SESSION #4 Poster #35

Cindy Zhang

Watch In-Person:

Thursday, July 27 | 10:00 - 11:30 am

Chieng Family Atrium, BCCHR

Undergraduate Student, University of British Columbia | Supervisor: Julie Robillard

How Does Social Media Impact Parent-Adolescent Communication? Exploring Cultural Perspectives

Mallorie T. Tam, Cindy C. Zhang, Julie M. Robillard

Background: Social media is ubiquitous in today’s society. Research shows it can have both positive and negative impacts on adolescents. However, few lines of inquiry have explored its impacts on family communication, which predicts many outcomes in adolescents including communication skills, self-esteem, and mental well-being. Family communication patterns theory, first proposed by McLeod and Chaffee (1972) postulates that families use different communication strategies to develop a shared reality. Given cultural differences in Canadian families, family dynamics, and attitudes toward social media, research and knowledge exchange in this area must also consider culture as a key factor.

Aim: To explore the cultural perspectives of parents and adolescents on the impact of social media on family communication.

Methods: We are conducting 45-minute Zoom interviews with adolescents and parents of adolescents of diverse cultural backgrounds (14 completed to date, 60 projected). The interviews are semi-structured around an interview guide and includes questions about cultural identity, social media use, family communication style, self-esteem, and mental well-being. Interview recordings will be transcribed and inductively analyzed using constant comparative thematic analysis. Identified themes will be mapped onto dimensions of the family communication patterns theory, using this framework to ground our understanding of communication patterns in multicultural families.

Results and Implications: The interview findings will contribute to deeper understandings of how social media, culture, and family communication interact and influence adolescent development and well-being. The study will also inform the next steps of this project, where we plan to hold co-creation workshops with adolescents and parents to develop a culturally sensitive resource for healthy social media use.

Congratulations to Cindy on receiving a BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute

Brain, Behaviour & Development Summer Studentship

SESSION #5: CLINICAL

Moderator:

Becci Venema

Participants:

Maggie Chan

Hannah Chang

1:30 –3:00 PM

Online: bcchr.ca/posterday

Mahnoor Faisal

Rita Jin

Caroline Ruus

Simran Gill

Chen Yu (Daisy) Sun

Erica Zeng

Serena Zhang

Athena Li

Watch Online: Thursday, July 27 | 1:30 - 3:00 pm https://bcchr.ca/posterday

Maggie Chan

Undergraduate Student, University of British Columbia | Supervisor: Danielle Decker

The Patient Facing Roadmap as a Tool for Overcoming Language Barriers in New Cancer Diagnosis Education

Maggie Chan, Danielle Decker

Receiving a new cancer diagnosis is a challenging and overwhelming experience for pediatric patients and their families that involves many changes to their lifestyle. The experience is an even greater challenge for families who are English language learners (ESL). In such cases, parents and caregivers may not understand their child’s care and treatment as well as their peers who are fluent in English, thus presenting an additional barrier during their stay in the hospital.

After reviewing the current literature surrounding new cancer diagnosis education in ESL families, we found that there are few concrete solutions for breaking down language barriers even though the problem has been identified in multiple studies. Instead, studies suggest multiple methods of simple, culturally appropriate communication to improve the family’s understanding of their current situation and their care.

Our patient facing roadmap was developed to outline the education pathway that patients follow throughout their stay in the Oncology/Hematology/Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) unit at BC Children’s Hospital. Information about the typical inpatient experience and feedback from several inpatient families were collected and used to create the roadmap. The roadmap shows the different stages of information patients will encounter and learn about throughout their stay, from the time of admission to the time of discharge. Within each stage, there are sub-topics so that the patient is aware of what they should be educated on and can evaluate their progress. Ultimately, the aim of the roadmap is to ensure that ESL patients and their families can receive care in a way that is accessible to them. Eventually, the patient facing roadmap will be available as a resource for all patients throughout their hospital stay.

Hannah Chang

Undergraduate Student, University of Toronto | Supervisor: Mor Cohen-Eilig