Child Health & Well-Being

Description

The Child Health and Well Being interdisciplinary graduate group intends to harness the increased interest in research, training, and practice in children’s health and well being that exists at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD): Specifically, this includes disciplines with the following graduate programs at UMD: Social Work, Psychology, Health Physical Education and Recreation, Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Medicine, Biobehavioral Health, and Education. Additional interdisciplinary group membership will consist of graduate faculty from the College of St. Scholastica (CSS). Faculty from CSS represent disciplines for which training programs are not available at UMD (occupational therapy, physical therapy, and nursing) but whose expertise are integral when considering the “whole” perspective of services supportive of children’s health and well being. Several graduate-level programs for future practitioners and scholars in disciplines relevant to children’s health and well-being have been established and enhanced.

Faculty from across disciplines know of the value of interdisciplinary training and research activities for graduate students and programs, but have limited mechanisms available to explore opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.

The Interdisciplinary Group of Child Health and Well Being will be launched with a symposium. The proposed symposium would feature a nationally known keynote speaker to stimulate thinking through use of an interdisciplinary lens, issues related to the mental and physical health of children, and implications for our region of the state.