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February 19, 2025

Researcher Spotlight: Samantha Noyek

A discussion with Samantha Noyek, winner of the 2024 Colonel Russell Mann Military, Veteran and Public Safety Personnel Families Research Award

Emily Kenny

Samantha Noyek is a postdoctoral fellow at McMaster University (CanChild) and KidsAbility (a Children’s Treatment Centre in Ontario). She is currently leading the implementation of the ENVISAGE-Families program at KidsAbility.

In our new Researcher Spotlight, Samantha, the winner of the 2024 Colonel Russell Mann Military, Veteran and Public Safety Personnel Families Research Award, joins Emily Kenny of the Vanier Institute of the Family to discuss her research path and upcoming projects.

Tell us about what you’ve learned through your research on families, disability, and wellbeing.

This question is definitely a big one, but truly, the most important thing I’ve learned is the need to authentically connect with individuals before diving into the research. I’m a qualitative researcher, and I am passionate about understanding the whole story behind a concept or a question. To unravel that story, I believe that it’s crucial to make space for authentic connection and be truly human with people.

Your presentation at the 2022 CIMVHR Forum, “Peer Feedback on the Operational Stress Injury Social Support Program (2013-2018)” was highly regarded by the judging panel. Could you share some key findings or insights from your research?

Yes, absolutely. The OSISS (Operational Stress Injury Social Support) program has been running for about 25 years now, supporting Veterans, serving members, and their families. I can’t take credit for its longevity and impact, but there has been high regard for the program, and people value it as a resource.

What we found from the peer feedback surveys is that people truly appreciate how flexible the program is. It offers both one-on-one and group support. Participants gain tools and support within the group; one of the key elements that came up in participants’ open-ended responses was the recognition that they are ‘not alone’. Some participants shared that the program helped them come out of dark times and realize that they truly matter.

A large proportion of the respondents were Veterans and family members. One limitation we identified is that the feedback was collected via paper-and-pencil surveys, so we missed responses from some segments of the population. It would be great to adapt our approach to include an online version and to look at outcomes more broadly. Right now, there are a few quantitative questions and a small open-ended space for feedback. As a qualitative researcher, I think it would be amazing to speak directly with the volunteers and participants to deepen our understanding of experiences with the program.

Your research spans diverse fields related to child and family health and wellbeing. How do these areas intersect and interact to influence the wellbeing of diverse families in Canada?

I started in Rehabilitation Science, which grounded my research, and it is where I completed my PhD. Through that, I gained a biopsychosocial approach to understanding wellbeing, considering the biological, psychological, and social aspects of health.

During my PhD, I worked with families of children with disabilities. From there, I moved on to working with families of children who had undergone major surgery, and later with Veteran families. Across these diverse fields, I’ve found that the key elements of wellbeing for families can be very similar for all people and their overall development.

At CanChild, where I currently work, we use an adaptation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) framework. It’s called the F-words, and there are six F-words: Family, Functioning, Friends, Fitness, Fun, and Future. I think that to some degree these six areas are critical across all families, and they really shape my perspective on wellbeing, especially in Canada.

What do you see as some of the most pressing issues that need to be addressed to enhance the overall wellbeing of military families?

To address that question, we need to ask the families themselves. I’ve worked with Dr. Melanie Noel, who is spearheading an amazing project with researchers and family partners to ask families what they want in a program about pain and mental health specifically. They’ve involved family partners from the beginning to truly understand the issues and determine how to best support families.

I’m particularly interested in understanding the variety of family programs available—weekend camps, family workshops, and others. I want to know why certain programs benefit some families more than others, at what time points, and in what ways. But overall, it comes back to asking families directly what they need and using their insights to shape programs and policies.

The ENVISAGE-Families program empowers caregivers of children with developmental concerns. What have been the most significant outcomes of implementing this program at KidsAbility, and how does it address the unique needs of families from diverse backgrounds?

ENVISAGE stands for “Enabling Visions and Growing Expectations.” It consists of an online learning platform for self-paced learning and a series of online workshops. It was developed in partnership with parents, clinicians, and researchers from Canada and Australia. The program’s aim is to improve parent wellbeing and help them feel more confident and empowered.

