About my Child, 26-item version (AMC-26) was developed as a measure of child health 'complexi... more About my Child, 26-item version (AMC-26) was developed as a measure of child health 'complexity' and has been proposed as a tool for understanding the functional needs of children and the priorities of families. The current study investigated the reliability and validity of AMC-26 with a sample of caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD; n = 258) who completed AMC-26 as part of a larger study on parenting children with NDD. A subsample of children from the larger study (n = 49) were assessed using standardized measures of cognitive and adaptive functioning. Factor analysis revealed that a four-component model explained 51.12% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha was calculated for each of the four factors and for the scale as a whole, and ranged from 0.75 to 0.85, suggesting a high level of internal consistency. Construct validity was tested through comparisons with the results of standardized measures of child functioning. Predicted relationships for ...
About my Child, 26-item version (AMC-26) was developed as a measure of child health 'complexi... more About my Child, 26-item version (AMC-26) was developed as a measure of child health 'complexity' and has been proposed as a tool for understanding the functional needs of children and the priorities of families. The current study investigated the reliability and validity of AMC-26 with a sample of caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD; n = 258) who completed AMC-26 as part of a larger study on parenting children with NDD. A subsample of children from the larger study (n = 49) were assessed using standardized measures of cognitive and adaptive functioning. Factor analysis revealed that a four-component model explained 51.12% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha was calculated for each of the four factors and for the scale as a whole, and ranged from 0.75 to 0.85, suggesting a high level of internal consistency. Construct validity was tested through comparisons with the results of standardized measures of child functioning. Predicted relationships for ...
International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, 2015
The laminar structure and conserved cellular organization of mouse visual cortex provide a useful... more The laminar structure and conserved cellular organization of mouse visual cortex provide a useful model to determine the mechanisms that support the development of basic visual system function. However, the normal development of many receptive field properties, as well as the emergence of synchronized network activity, have not yet been thoroughly quantified as a function of cortical layer. Here, we employ multisite electrophysiological recording in the awake mouse across an extended period of development, starting at eye opening, to measure these functional properties in V1. Consistent with previous work, we find that several receptive field properties change rapidly over the first few days after eye-opening, followed by much slower refinement up through one month of age. For example, orientation selectivity increases in layers 2 through 5 most dramatically within the first 3 days of eye opening, but does not fully mature until one month of age. In contrast, other response features such as spatial frequency preference and direction selectivity are immature at eye opening, but reach adult-like states within the first three days of eye opening without further refinement. We found evidence for layer specific developmental changes as well as changes that were common to every layer. In particular, direction selectivity undergoes significant developmental change only in layer 4. In contrast, the developmental increase in the number of neurons that respond to high spatial frequency drifting gratings (>= 0.16 cpd) was noted in every layer and reached maturity in each layer at the same time point, 3 days after eye opening. Behavioural state modulation of LFP gamma power also changes significantly over development in a layer specific manner. Similar to orientation selectivity, LFP oscillations mature most rapidly within the first three days of eye opening, but continue to develop until one month of age. On-going studies seek to determine the cell type-specific molecular mechanisms that drive these changes.
ABSTRACT The first social work doctoral program in Canada began in 1952. Relatively recently the ... more ABSTRACT The first social work doctoral program in Canada began in 1952. Relatively recently the number of programs has grown rapidly, doubling in the past ten years to 14 programs. Despite the expansion there is no systematic understanding of the patterns and trends in doctoral research. In this study we review 248 publicly available dissertations from 2001 to 2011. We find that most dissertations are qualitative and descriptive in nature with a relatively low percentage focusing on intervention. We compare findings with other dissertation studies and raise critical questions about the knowledge base of social work in Canada.
The nature and types of social work research generated in doctoral programs has been well-studied... more The nature and types of social work research generated in doctoral programs has been well-studied in the US. Doctoral programs in Canada, in comparison, are much younger; the first doctoral program was created in the mid-1970s. To date, there is no systematic understanding of the nature and types of knowledge produced within Schools and Faculties of Social Work. In this study we review 248 dissertations that were published in Canada between 2001 and 2011. Method: A database was created from a search of Canadian social work dissertations published between 2001-2011 using the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database (PQDT). To verify the sample, doctoral program directors were contacted and independently confirmed the sample names and dissertation titles by year. Full text dissertations were retrieved for review. Data pertaining to 12 research methodology variables (e.g., quantitative/qualitative/mixed method, presence/absence of hypothesis, primary or secondary data source, sample ...
