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Discover the Family Engagement in Research Program
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Co-founded by a dedicated team of family leaders and health researchers, the Family Engagement in Research (FER) Program is an international training program led by CanChild Centre for Childhood-Onset Disability Research at McMaster University and developed in partnership with Kids Brain Health Network and McMaster Continuing Education.
Who We Are
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Co-founded by a dedicated team of family leaders and health researchers, the Family Engagement in Research (FER) Program is an international training program led by CanChild Centre for Childhood-onset Disability Research at McMaster University.
We offer foundational to advanced-level training courses (including two McMaster University micro-credentialed courses), a growing international Community Network, and a variety of engagement support services.
Our mission is to train, mentor, and mobilize the next generation of advocates, champions, and leaders in family engagement in research.
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Group of FER Graduates at the 2023 Kids Brain Health Network Conference, 2023Our Values and Approach
The FER Training Program is rooted in our shared values of building and fostering authentic relationships, clear and transparent communication, empathy and compassion, co-creation, and respect for different types of knowledge and experience.
Authenticity
We create spaces where learners can embrace and express their true selves.
Inclusivity
We value all knowledge and experience.
Collaboration
We facilitate co-learning and connect in supportive environments.
Mutual Respect
We build and foster trusting and respectful relationships.
We offer two McMaster University Certificate of Completion Courses.
101: FER Course
The FER Course is a 10-week (~30 hours) online course co-instructed by people with lived and living experience and researchers. The course is unique in that it is designed to build trusting relationships. We achieve this by enabling co-learning in a supportive and welcoming environment. For every individual who is trained, we empower them with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to meaningfully engage in research.
101 Course Format and Core Elements
- The course includes 4 synchronous Zoom sessions, and we provide an option of a day and evening time for each synchronous session. Zoom sessions are offered in Weeks 1, 4, 6, and 10.
- A large component of this course includes group work. In the first week of the course, you will be assigned to a group by the course instructors.
- For each week, we ask you to complete activities which include readings, a group reflection post based on question prompts, and meeting regularly with your group to complete a group project.
- The purpose of group work is to practice working collaboratively in a team that includes researchers, people with lived experience, and family partners.
- As a group, you will develop a resource about family engagement in research.
- You will be expected to meet with your assigned group for 30-60 minutes outside of class time each week. You will be responsible for communicating with your group to find a time to meet.
- At the end of the course, you will present your group's process of working together in a PowerPoint presentation given by your group.
- At the end of the course, your group will present your process of working together in a slideshow presentation.
- The purpose of the presentation is to share what went well in your partnership and reflect on what you might have done differently.
Upcoming FER 101 Cohorts
Fall 2025
Sept 15 to Nov 23
Winter 2026
Jan 19 – Mar 22
201: Family Engagement Leadership Academy
The Family Engagement Leadership Academy is a 10-week (~30 hours) online course for FER 101 Course graduates. The course is unique in that it is designed to support learners in becoming leaders in family engagement. We achieve this by grounding course content and activities in five family engagement leadership core competencies: self-awareness, communication, empathy and compassion, advocacy, and entrepreneurship.
201 Course Format and Core Elements
- Ten 2-hour online interactive sessions
- Topics include the core competencies of FER leadership; equity, diversity and inclusion in family engagement leadership; and implementation of family engagement leadership in the community.
- Develop your personal learning goals and work towards them with support throughout the course.
- Reflect on strengths, areas of growth
- Identify goals, develop strategies and begin to implement their plan to strengthen FER leadership skills
- 5-6 people, meet 3 times in the course (Weeks 3, 6, and 8)
- Peer-to-peer mentorship on key areas of family engagement leadership
- Competency-based reflection activities
- Develop and deliver a short 3-minute elevator pitch.
- The pitch can be about you as a family engagement leader, your vision for family engagement leadership, OR something you are working on in your learning plan.
Upcoming FER 201 Cohorts
Fall 2025
Sept 15 to Nov 23
Frequently Asked Questions
A Certificate of Completion is a digitally shareable credential that is emailed to you. It easily shows others the skills and knowledge you achieved through a particular course. You can add the Certificate of Completion to your resume, LinkedIn profile, and easily share with current or prospective employers. Learn more about McMaster University certified microcredentials.
You will be taking the course with researchers and families with lived experience. These individuals come from all different levels of experience with partnering in research, from beginners to some experience. Researchers and families may come from different educational backgrounds, as well as lived experience. Some individuals may wear multiple hats, in which they are both a researcher and family member with lived experience.
