Civic Belonging in a Northern Resource Economy Context

This Community Enhancement Research project will address the issue of low community connection and engagement among youth in resource-dependent northern Alberta communities. Lack of community connection and engagement is associated with higher instances of poverty and crime, lower levels of education attainment and other poor social outcomes. Young people are especially likely to report low connection and engagement, and recent evidence suggests that many people living in northwestern Alberta communities experience a relatively poor sense of place belonging.
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GP-PACT 2.0

The Grande Prairie Police and Crisis Team (PACT) research project is a dynamic collaboration between GPRC, the RCMP, AHS and the City of Grande Prairie. The RCMP, in collaboration with AHS piloted the PACT program in 2009 in response to a growing need to tackle mental health crises more efficiently in the City of Grande Prairie. Using a team-based and community policing approach, the PACT team consisting of an RCMP member and a psychiatric nurse, are a mobile response team dedicated to providing assistance to mental health crises across the City of Grande Prairie and in neighboring regions.
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Grande Prairie Local Immigration Partnership (GPLIP)

This project was led by the City of Grande Prairie-Community Social Development.The aim was to gather information about personal and organizational challenges related to immigrant settlement and integration as well as related issues around housing, health care, and education for immigrants in Grande Prairie. GPRC provided feedback regarding instrument development, wrote and submitted the ethics application, and wrote the literature review that was incorporated into the Community Engagement Report (written by the GPLIP coordinator).

Community Awareness Survey on Health and Safety Issues

Instruments developed, data collected, and report written for Grande Prairie and Safe Communities

Youth, Barriers and Employment Opportunities in Grande Prairie

The Youth Community study was undertaken to identify the training and support needs of Grande Prairie youth (15 to 30 year olds) who were facing barriers to employment.  The goal was to identify priority needs in order to develop a three-year Youth Community Plan.  GPRC assisted with instrument development, data collection, and data analyses.  The information gathered was incorporated into a report that was written the City of Grande Prairie-Family and Community Support Services.

Integrated Family Violence Intervention Unit (IFVI)

The IFVI Unit consists of front line staff from the RCMP, CFSA and Victim’s Assistance.  IFVI staff collected various forms of data; individuals from various agencies were asked to assess the value of IFVI, victims of family violence were asked about their experiences with the IFVI Unit, and RCMP files pertaining to incidences of family violence were flagged. GPRC analyzed the data and wrote a review report for the IFVI Unit.

Issues for Staff Working with People with Developmental Disabilities (PDD)

After the Government of Alberta determined that the annual turnover rate of staff who work with people living with developmental disabilities (in residential and vocational settings) is 73%, the PDD Community Board of Northwest Alberta, AACTI, Alberta Council of Disability Services and GPRC worked together to determine the reasons behind the high turnover rate.  Surveys were distributed to staff employed at 11 agencies in Northwest Alberta. GPRC developed the instruments, analyzed the data, presented the findings and wrote a report for the PDD-Northwest Alberta Community Board.

Factors affecting Volunteerism in Northwest Alberta

The Volunteer Services Bureau of Grande Prairie wished to determine the demographics of those who volunteer those who do not volunteer, reasons for volunteering, for whom people volunteer and in what capacity, the perceived benefits of volunteering, how people learned about volunteering opportunities, etc.  Agencies who utilize volunteers were also asked about how they recruited volunteers, the training/skills required for volunteers, etc.  GPRC developed the instruments, collected and analyzed the data, and wrote a report for the Volunteer Services Bureau of Grande Prairie.

Public Awareness of Symptoms of Stroke and Heart Attack/Placement of Public Access Defibrillators

Grande Prairie and Area Safe Communities were interested in determining what the public believed to be the greatest risks to the health and safety of children, adults, and seniors, whether the public has seen advertisements regarding health and safety, and whether they were aware of “Grande Prairie and Area Safe Communities” and “Safety City”.  GPRC developed the questionnaires, collected and analyzed the data, and wrote a report for Grande Prairie and Area Safe Communities

For more information on any of these projects please contact

Connie Korpan Instructor, Arts & Education
	Office: C312 Phone: (780) 539-2032 Email: CKorpan@GPRC.ab.ca