With increasing age, youth with disabilities are at risk for decreased participation in leisure a... more With increasing age, youth with disabilities are at risk for decreased participation in leisure activities, a key component for physical and mental health. This prospective study describes changes in leisure participation and leisure preferences from school-age to adolescence in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Participants were recruited at school-age (6-12 years) for a study on participation and reassessed for a second study on adolescents (12-19 years) if >12 years. Thirty-eight children (24 males) with CP who could actively participate in the completion of the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) and the Preferences for Activities of Children (PAC) comprised the sample. Average time between assessments was 5.0 ± 1.3 years. Most children were ambulatory (32/38 Gross Motor Function Classification System I-II). In addition to the CAPE and PAC, children were evaluated using the Gross Motor Function Measure-66 and parents completed a socio-demographic ...
BACKGROUND Few studies have examined the potential of linked administrative data for research on ... more BACKGROUND Few studies have examined the potential of linked administrative data for research on child health. This analysis describes the application of a non-categorical survey-based tool, the Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) Screener, to administrative data. DATA AND METHODS Five Screener items were applied to linked administrative health data from Population Data British Columbia. Hospital admissions and demographic and community characteristics for a cohort of children aged 6 to 10 in 2006 were examined to validate the use of these items. RESULTS Overall, 17.5% of children were identified as CSHCN. An estimated 14% of children used more medical care and 5.2% had more functional limitations than is usual for children of the same age; 3.3% were prescribed long-term medication; 1.9% needed/received treatment or counselling; and 0.1% needed/received special therapy. Boys were more likely than girls to be identified as CSHCN. INTERPRETATION With some limitations, the ...
Background: Caregivers of children with health problems (CHPs; usually mothers) experience more p... more Background: Caregivers of children with health problems (CHPs; usually mothers) experience more physical and psychological health problems than those of children without health problems (non-CHPs). Primarily cross-sectional and survey-driven, this literature has not yet explored whether these health differences existed before the birth of the CHPs, or are exacerbated postbirth. Methods: Using linked administrative health data on all mother-child dyads for children born in the year 2000 in British Columbia, Canada, we examined maternal health before, during, and after the birth of CHPs, and compared it between mothers of CHPs and non-CHPs with piecewise growth curve modeling. Results: Compared with mothers of non-CHPs, mothers of CHPs had more physician visits (8.09 vs. 11.07), more medication types (1.81 vs. 2.60), and were more likely to be diagnosed with selected health conditions (30.9% vs. 42.5%) 4 years before the birth of the child. Over the 7-year postbirth period, the health of the 2 groups of mothers further diverged: while mothers of CHPs showed increases on physician visits and types of medication, mothers of non-CHPs did not experience any changes in physician visits and had less steep increases for types of medication. Conclusions: Health issues associated with having a child with a health problem may begin well before the birth of the child, but also appear to be exacerbated postbirth. The health challenges of caregivers of CHPs may be multifactorial, involving both preexisting conditions and the stresses associated with caring for a child with health problems.
BACKGROUND Using linked administrative health data, this study compared the health and healthcare... more BACKGROUND Using linked administrative health data, this study compared the health and healthcare service utilization between mothers of children with and without neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD), before, during, and after the birth of a child. METHODS The population (N = 25,388) was based on a cohort of children born in 2000 and who were, along with their mothers, continuously registered with the British Columbia's universal health insurance program between 2000 and 2007. RESULTS Compared to mothers of children without NDD, mothers of children with NDD were more likely to have chronic conditions and higher service utilization before child birth. Mothers of children with NDD showed a smaller increase in physician visits in the year before birth but a greater increase in different prescription drugs in the year after birth. There was no further divergence (or convergence) in health and service utilization between the groups in the 7-year period post-birth. CONCLUSIONS Differences in health and healthcare service utilization between mothers of children with and without NDD existed before the birth of the child and did not diverge in the 7 years post-birth. Replication of these findings is warranted as well as follow-up analyses examining longer term outcomes for mothers beyond 7 years post-birth.
