Since 2009 colleagues at the University of Manitoba and elsewhere have collaborated on qualitative research projects that have utilized the Vidaview Life Story Board as the vehicle or process for interview in various ways.
the team
Robert Chase MD MSc FRCPC is assistant professor in the College of Community and Global Health, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences and occupational health physician at the MFL Occupational Health Centre in Winnipeg. He teaches undergraduate medical education in immigrant refugee and global health. An early area of research involved project work out of McMaster University (1993-1996) that focused on the health of children in war zones. Rob led an international team that conducted child mental health survey research in Sri Lanka in ethnic communities (Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim) that hd experienced communal violence and massacres. The project work led to a second phase that sought to address the impacts of war on children through the creative arts. A local NGO called the Butterfly Peace Garden, was established in Batticaloa in 1995 that provided a nine-month program for war affected children. [2000 REF]. As part of an early evaluation of the program, he created a visual tactile activity, with which children attending the BPG were interviewed about their life experience and time at the BPG . Over years and other pilot projects, the activity evolved into the Life Story Board [2008 REF], as a tool in qualitative research and in counselling and therapeutic applications. Since 2010, this has been his main area of research. He has co-authored seven publications on applications of Life Story Board, with at least seven publications by other research teams, and six postgraduate research dissertations.
Javier Mignone PhD is professor in the College of Community and Global Health, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences. He holds a Masters equivalent degree in Psychology, a Masters in Health Services administration, and a PhD in Community Health Sciences. Dr. Mignone teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, on program evaluation and social development. He leads workshops on program evaluation and conducts research and development projects on intercultural health and health information for small NGOs and Indigenous organizations in Canada and Latin America. Dr. Mignone has collaborated closely on research and graduate student projects involving Life Story Board and is co-author on several publications. He leads the Program and Policy Evaluation Research Group (PROPER) at the University of Manitoba. Javier comments on Life Story Board
Ashley Stewart-Tufescu, PhD, RSW is a Registered Social Worker and Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba, and Research Scientist with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. Dr. Stewart-Tufescu’s research program focuses on violence prevention initiatives in diverse and challenging contexts characterized by conflict, trauma, environmental disaster, and resource insecurity. She is a principal investigator and co-investigator on numerous research projects supported by PHAC, the SSHRC, and CIHR funding. As a Registered Social Worker, she has direct practice experience in international child protection. Regarding Life Story Board, She has led two funded research projects utilizing the Life Story Board with children and youth in Winnipeg, and is co-PI in research projects in Cox Bazar, Bangladesh using LSB to interview Rohingyan children (SSHRC). Since 2021 Dr. Stewart-Tufescu incorporated the LSB in her graduate studies teaching (“Application & Critique of Theory & Research in Social Work with Individuals & Families Event” SWRK-7640-A01), and she co-facilitates an annual LSB training workshop at the Faculty of Social Work. Ashley’s comments about Life Story Board
Kerstin Roger PhD is professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences. Her research focusses on chronic illness including mental health, aging including caregiving and family, dying and end of life research. Dr. Roger has been a principal investigator on multi-site nationally funded research (e.g. PHAC, SSHRC, Movember, federal government), and as well as conducting provincial and regionally funded research (Prairie Action Foundation, MMSF). She has worked on national and international collaborations, local not-for-profit community initiatives, and continues to co-author and engage graduate students in her research. She is familiar with Life Story Board in graduate student committee work, co-authorship of a publication and through her leadership of the Qualitative Research Group at University of Manitoba.
Tamara Taillieu PhD is assistant professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, and research scientist at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. Her primary research interests focus on the effects of child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, and other traumatic events on physical and mental health (including substance use) across the lifespan. She is working on projects examining the influence of various factors on military personnel and first responder mental health and well-being in Canada, and is a member of the Childhood Adversity and Resilience (CARe) Research Team. She contributed to quantitative methods development for a study proposal of the Life Story Board as intervention to improve therapeutic alliance in rehabilitation counselling in the addictions field.