Understanding the principles of building rapport and trust with children across diverse settings in the context of public health research

The Mitacs Globalink research project focuses on building trust and rapport with children from newcomer families in public health research through community-based participatory research (CBPR). The findings will inform McMaster University’s SCORE! Project in Hamilton, Ontario, and contribute to advancing inclusivity in public health research. Effective communication is crucial, particularly with children from diverse cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Literature emphasizes child-centered approaches, empathy, and culturally sensitive strategies as essential trust-building principles that enhance participation, improve data quality, and promote inclusivity. Applying these principles can strengthen child-centered care, support primordial disease prevention, and advance global health equity.
However, major gaps remain, including the lack of standardized definitions of trustful relationships, limited analysis of trust variability across child contexts, and insufficient research on rapport-building in online environments. Evidence-based principles specific to children, distinct from those used with adult are scarce and cannot be generalized globally.
This project aims to develop a knowledge base on trust and rapport principles for children in public health research through mixed-methods secondary analysis. Objectives include examining CBPR practices in Canada, assessing their transferability to Indian contexts, linking findings to relevant SDGs, and recommending best practices for future public health researchers.

Faculty Supervisor:

Sonia Anand

Student:

Partner:

Manipal Academy of Higher Education

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

McMaster University

Program: