CCPH Fellows 2002/2003: Sally Schwer Canning

Sally Schwer Canning is an Associate Professor of Psychology, and a core member of the doctoral faculty at Wheaton College. A community/clinical-child psychologist, Dr. Canning received her PhD in 1994 from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed an American Psychological Association approved pre-doctoral internship at Hahnemann University and a year of post-doctoral training in child psychology at the Institute for Juvenile Research, University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Canning is committed to learning from and serving urban, low-income, children and families-of-color and to training psychologists for competent practice with underserved populations. Her scholarly interests include parenting and parent training, and culturally-relevant community-based interventions. Dr. Canning directs the Urban Partnership Initiative, with a mission to support the education and health-care objectives of faith-based organizations serving poor urban communities. Articles published by Dr. Canning may be found in Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, The Community Psychologist, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Health and Development. Professional Psychology: Research & Practice, Journal of Psychology and Theology, and the Journal of Psychology and Christianity.

Project Title

Strengthening linkages between faith-based community-campus partners: Enhancing mental health resources in poor communities

Project Description

Faith-based institutions of higher learning are in a unique position to enhance the health care objectives of faith-based community organizations serving low-income neighborhoods, as well as to provide rich service-learning opportunities for students. This project has six primary objectives, each designed to strengthen the linkages between faith-based community and campus partners.

1. To identify and document existing linkages between faith-based health care organizations and faith-based institutions of higher learning that address improved mental health care for poor communities.

2. To identify and document specific benefits of these faith-based community-campus linkages. Benefits to community partners will be assessed by examining the scope, cost effectiveness, and quality of mental health care resources made accessible through collaboration with campus partners. Benefits to campus partners will be assessed by examining the scope, quality, and outcomes of service-learning and research opportunities made accessible through collaboration with community partners. Benefits to both partners that will be assessed include the degree to which the missions of the organizations are enhanced through collaboration.

3. To identify and document barriers to faith-based campus-community linkages involving mental health, related to factors such as time, location, mission, professional networks, discipline, ideology and theology, etc.

4. To "map" the physical, social and professional "locations" of a subset of faith-based health care organizations represented by member organizations of the Christian Community Health Fellowship and other national faith-based networks against those of existing faith-based institutions with graduate programs in mental health-related fields.

5. To disseminate the information gathered about opportunities, models, benefits and barriers to both constituency groups as a means of encouraging greater collaboration where that exists, and of encouraging new partnerships wherever possible.

6. To develop and disseminate a targeted piece for faith based organizations on how to partner with faith based training institutions, and a counterpart for faith based institutions of higher education on how to collaborate with faith based community organizations.

Project Products

To view a report of Dr. Sally Scwher Canning's project, "Strengthening linkages between faith-based community and campus partners: Enhancing mental health resources in poor communities" please click here.