Culture instead of Cliffs

National Gallery of Ireland

Well, for all you dedicated followers, this is the final full day here. My plan was to go to see the Cliffs today, but alas, well, I slept in and missed the bus. Instead, I turned the day into a cultural event, and visited the National Art Gallery of Ireland (http://www.nationalgallery.ie/), the Book of Kells (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells), and the Douglas Hyde Gallery at Trinity. The National Gallery is a magnificent building and was showing the works of Gabriel Metsu.
I will be entirely sad to leave this wonderful, magical country. The greatest gift that this trip has given me is the new and lasting friendship I have developed during my time here. Thank you Robbie, Kathryn and Deborah for educating me further about evidence-informed practice. Away I go, to return another day soon. Cheers, Katharine  

Centre for Effective Services

Kate and Claire

Well, the lecture tour has finally come to an end. What is clear however, is that the distillation of learning is significant. I had the great good fortune of meeting with the staff team at the Centre for Effective Services: http://www.effectiveservices.org/  This is a very innovative organization whose mission is to connect the design and delivery of services with scientific and technical knowledge of ‘what works’, in order to improve outcomes for children, young people and the families and communities in which they live. I had the pleasure of meeting with ClaireMacEvilly, who works in the area of knowledge exchange and her team member, Katie Burke. Deborah Ghate, Director, was a very gracious host and a leader clearly trying to use innovation, and implementation science to move research to practice. Thank you all for giving me the opportunity to meet and learn from you today. Tomorrow is my final day here and so sadly, the blog will end...I am off tomorrow to see the cliffs of Moher....Stay tuned for great photos! Cheers to all. Katharine

Lost or Found in Translation

Dr. Kathryn Higgins and Lisa Monaghan

Hello everyone, well, my Belfast journey has ended and I am now tucked away in a hotel in Dublin for the next three nights. The presentation this morning was a fantastic conversation about evidence-informed practice held at Queen's University in Belfast. Many people in the room understood the need to bring research to practice, but how can we build on the networks that we already have in place to move ideas forward. The group spend a good deal of time exploring the theoretical underpinnings of evidence-informed practice (Hall's model). I have to say, these Irish really embrace the notion of practice and consumer wisdom, in a way, that in my humble opinion far exceeds our understanding of it in North American society.  I loved John Pinkerton's title, "lost in translation'"or I would like to say, PART  works to find it in translation.It was suggested that PART could do a study that includes non member and member agencies, and determine how or if case decisions are being influenced at all by the organizational and systemic underpinnings of EIP--thanks to Dr. Higgins for that brilliant suggestion. So, Link PARTners, any thoughts are welcome here! I shall bring this idea forward to the group. PART has the makings of an excellent research study, indeed.



Me--Canada Room at Queen's University



The two Kates!



All told, the presentation was from my perspective, successful given the great questions and comments at the end. The presentation was held in the Canada Room no less, at Queen's.

I want to say a huge thank you to Lisa Monaghan and Dr. Kathryn Higgins for being fantastic hosts. I had the most wonderful time. And a final thank you for Kathryn, for not only being a wonderful colleague but also an amazing friend! Cheers to her and her amazing energy, and joie de vivre.



Learning more and more

Well, my head is full. I have learned so so much here in Belfast. I met with the National Children's Bureau (NCB)  here in Belfast yesterday and low and behold, they were doing a consultation with youth about child poverty. NCB creates a research agenda for Northern Ireland based on the voices of consumers and practitioners. This model is exceptional and one that we should embrace in our journey to build our own research agenda back in Ontario. Having this group give a webinar on their model would be fantastic, if not for the entire province, but perhaps for some of our key stakeholders. Here is a picture of the youth participants, including a policy person who attends these sessions to learn from the youth. Gillian, was the facilitator and she has exceptional skills, indeed. I was so fortunate to join in and learn from them all. Thank you! A huge thank you to Celine McStravick for coordinating such a wonderful learning experience for me!


Youth consultation on child poverty



Institute of Child Care Research
Then out for dinner with many wonderful colleagues from the Institute of Child Care Research and wondeful Celine McStravick, Director of NCB. What a fantastic group of women....we laughed and laughed! Oh, it will be hard to leave this all behind...Cheers to all!

