Dr Corinne Reid
MPsych, PhD Associate Professor in Psychology I am Academic Chair of the Clinical Psychology program. My area of specialisation is the person-centred approach to therapy. I primarily work with vulnerable children and families, including families in three remote indigenous communities. I also work with Olympic sportspeople to help them get them reach their best possible performance. I am Clinical Director of the Project KIDS neurodevelopmental research team. Our goal is to understand more about what helps kids to develop to their potential and how health, mental health and educational challenges can impact development. To find out more about my research see our webpage projectkids.com.au Research areas Developing the Project KIDS translational research methodology has been my most significant research contribution to date. This methodology makes it uniquely possible to collect comprehensive neurodevelopmental data on children with a range of neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities and challenges. Project KIDS is built around core principles of child-centric research which attends to the experience of the child participants as a critical factor in planning the way data is collected. This is a completely different framework than the tradition of one on one testing with an unfamiliar adult which can be experienced as very stressful by children, particularly those who have a long history of medical assessment and interventions. Contextual validity in data collection is prioritised. Project KIDS has involved more than 2500 children and is based around a unique holiday activity day format. Each day up to 24 children attend a child-friendly early learning facility. They stay for eight hours during which time they engage in a range of group and individual activities that appear as games but within which are embedded standardised psychological assessments and ERP’s. Interspersed with these tasks are a range of games such as Twister and musical statues. Each testing session lasts 30 minutes after which children are rewarded with a sticker, encouragement and a token for their effort irrespective of performance. They can then place their sticker on a certificate to monitor their progress during the day and can exchange these tokens later in the day for play materials that contribute to a group based activity. All tests are administered under standardised conditions but are embedded in a thematic space story that runs throughout the day, linking all tasks. Specifically the children participate in ‘colonising a new planet’ through their participation in each activity. At the end of the day, the reward for their efforts is the ability to contribute to the construction of a papier mache planetscape. Each child is invited to attend for two consecutive days – we have a greater than 95% return rate suggesting that the children thoroughly enjoy the experience. In return, we collect a uniquely comprehensive dataset covering neurological, cognitive, social and emotional aspects of development. This project remains unique in its ‘whole of child’ approach in which we collect an unrivalled depth and breadth of data in such an efficient and cost-effective way and in manner that does not compromise the positivity of the child’s experience. We have successfully applied this method to work with children with neurological conditions, complex mental health presentations, educational challenges, medical issues (eg Type 1 Diabetes), and to children born extremely low birthweight. Understanding the neurodevelopmental footprint of each condition is proving instrumental in re-orienting treatment options. This methodology has positioned us uniquely in the field of translational paediatric neuroscience. In the past year I secured a grant to include a cognitive intervention trial based on emerging understanding of brain plasticity. Initial follow up results look very promising. Professional and community service Presented with a Distinguished Service Award by the Australian Red Cross in 2013 for services to the children and families of Lady Lawley Cottage. Children at the cottage have complex medical needs, behavioural needs and/or disabilities. Lady Lawley Cottage provides respite and specialist therapy services to enhance the lives of each child. Nominated for the inaugural WA Clinical Supervision Awards with Prof. Mike Anderson as co-founders of the Project KIDS research program which hosts a number of postgraduate practicum students and international interns each year. The awards are supported by the Health Department of WA; Health Workforce Australia; and the WA Clinical Training Network. |