychiatric Association Section of Women's Mental Health members. To complement this, a workshop was convened at the Berlin Congress of Women's Mental Health. International experts from psychiatry, psychology, nursing, sociology, adv...