The Belfast Women's Book Club

Wow, now I have truly witnessed a piece of Irish culture! I joined Dr. Kathryn Higgins and her Irish Women's Book Club and I can tell you this, we discussed a range of issues that went well beyond the scope of the book...oh what was the title of the book again, I cannot recall! Ha! Thanks everyone for making me feel so welcome and so very very special! I had a wonderful evening! Cheers, Katharine

The Belfast Women's
Book Club!

Engaging the Hearts and Minds...

Well, all of you are having lunch and I am gearing up here for dinner! It seems strange to be here when all of you are on a different time zone, but alas, that will soon change upon my return. Beloved Auriole, I am certain is missing my pestering on a daily basis, but alas, she is still getting some of it from afar...the show must go on with PART despite my being across the pond.

So today, I presented to a group of field instructors about knowledge exchange. My host and moderator today was Dr. John Pinkerton (http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofSociologySocialPolicySocialWork/Staff/AcademicStaff/JohnPinkerton/)

John Pinkerton and you know who again!

who is himself, an expert in the area of evidence based and informed practice. This group of engaged colleagues were very interested in hearing about PART....What John pointed out was that in a way PART is a model of community development and working at the macro level. He said that we at PART are engaging the 'hearts and minds' child welfare practitioners and allowing them to embrace Evidence-Informed Practice. Lovely and poetic...I spoke of my role as an advocate for evidence-informed practice. Although the group was highly engaged they were concerned that staff here would see using this material as 'overtime' and would be resistant to engaging with webinars, and more reading materials. Despite this, they found the use of technology fascinating.

Queen's University

A few more interesting photos of Belfast for those of you non-evidence-informed, family friend, followers!

Tonight I am out with the gals (attending a Belfast book club never having read the book!) and tomorrow it is a busy day meeting with key players from the Children's Bureau of Northern Ireland. They are keeping me busy here! Thanks to all of you for following and I love to receive your comments. Katharine

The house I am staying at!

More of Dublin

An old bank turned into a lecture hall

Well, I have been having such a busy and wonderful time here in Dublin that I have lost track of the time and my post publishing activities have waned. I have had an amazing week here at Trinity College but sadly, the experience is coming to an end. I hope this will not be my final journey to this magical place. I have given two talks since I have been here--one on PART and the other related to my dissertation. The reality is, that here in Ireland, they are fascinated with our use of technology and webinars. My talk seems to have generated a significant amount of discussion amongst academics and students and so I hope that I have left them with some food for thought.

The key learnings for knowledge exchange here is:





Dr. Patricia Walsh


• Many discussions with the faculty here has made me realize that we really have to focus on engaging and training the academics to present material that is relevant to the field and provide them with templates and ideas of how presentations can look. Developing webinars series as well, that focus on specific topics and encourage participation as well from practitioners and consumers is also vital. Stephanie Holt, an academic who specializes in the area of domestic violence is willing to participate in a series on webinars on this topic. Perhaps we can invite Peter Jaffe etc. and maybe engage practitioners in the discussion of how the material could link to their practice. So, my PART thinking cap has been on during my visit here!
• Kinship or as they call it, relative care is intriguing. They are not as apt to place children in foster care while waiting for the assessment to be completed. On the flip side, it would seem that their assessment of kin families is not as in-depth as it is back home.




Passing the talking stick


• I met with Dr. John Canavan this week to keep the 'ball rolling' for the international event. I passed the 'talking stick' to him which is an aboriginal symbol. We were unable to achieve this goal as the volcano thwarted our plans last April. He and Kathryn Higgins from Belfast are now moving forward!

Perhaps the greatest learning of all this week is the recognition that people here really connect with one another on a deeper level. The hospitality and warmth shared with me over the past week far surpasses anything I have experienced in my life and I feel so very fortunate to have met with so many amazing faculty members from Trinity, spent more time with my beloved friend, Hilda and kept the momentum going for our international network of EIP professionals and practitioners. All amazing stuff! Below is a picture of Mary Dunne, who took care of me all week at Trinity and made me breakfast everyday and made me feel so very special. Thank you Mary! You are wonderful!

