A woman who has spent 30 years helping children and young people get the best start in life has been honoured by Wales\u2019 most prestigious care awards.<\/p>\n
Professor Karen Graham played a key role is helping set up the ground-breaking childhood and family studies centre at Glynd\u0175r University in Wrexham.<\/p>\n
At a glittering black tie presentation night at Cardiff City Hall for the 11th<\/sup> Wales Care Awards, run in conjunction with Care Forum Wales, Professor Graham, of Rossett, received the Peter Clarke Award for Pioneering Excellence in Services for Children and Young People.<\/p>\n The mother of two who was brought up on the Wirral, said: \u201cI was hugely surprised, I had no idea I was going to receive the award.<\/p>\n \u201cI work in the health and social care field and am constantly promoting anyone involved in care and support of people and I know the commitment this takes.<\/p>\n “Attending a presentation night like this you have the time to see and hear about the brilliant work of these people and you cannot help but be touched, so to be part of that was really something.\u201d<\/p>\n Karen was appointed visiting professor to Glyndwr University in 2006 and worked with the university to develop the Centre for the Child, Family and Society from its foundation to the work it is involved in today. The \u00a32m Centre was opened by Huw Lewis the current education Minister in 2010.<\/p>\n \u201cWork at the Centre is focused\u00a0on supporting developments in policy and practice\u00a0related to the needs of the child, family and society,\u201d said Karen.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough our work as a community of researchers,\u00a0academics and practitioners our aim is to continually\u00a0support local, national and international efforts to\u00a0improve the wellbeing of children and families.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe work with numerous external partners on a\u00a0range of diverse projects. A recent project involved\u00a0the North East Wales Carers Information Service\u00a0and the Prince\u2019s Trust. Together we responded to\u00a0the needs of carers in employment by writing and\u00a0rolling out a Carer Friendly Employer Recognition\u00a0Award launched last year by the Health Minister for\u00a0Wales.<\/p>\n \u201cThis award encourages employers to take small\u00a0steps that make a positive difference to carers in the\u00a0workplace, often helping carers to remain employed\u00a0and preventing them from sliding into poverty.<\/p>\n \u201cFor\u00a0some organisations this support can be as simple\u00a0as providing a telephone contact point in workplaces\u00a0that do not ordinarily allow mobile phone use or\u00a0allowing carers to set up support groups in their own\u00a0lunchtime. We have been pleased to receive positive feedback\u00a0about this award and about how it has helped some\u00a0carers remain in employment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have also contributed to the work of local health\u00a0professionals to launch the Academy of Care\u00a0Practitioners at the Senedd, a professional body providing\u00a0advice, guidance and training and development\u00a0opportunities for those in health\u00a0care professions.\u201d<\/p>\n Karen and Dr Debbie Roberts,\u00a0Reader in Health at Glynd\u0175r University, are working on a project replicating a study by Harvard Medical School in America, examining the exposure of young children to technology.<\/p>\n They will interview professionals working with children and 50 parents of very young children in North Wales to talk about their use of technology.<\/p>\n Karen said: \u201cwe will explore the child\u2019s exposure to technology and the impact exposure to and use of technology has on other activities a child may be involved in. For some children exposure to screen time and technology can negatively impact on their development. For example, constant background noise can interfere with development of speech.<\/p>\n “We intend to write a report to the Welsh Government in relation to the outcomes of the report and will carry out a comparative study to see how things differ between the USA and UK.<\/p>\n \u201cWe enjoy the opportunity to work with a broad community of professionals and academics working with children and families and have welcomed numerous international visitors\u00a0to the Centre. We have been pleased to work collaboratively with international partners, for example,\u00a0co-presenting on children\u2019s rights at the\u00a0Education Diplomacy conference with colleagues from Washington and Chicago.<\/p>\n \u201cMore widely, we have represented Wales at the World Forum Foundation, worked on the global World Forum Children’s Rights Committee, contributed to the work of partners in India on programmes in education and worked with international partners to promote: parenting initiatives, children’s rights, alleviating poverty, understanding of play\u00a0and, with Dr Susan Linn of Harvard as a\u00a0visiting professor at Glyndwr University, the use of IT.\u201d<\/p>\n Karen is currently chairing a Review of Childcare and Early Education Registration, Regulation and Inspection for the Welsh Assembly Government.<\/p>\n