The co-instructors are previous students of the course, including both researchers and family partners.
Course costs differ by course. Bursaries are available. See details below.
FER 101: $800 CAD. Through partnership funding, we are proud to provide full tuition coverage for people with lived experience and parents/caregivers who do not have funding support from a research project or an organization.
FER 201: $1,800 CAD. Through partnership funding, we are proud to provide partial and full bursaries to cover tuition costs for people who do not have funding support from a research project or an organization. Please email us at fer@mcmaster.ca for more information.
Questions to reflect on your readiness to participate in the FER Course or the Leadership Academy:
- It takes time to intentionally build healthy relationships with researchers and community members. Does this sound like something you have the time and emotional capacity to do?
- Are you familiar with the basic concept of health research?
- Building new partnerships may occasionally evoke difficult memories. Are you comfortable asking questions on unfamiliar topics and seeking assistance when needed?
- Are you aware of your role and the advantages you hold as either a researcher or family partner, and how these factors might influence building new research partnerships?
We strongly encourage all learners to complete the PORCCH modules prior to taking the FER Course. These modules will provide foundational knowledge and skills about the research process (Research 101 Part 1 and 2) and patient-oriented research (Patient Engagement 101 Part 1 and 2). If you are new to research, we recommend completing all of the PORCCH modules. If you are new to patient-oriented research, but familiar with the research process, you may consider taking only the engagement modules.
What People Are Saying About Our Training
Elizabeth Chambers, Family Partner Graduate, Canada
"The FER Course came at a perfect time in my life when I was jumping into the field of medical research. The support, information and insight I gained helped me move from active participant, to becoming fully involved in research projects with the confidence and knowledge to be a valuable member of the team. I am so grateful for the experience and would recommend it to anyone."
Dr. Christine Chambers, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Dalhousie University
“I’ve been delighted to have several of my graduate students take the Family Engagement in Research” Course over the years and I can’t say enough great things about the experience, for the students and for me! This course provides a unique experience for students to learn from, and collaborate directly with, family partners in a way that is meaningful. My students have developed tremendous insights into the challenges and opportunities associated with family engagement. They have co-developed research tools with family partners that are incredibly useful and impressive. And the students have brought all their energy and learnings back into the lab, adding further depth to my own research program in children’s pain management.”
Suzanne Deliscar, Family Partner Graduate, Canada
"I decided to take the FER Course as a relatively new parent-partner with one year experience. I unequivocally recommend the FER Course as an in-depth overview of patient-oriented research and the ways in which individuals with lived experience can partner with researchers. I am amazed at how lived experience in pediatric settings can be translated into informing the ways in which pediatric research studies are created and conducted, from start to finish. I am delighted and proud to have had the opportunity to co-create my first Knowledge Translation (KT) tool with my team, and I feel all the more equipped to become more involved as a parent-partner in the future. Thank you to McMaster University, CanChild, and the Kids Brain Health Network for the opportunity.”
Dr. Christine Imms, Researcher Graduate, The University of Melbourne
“In Australia we have been working in research partnership with parents and young people with disability and other health conditions for a few years. Both researchers and parents/young people are seeking more support through education and resource development. The Family Engagement in Research Course has been delivered to a Melbourne Children’s Campus specific cohort with great success: positive feedback, new relationships formed, and excellent knowledge translation resources developed. We are keen to continue to provide educational support across our networks through a tailored program for our setting. This includes co-designing a program that is suitable and appealing to young people.”
Dr. Michelle Batthish, Researcher Graduate, McMaster University
"The FER course was an outstanding experience in learning how to best engage parents in research. I had an amazing time meeting and learning from other healthcare providers and more importantly from parents who took the course with me. I now feel better equipped to work alongside parents as research partners."
Amanda Doherty-Kirby, Family Partner Graduate, Canada
"The knowledge and connections I gained through taking the FER course opened up a whole new world for me. I had already been sharing our family's experiences with others through online Facebook groups, but to have the opportunity to use our lived experience to inform research was exactly what I was looking for even when I did not know it existed. Taking the FER course with caregivers, researchers, and others showed me that we can indeed work together, provided a support network, and equipped me with skills and confidence to enter the world of family engagement in research. Today, I am an active patient and public partner on research projects and advisory groups and am actively sharing about partnering in research and connecting others to opportunities. This is fulfilling my childhood dream of being a helper."
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