Off to Belfast today to give more lectures up at the other Queen's University. Stay tuned for more, devoted followers. Katharine

Fantastic Mary!

Day Four...

Day Four Morning: I have just met with two excellent new colleagues, Dr. Stephanie Holt's, who specializes in the area of domestic violence and who runs the MSW program, and her wonderful colleague, Gloria Kirwan. We shared our common interests related to the development of knowledge exchange in child welfare practice. Stephanie is most interested to share her knowledge about domestic violence via a webinar for PART. We are 'moving and grooving' here at Trinity! Now to gear up for tomorrow's big presentation.





L to R: Gloria Kirwan, Stephanie Holt and Katharine Dill, at Trinity College

Robbie Gilligan, and his wife Mary hosted a dinner along with his three daughters. We have a marvelous time and I have discovered that Mary is also a very incredible story-teller. I feel very blessed to have been so graciously welcomed and hosted by such a special family....thank you so much to Mary and Robbie and their three wonderful daughters.





Mary Quinn, myself and Robbie Gilligan



Day One, Two and Three...

Hello everyone, and thanks for 'participating' in this social experiment. I thought it would be fantastic to showcase my experience traveling in Ireland. I want to provide specific attention to my experiences related to knowledge exchange within the context of child welfare practice with a bit of fun and adventure thrown into the mix! Please enjoy reading about my experiences to Ireland on this self-funded journey that will contribute to PART but has not required any financial support from member agencies.

Day 1: Arrived in Dublin only to be picked up by Robbie Gilligan's eldest daughter, Aoife, who is a  is also a social worker by trade, just like her mother and father. She finished her MSW degree at Columbia and is now working as a child protection worker here in Dublin. She was hired following a child death review uncovered serious flaws in the system. She was a star to pick me up so early in the morning.


Hilda and Katharine



That evening, I met up with a wonderful friend, and fellow social work professor from University College Dublin, Hilda Loughran. She and her friends took me to see a play about the demise of Enron following a fantastic Thai dinner. Her friends, and sister was wonderful hosts and showed me an excellent time my first night in Dublin.



Me hiking the trails near the Guinness Estate

Day Two included an afternoon of hiking with Hilda through the gorgeous 'mountain' ranges outside of Dublin near the Guinness estate. We had a glorious time and enjoyed spectacular weather. Later that evening, my fantastic host and world renowned expert in child welfare and children in care issues, Dr. Robbie Gilligan (my host for this week) and his wife, Mary invited me out for dinner. Robbie is the head of the school of social work here at Trinity College in Dublin. Trinity is a gorgeous university situated in the heart of Dublin. This university began in 1592, something we cannot fathom in our relatively new country of Canada:   http://www.tcd.ie/about/history/

The entry way to Trinity College

Day Three provided excellent learning for me. Mary Quinn, Robbie Gilligan's wife is a social worker in social housing. She specializes in a specific population called the Traveler's: http://www.nccri.ie/travellr.html  This unique ethnic population requires a unique understanding of the traveler's heritage and circumstance. I learned a great deal about this population from Mary and her team members.

Mary Quinn and housing team member John Hanley

Following this incredible journey of learning with Mary, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with Dr. Helen Buckley from Trinity College. Dr. Buckley is an expert in the area of child welfare practice http://people.tcd.ie/hbuckley  She has special interest in the area of knowledge exchange in child welfare practice and so there was a rich discussion and sharing of ideas.  We hope to engage Dr. Buckley in providing a webinar presentation on one of her many areas of interest in child welfare practice. She leaves to give a presentation in London, Ontario at King's College. Her talk, "Putting research evidence to work" has significant relevance for PART and we hope to have Dr. Buckley provide this same presentation again for our members in the near future. Now that I am caught up, tomorrow's entry will be short and sweet! Cheers, Katharine

The First Leg of the Journey

Hello everyone, I have started blog to share my experience traveling to Ireland...I begin the first leg of the journey in Dublin. I will be staying at Trinity College and my adventures should begin right away. Please feel free to add your comments and impressions as I go forward with my journey sharing my knowledge about PART (http://www.partontario.org/) with several interested groups in Dublin and Belfast. My flight is just about to leave so please stay in touch. Katharine