Thriving Kids is an interdisciplinary network of researchers, including individuals with lived experience, working together to re-imagine supports for children with medical complexity and their families.
About Thriving Kids
Families of children with medical complexity experience physical, social, and economic exclusion. Medical complexity is characterized by the presence of complex, chronic conditions requiring specialized care, substantial health needs, functional dependence and/or limitations, and frequent healthcare usage.
Our cluster looks to improve the lived experience of families of children with medical complexity by advancing knowledge, clinical programs and policy to support these families. We are at a critical juncture as a society in choosing how to support children with profound disabilities and medical complexity; whether to abdicate our collective responsibility and leave the onus on families to provide care or to re-imagine supports to ensure these children and – by extension their families – can live fully inclusive lives in their home communities.
Our research program will focus on policies and programs that are intended to support families within their own communities. A core component of this research cluster is its full integration of those with lived experience and all cluster activities will be guided by and informed by those with lived experience.
Thriving Kids is funded through the Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters.