About my Child, 26-item version (AMC-26) was developed as a measure of child health 'complexi... more About my Child, 26-item version (AMC-26) was developed as a measure of child health 'complexity' and has been proposed as a tool for understanding the functional needs of children and the priorities of families. The current study investigated the reliability and validity of AMC-26 with a sample of caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD; n = 258) who completed AMC-26 as part of a larger study on parenting children with NDD. A subsample of children from the larger study (n = 49) were assessed using standardized measures of cognitive and adaptive functioning. Factor analysis revealed that a four-component model explained 51.12% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha was calculated for each of the four factors and for the scale as a whole, and ranged from 0.75 to 0.85, suggesting a high level of internal consistency. Construct validity was tested through comparisons with the results of standardized measures of child functioning. Predicted relationships for ...
About my Child, 26-item version (AMC-26) was developed as a measure of child health 'complexi... more About my Child, 26-item version (AMC-26) was developed as a measure of child health 'complexity' and has been proposed as a tool for understanding the functional needs of children and the priorities of families. The current study investigated the reliability and validity of AMC-26 with a sample of caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD; n = 258) who completed AMC-26 as part of a larger study on parenting children with NDD. A subsample of children from the larger study (n = 49) were assessed using standardized measures of cognitive and adaptive functioning. Factor analysis revealed that a four-component model explained 51.12% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha was calculated for each of the four factors and for the scale as a whole, and ranged from 0.75 to 0.85, suggesting a high level of internal consistency. Construct validity was tested through comparisons with the results of standardized measures of child functioning. Predicted relationships for ...
International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, 2015
The laminar structure and conserved cellular organization of mouse visual cortex provide a useful... more The laminar structure and conserved cellular organization of mouse visual cortex provide a useful model to determine the mechanisms that support the development of basic visual system function. However, the normal development of many receptive field properties, as well as the emergence of synchronized network activity, have not yet been thoroughly quantified as a function of cortical layer. Here, we employ multisite electrophysiological recording in the awake mouse across an extended period of development, starting at eye opening, to measure these functional properties in V1. Consistent with previous work, we find that several receptive field properties change rapidly over the first few days after eye-opening, followed by much slower refinement up through one month of age. For example, orientation selectivity increases in layers 2 through 5 most dramatically within the first 3 days of eye opening, but does not fully mature until one month of age. In contrast, other response features such as spatial frequency preference and direction selectivity are immature at eye opening, but reach adult-like states within the first three days of eye opening without further refinement. We found evidence for layer specific developmental changes as well as changes that were common to every layer. In particular, direction selectivity undergoes significant developmental change only in layer 4. In contrast, the developmental increase in the number of neurons that respond to high spatial frequency drifting gratings (>= 0.16 cpd) was noted in every layer and reached maturity in each layer at the same time point, 3 days after eye opening. Behavioural state modulation of LFP gamma power also changes significantly over development in a layer specific manner. Similar to orientation selectivity, LFP oscillations mature most rapidly within the first three days of eye opening, but continue to develop until one month of age. On-going studies seek to determine the cell type-specific molecular mechanisms that drive these changes.
ABSTRACT The first social work doctoral program in Canada began in 1952. Relatively recently the ... more ABSTRACT The first social work doctoral program in Canada began in 1952. Relatively recently the number of programs has grown rapidly, doubling in the past ten years to 14 programs. Despite the expansion there is no systematic understanding of the patterns and trends in doctoral research. In this study we review 248 publicly available dissertations from 2001 to 2011. We find that most dissertations are qualitative and descriptive in nature with a relatively low percentage focusing on intervention. We compare findings with other dissertation studies and raise critical questions about the knowledge base of social work in Canada.
The nature and types of social work research generated in doctoral programs has been well-studied... more The nature and types of social work research generated in doctoral programs has been well-studied in the US. Doctoral programs in Canada, in comparison, are much younger; the first doctoral program was created in the mid-1970s. To date, there is no systematic understanding of the nature and types of knowledge produced within Schools and Faculties of Social Work. In this study we review 248 dissertations that were published in Canada between 2001 and 2011. Method: A database was created from a search of Canadian social work dissertations published between 2001-2011 using the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database (PQDT). To verify the sample, doctoral program directors were contacted and independently confirmed the sample names and dissertation titles by year. Full text dissertations were retrieved for review. Data pertaining to 12 research methodology variables (e.g., quantitative/qualitative/mixed method, presence/absence of hypothesis, primary or secondary data source, sample ...