I’m rolling it out at a children’s treatment centre called KidsAbility, and I am so excited about it. We just received ethics approval yesterday and began recruiting families today, so we don’t have significant outcomes yet. However, previous ENVISAGE work has shown long-term impacts on parents’ wellbeing, confidence, and empowerment. It really supports them during what can be a very challenging and complicated time.

One unique feature of what were doing with ENVISAGE at KidsAbility is that we are targeting families who are on waitlists for services or diagnoses. Waiting can be a stressful and uncertain time for families, and we’re hoping that participating in ENVISAGE while they wait will help reduce stress and increase empowerment. The program also creates a shared language between families and service providers, which is important for collaboration and understanding.

In your PhD study, you included diverse voices by interviewing multiple people who knew participants with complex communication challenges. What did this approach reveal about the role of family and community in supporting these individuals, and how might these insights guide policy or practice?

During my PhD, I interviewed up to five people who knew each participant well. What became clear was the importance of having someone in the person’s life who could interpret and amplify their voice. In all cases, the participants were unable to speak in a typical way or use standard tools like keyboards or paper and pencil. But they all had someone who understood their communication style, desires, and who they were as a person.

These interpreters weren’t always family members—they could be a close friend, a cousin, or a worker—but they played a critical role in supporting the individual. This highlights the need to look beyond single relationships and to gather insights from multiple people who know the individual.

From a policy perspective, this approach suggests that we may consider involving multiple voices in decision-making processes, such as during appointments or when planning services. It also underscores the importance of offering diverse methods for individuals to respond and communicate, tailoring the process to their specific needs.

What methods have you used to make research findings accessible to families, and how do you measure their impact?

This is such an important question because so often researchers write a paper, get it published, and present it at conferences—but that information doesn’t always reach the communities and families it’s about. I believe the findings belong to the families too, so it’s important to share them in accessible ways.

I’ve created videos to communicate findings, though I’m not a professional video producer! I’ve taken science communication courses to make visuals more engaging and meaningful for families. But beyond that, I think it’s important to involve families in deciding how they would like to receive the information. Some might prefer infographics, videos, or even online snapshots. The medium should match what works best for them.

How do you plan to continue your research in the field of family health? Are there any specific areas or topics you’re particularly excited to explore in the future?

I definitely plan to continue my research in family health. I am currently a postdoctoral fellow at McMaster University, working within CanChild. My work focuses on families of children with suspected developmental delays or diagnosed developmental concerns.

Recently, I’ve become particularly interested in supporting complex and unique family units. For example, I have supported some work with my colleague Dr. Maude Champagne; the work includes children and youth with experience in the child welfare system, families who have adopted children, and families experiencing aggression from children and adolescents. I’m excited to explore these nontraditional family structures and how we can best support their wellbeing.

You mentioned earlier that you run your own business as well, could you tell me a little more about that?

Over the last two years, I’ve had the opportunity to be a bit of an entrepreneur and started my own business called Our Well Being. That’s “O-U-R” standing for Outreach, Understanding, and Research Well Being. Through this, I have completed various projects involving program evaluation, reporting for different nonprofits, and other opportunities to support family projects—all centred on wellbeing. I’m excited to see where this will take me alongside my academic career and research at McMaster.

One project I’m really excited about involves supporting youth with lived experience in the child welfare system to find success in the building and construction trades. These were two areas I knew nothing about initially. During the first year of spearheading this program, I made it a point to connect with both the trades sector and the child welfare sector, as well as the people involved. I’ve learned so much and taken on the role of a knowledge broker between the two, building a program to help youth from care on their journeys to build careers and community.

What advice would you give to other researchers, especially those interested in family research, based on your experiences and accomplishments in this field?

Involve families. Whether you’re doing qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research, the voices of families are essential. I co-teach a course called “Family Engagement in Research” at McMaster University, CanChild. It brings together researchers, trainees, and family partners to learn about topics like ethics, barriers to engagement, project charters, compensation, and asking families how they’d like to be involved.

It’s critical to engage families appropriately and meaningfully from the outset. Their input shapes the research in ways that make it more impactful and relevant.

Emily Kenny is a Knowledge Mobilization Coordinator at the Vanier Institute of the Family.

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