Research
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Dr. Donna Goodwin heads up the research activities of The Steadward Centre |
Research Team
About Dr. Goodwin's Research
Current Research Funding
Graduate Student Supervision
The Steadward Centre for Personal & Physical Achievement is a multi-disciplinary research site that seeks to advance the field of adapted physical activity through knowledge generation and dissemination.
Research is conducted by working with graduate and undergraduate students, faculty from a variety of disciplines including Physical Education and Recreation, Rehabilitation Medicine, and community partners including
- the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital,
- and Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Northern Alberta (SBHANA).
Past, present and future areas of study include
- Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES),
- athlete development,
- families with children with disabilities,
- outdoor recreation,
- and experiences of physical activity participation.
Research Team
Donna Goodwin, PhD, Executive Director, The Steadward Centre; associate professor, Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation
Research Interests
- Issues related to disability and physical well-being
- Current research explores the notion of disability as a social construction and the resulting impact of societal attitudes on participating in physical activity as it applies to persons with disabilities
- Methodological issues unique in capturing the experiences of persons with disabilities in physical activity settings as well as research in professional practice
About Dr. Goodwin's research
Dr. Goodwin’s research is focused on health promotion for persons with disabilities through physical activity. Persons with disabilities represent a cultural minority in Canada (Gill, 1997) who are often left off health promotion agendas (Shepard, 1991).
The aim of health promotion for people with disabilities is to preserve good health by creating enabling environments that reduce secondary conditions, such as obesity and diabetes, thereby maintaining functional independence and enhance overall quality of life.
To achieve this aim, emphasis on community-based health promotion initiatives that reflect the needs of the disability community while also encouraging informed action toward personal responsibility for health whenever possible are needed (Zacijek-Faber, 1998).
Moreover, rehabilitation strategies that promote the prevention and care of secondary disabilities through physical activity soon after the onset of a disability is necessary to sustained health and quality of life through independent engagement in the community (Hirvensalo et al., 2000; Rimmer, 1999; Vandenakker & Glass, 2001).
Dr. Goodwin’s research also explores the notion of disability identity as a social construction and the resulting impact of societal attitudes on engagement in physical activity for persons with disabilities.
Analysis of the historical context of disability has demonstrated that it is not a static notion. The philosophical and ideological assumptions held by members of society, have both enabled and impaired persons with disabilities from being active agents in their own health. Behavioural researchers hold many of these societal assumptions, resulting in particular epistemological and methodological biases to disability research (Slife & Williams, 1995).
There are three major objectives to Dr. Goodwin’s program of research:
- The experience of disability and physical activity,
- The role of physical well being in the development of a personal agency and disability identity, and
- The processes involved in developing and sustaining a lifestyle that promotes health and physical well being.
Over the long term, Dr. Goodwin’s research will address the epistemological underpinnings of behavioural health related research. The research assumptions traditionally upheld by behavioural health research related to disability populations have recently come under review (Bouffard, Strean, & Davis, 1998; Shogan, 1998; Slife & Williams, 1995).
Within the field of adapted physical activity, the bottom-up approach (post-modernism) has gained recognition as an important complement to the universally abstract theory-testing mode of knowledge generation. The notion of the generic person with a disability needs to be carefully considered as research approaches and levels of analysis are contemplated.
Persons with spina bifida experience their worlds very differently from persons with acquired spinal cord injuries, as do people with developmental disabilities. The importance of contextually rich phenomenon represented by an inductive approach presupposes the person as the unit of analysis thereby giving priority to the rich source of information that comes from the individual in context.
Dr. Goodwin's curriculum vitae (abbreviated) (PDF)
Current research funding
- Goodwin, D. L. The transition from rehabilitation to community wellness for person with spinal cord injuries. President’s SSHRC Research Fund. $5000 2005-2006
- Goodwin, D. L., Connelly, M., Fitzpatrick, D. & Hall, C. The Other Adult in Inclusive Physical Education settings: Helping or Hindering, SSHRC, $116,800 2005-2008
- Goodwin, D. L., Building Health Capacity in Youth with Spinal Cord Injury. Hospital for Sick Children Research Foundation, $49,950 2004-2006.
Dr. Goodwin's research has been supported by
- SSHRC - Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
- Hospital for Sick Children's Research Foundation
- HRSDC - Human Resources and Social Development Canada
- Special Olympics Canada
- and Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation
Graduate Student supervision
As an associate professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, Dr. Goodwin supervises graduate students. Students interested in pursuing graduate studies in the area of adapted physical activity should contact the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation's graduate studies program at http://www.physedandrec.ualberta.ca/graduate.cfm