With increasing age, youth with disabilities are at risk for decreased participation in leisure a... more With increasing age, youth with disabilities are at risk for decreased participation in leisure activities, a key component for physical and mental health. This prospective study describes changes in leisure participation and leisure preferences from school-age to adolescence in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Participants were recruited at school-age (6-12 years) for a study on participation and reassessed for a second study on adolescents (12-19 years) if >12 years. Thirty-eight children (24 males) with CP who could actively participate in the completion of the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) and the Preferences for Activities of Children (PAC) comprised the sample. Average time between assessments was 5.0 ± 1.3 years. Most children were ambulatory (32/38 Gross Motor Function Classification System I-II). In addition to the CAPE and PAC, children were evaluated using the Gross Motor Function Measure-66 and parents completed a socio-demographic ...
BACKGROUND Few studies have examined the potential of linked administrative data for research on ... more BACKGROUND Few studies have examined the potential of linked administrative data for research on child health. This analysis describes the application of a non-categorical survey-based tool, the Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) Screener, to administrative data. DATA AND METHODS Five Screener items were applied to linked administrative health data from Population Data British Columbia. Hospital admissions and demographic and community characteristics for a cohort of children aged 6 to 10 in 2006 were examined to validate the use of these items. RESULTS Overall, 17.5% of children were identified as CSHCN. An estimated 14% of children used more medical care and 5.2% had more functional limitations than is usual for children of the same age; 3.3% were prescribed long-term medication; 1.9% needed/received treatment or counselling; and 0.1% needed/received special therapy. Boys were more likely than girls to be identified as CSHCN. INTERPRETATION With some limitations, the ...
Background: Caregivers of children with health problems (CHPs; usually mothers) experience more p... more Background: Caregivers of children with health problems (CHPs; usually mothers) experience more physical and psychological health problems than those of children without health problems (non-CHPs). Primarily cross-sectional and survey-driven, this literature has not yet explored whether these health differences existed before the birth of the CHPs, or are exacerbated postbirth. Methods: Using linked administrative health data on all mother-child dyads for children born in the year 2000 in British Columbia, Canada, we examined maternal health before, during, and after the birth of CHPs, and compared it between mothers of CHPs and non-CHPs with piecewise growth curve modeling. Results: Compared with mothers of non-CHPs, mothers of CHPs had more physician visits (8.09 vs. 11.07), more medication types (1.81 vs. 2.60), and were more likely to be diagnosed with selected health conditions (30.9% vs. 42.5%) 4 years before the birth of the child. Over the 7-year postbirth period, the health of the 2 groups of mothers further diverged: while mothers of CHPs showed increases on physician visits and types of medication, mothers of non-CHPs did not experience any changes in physician visits and had less steep increases for types of medication. Conclusions: Health issues associated with having a child with a health problem may begin well before the birth of the child, but also appear to be exacerbated postbirth. The health challenges of caregivers of CHPs may be multifactorial, involving both preexisting conditions and the stresses associated with caring for a child with health problems.
BACKGROUND Using linked administrative health data, this study compared the health and healthcare... more BACKGROUND Using linked administrative health data, this study compared the health and healthcare service utilization between mothers of children with and without neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD), before, during, and after the birth of a child. METHODS The population (N = 25,388) was based on a cohort of children born in 2000 and who were, along with their mothers, continuously registered with the British Columbia's universal health insurance program between 2000 and 2007. RESULTS Compared to mothers of children without NDD, mothers of children with NDD were more likely to have chronic conditions and higher service utilization before child birth. Mothers of children with NDD showed a smaller increase in physician visits in the year before birth but a greater increase in different prescription drugs in the year after birth. There was no further divergence (or convergence) in health and service utilization between the groups in the 7-year period post-birth. CONCLUSIONS Differences in health and healthcare service utilization between mothers of children with and without NDD existed before the birth of the child and did not diverge in the 7 years post-birth. Replication of these findings is warranted as well as follow-up analyses examining longer term outcomes for mothers beyond 7 years post-birth.
The first social work doctoral program in Canada began in 1952. Relatively recently the number of... more The first social work doctoral program in Canada began in 1952. Relatively recently the number of programs has grown rapidly, doubling in the past ten years to 14 programs. Despite the expansion there is no systematic understanding of the patterns and trends in doctoral research. In this study we review 248 publicly available dissertations from 2001 to 2011. We find that most dissertations are qualitative and descriptive in nature with a relatively low percentage focusing on intervention. We compare findings with other dissertation studies and raise critical questions about the knowledge base of social work in Canada.
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