Catherine Laing,
Canadian Camp Research Award of Excellence Winner
Catherine Laing, R.N., Ph.D. is the 2014 winner of the Canadian Camp Research Award of Excellence for her doctoral dissertation entitled: “It’s not just camp: Understanding the Meaning of Children’s Cancer Camps for Children and Families.”
Beautifully written in a popular style, “It’s not just camp”, recounts day to day realities for families living under the specter of cancer and attests to the therapeutic power of camp. In this qualitative study, Laing meticulously explores by way of philosophical hermeneutics what others within the field of oncology have often only expressed through objective quantitative approaches.
An important and courageous addition for the medical journals and camp research, this work challenges the hard science of medical economics. Particularly intriguing are her future plans to explore the concept of social return on investment (SROI) which assigns a monetary value to items traditionally non-valued, overlooked, or misunderstood such as quality of life and self-confidence. Dr. Laing presents herself as a true advocate for social medicine who hopes to expand the perspective of oncologists towards viewing cancer camp as a therapeutic imperative.
Download the abstract of Dr. Laing’s paper here.
Download Dr. Laing’s disssertation here.
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