By Malavika Sajan
Carleton University Social Work doctorate student Claire McMenemy has been awarded the 2022-2023 Canadian Institutes of Health Research Scholarship (CIHR) for her research on the unmet needs of unpaid familial caregivers for older adults.
The CIHR Scholarship is awarded to individuals pursuing their doctorate degree and provides recognition and support to students in Canada in a healthcare-related field.
McMenemy’s research focuses on how to best support familial caregivers with attention to factors affecting their lives and the lives of those they support.
“My research is about is trying to understand the unmet needs of community-based caregivers and to do so with an awareness of intersectional experience,” says McMenemy who emphasizes how, “key diversities impact that, whether that’s gender, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, disability status, geography. All of these different factors impact the way caregivers experience the unpaid labour that they’re providing.” This project begins by acknowledging that this unpaid care involves significant labour and is relied upon by communities and health and social care systems.
Carleton University PhD candidate in Social Work Claire McMenemy has won the 2022-2023 Canadian Institutes of Health Research Scholarship
McMenemy is grateful for CHIR’s acknowledgement and support of the work she is doing.
“What I really find amazing is that the CIHR is taking this type of research seriously and seeing the value in it,” says McMenemy. “Health isn’t only a biomedical process. It does not stand outside the social and economic circumstances in which people live.”
CIHR’s scholarship will help fund McMenemy’s research, giving her opportunities to build networks with community caregivers, care organizations, other care researchers, and other stakeholders. McMenemy states that it “would also be helping me to have a bit of extra time to build supportive networks, and further research as well.”
McMenemy’s research is supervised by Prof. Susan Braedley.
“Claire McMenemy brings an impressive combination of assets: deep personal experience of her topic, keen academic curiosity, hard work, tenacity, and rapid, enthusiastic research skill acquisition. CIHR is incredibly competitive, and the School of Social Work is so proud of her!” praises Braedley. “Doctoral social work students benefit from scholarship applicant support provided by Assistant Prof. Karen Sewell and others, who also deserve congratulations. I am excited to work with Claire on this timely research project that explores familial caregiving for diverse older adults in the context of a collision of socio-demographic aging, concerns about public spending and increasing migration.”
McMenemy is excited to begin this research with Braedley and contribute to material change for caregivers, particularly those who experience challenging conditions.
Monday, August 14, 2023 in 360, Awards of Distinction, News
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