The Life Skills Project (CIF-LSP)
proposed to deliver an innovative response to the need for effective life skills programming. This social innovation will be a comprehensive, lived-experience and EDI-informed, life skills program that includes several key topic areas (modules) and associated interactive applications which allow the learner to practice the skills being taught in a virtual setting. The research questions directing this project include:
A) What are the necessary life skills that individuals require to maintain housing while building competencies
in the current climate of COVID-19 and beyond?
B) How can we teach these life skills virtually while ensuring applied learning, EDI and a reduction in overall
costs for NFPs?
Thus, the project proposes to deliver the following outcomes and benefits:
1) Research, design/develop, implement, and test a participatory and EDI-informed virtual life skills
intervention in line with the needs of our community partners and the individuals they serve;
2) Share these social innovations with NFP within the Region of Halton and surrounding area to advance
knowledge and innovative practices, and showcase applied research and design capacity;
3) Educate, train, and mentor students and partners on design thinking, application, and testing through
collaboration and workshops;
4) Decrease the financial pressures of partner organizations in administering programming by creating a
client-centric, innovative, and virtual approach to life skill facilitation. Our research outputs will allow
thousands of clients across Halton and neighbouring communities to access individualized interventions and
the NFPs will in turn each experience significant cost savings.
Student Outcomes
To date 29 college students and 2 university students have been employed by this project as Creative Problem Solving Facilitators, Research Assistants, Co-op Students, Interaction Design, Marketing and Communication and for Information and Technology. All students have received workplace training on healthy and safety in addition to training on Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity, and on Research Processes and Ethics.