Project Lead: Dr. Sarah Moore

Dr. Sarah Moore is an Assistant Professor in the School of Health and Human Performance, Faculty of Health at Dalhousie University. Her research expertise is in childhood disability, health and well-being, adapted physical activity and physical rehabilitation, and childhood growth development, and maturation. Dr. Moore strives to engage in work that is meaningful to children with disabilities and their families and relies on the stories, values, and preferences of persons with lived experience to inform her work.

Project: Amplifying Voices of Children and Youth with Disabilities to Support Their Health and Well-being through Policy, Practice, and Research

Policy Problem

Existing data does not include a specific focus on the experiences and opinions of children and youth with disabilities. These knowledge gaps, combined with negative societal attitudes towards disability and limited information about existing resources, prevent children and youth with disabilities from accessing their protected right to health. 

The Initiative

Through a youth-led advisory panel of children and youth with disabilities, this project will enable youth with disabilities will engage with data, inform new data collection efforts, and inform knowledge sharing with other children and youth to optimize health and well-being. The youth-led advisory panel will also communicate findings and interpretations to government policymakers and other key stakeholders to support the movement towards Nova Scotia’s Access by Design 2030.

Dr. Moore authored a Spotlight on the Well-being of Children and Youth with Disabilities as part of the One Chance to be a Child Report, and her project builds on this work. 

Expected Project Outcomes:

• Engaging children with disabilities in conversations with decision-makers to ensure children's voices are included.
• Building children’s confidence in using their voices to draw attention to inequities they face.
• Collecting data to learn about children's experiences, including their overall health, learning potential, happiness, connectedness to their environment, belonging and protection. 
• Supporting children with disabilities and their families by sharing knowledge and resources gained from research.
• Informing decision-makers of children's opinions and experiences regarding their health equity to ensure they are included in the creation of 'Access by Design 2030'
• Supporting training opportunities in health equity and opportunities for trainees to engage with key stakeholders (children with disabilities and their families, relevant organizations, decision makers)

About Project Leads

The MacEachen Institute's Project Leads provide leadership and build the Institute’s research capacity within one of our key research themes: health; environment; finance, the economy, and rural economic development; and democracy and engagement. Read more about the Project Leads program here.