Independent (Justine Dol)

I am a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Christine Chambers at IWK Health, in Halifax Nova Scotia. Through my research, I aim to empower parents, patients, and families through the provision of education and support using digital health solutions. My research spans from preconception health to postpartum adjustment, from healthy births to preterm infants with stays in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and from birthing people to fathers and gender diverse parents. Across all these areas, there has been a focus on improving mental health and psychosocial outcomes for parents, children, and families using digital health solutions. An example of a research project that exemplifies my alignment with Catalyst 2030's vision to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 through impactful social innovation initiatives is the Essential Coaching postpartum text messaging program. I developed the Essential Coaching for Every Mother program to address critical mental health needs in birthing parents during the first six weeks postpartum, a period associated with heightened vulnerability to anxiety and depression. This digital health solution, rooted in cognitive-behavioral theory, was co-designed with postpartum healthcare providers and birthing parents in Nova Scotia to improve parenting self-efficacy and mental health outcomes. Through a feasibility study and randomized controlled trial (RCT), Essential Coaching for Every Mother was found to improve parenting self-efficacy and reduce postpartum anxiety. My current postdoctoral fellowship is focused on developing and evaluating Essential Coaching for Every Partner, a postpartum text message program to concurrently support the non-birthing parent (fathers and 2SLGBTQ+ parents). I have completed the co-design process with non-birthing parents and healthcare providers. An RCT is in development to evaluate the program's effectiveness in enhancing parenting self-efficacy and supporting early postpartum mental health for parent dyads. I have also led a similar project in Tanzania called Essential Coaching for Every Mother - Tanzania.