What's New

The Resilience Scale Framework. Read Our Reports

NEW - The Resilience Scale: A Tool for Change

Access our new online training on resilience, presented by Teresa Killam, MEd MD CCFP FCFP, that reviews the key metaphors of the Brain Story with a focus on how the Resilience Scale metaphor can be used as a practical tool to assess and monitor resilience in individuals. Get started today!

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The Brain Story and Resilience Scale Framework

In 2023, the Palix Foundation and the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) set in motion the Resilience Scale Framework, a three-part approach to applying the Resilience Scale at the level of individuals, organizations, and systems. The Resilience Scale Framework is communicated in a series of three reports prepared by the AFWI.

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Learn the science and significance of brain development from leading experts. Enroll now for free.

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THE ALBERTA FAMILY WELLNESS INITIATIVE

The Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) facilitates research and shares knowledge about the science of brain development to support positive lifelong health outcomes for everyone.

Brain Story Toolkit

We've gathered all our most popular learning resources in one place: the Brain Story Toolkit.

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What We Know

Science tells us that the experiences we have in the earliest years of our lives actually change our brain architecture in lasting ways. That has consequences – positive and negative – across the lifespan for our physical and mental health.

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What We Do

The AFWI mobilizes knowledge about early brain development and its connection to lifelong physical and mental health. We form the bridge between the latest scientific knowledge about brain development and what is actually done in policy and practice.

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Who We Are

The AFWI is an initiative of the Palix Foundation. We operate and develop resources under the expert oversight of a cross-disciplinary group of advisors who comprise the AFWI Advisory Council and the Curriculum Committee.

Judy Cameron PhD 2016 – Present
David A. Dodge OC 2010 – Present
George F. Koob PhD 2015 – Present
Dr. Shoo K. Lee MBBS, PhD, FRCPC 2012 – 2019
A. Thomas McLellan PhD 2011 – 2018
Anthony Phillips PhD 2010 – Present
Christine Chambers PhD 2019 – Present
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Partnership

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford, in paid partnership with the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative is working to share knowledge about the science of brain development for families and professionals.

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Brain Story Feedback Report

In 2017 the AFWI developed the Brain Story Certification Course, the first learning program of its kind. Since then, we’ve gathered ongoing feedback about the structure, content and impact of the course to create a new resource: the Brain Story Impact Report. The report includes everything you and your organization need to know about the role this resource plays in driving systemic change, and how you can participate.

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Brain Story in Practice
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News And Reports

August 2020 • Reports

AFWI Developmental Evaluation Report

From September 2019 to April 2020, Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) commissioned a developmental evaluation to explore the extent to…

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