What's New

The Brain Story and Resilience Scale Framework. Read Our Reports

NEW - The Resilience Scale: A Tool for Change

Access our new online training on resilience, presented by Teresa Killam, MEd MD CCFP FCFP, that reviews the key metaphors of the Brain Story with a focus on how the Resilience Scale metaphor can be used as a practical tool to assess and monitor resilience in individuals. Get started today!

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A Real-Life Application of the Resilience Scale with RCMP Superintendent Mike McCauley

In this video, Superintendent Mike McCauley of the Alberta Royal Canadian Mounted Police shares his personal story through the lens of the Resilience Scale, a core concept of the Brain Story by the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative. He illustrates how positive supports in his life helped buffer the adversities he faced, strengthening his capacity for resilience throughout his life. Mike's story depicts how potential sources of toxic stress can be buffered to tolerable stress.

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The Brain Story and Resilience Scale Framework

In 2023, the Palix Foundation and the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) set in motion the Resilience Scale Framework, a three-part approach to applying the Resilience Scale at the level of individuals, organizations, and systems. The Resilience Scale Framework is communicated in a series of three reports prepared by the AFWI.

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Discover the science behind mental health, addiction, and resilience. Free and self-paced.

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THE ALBERTA FAMILY WELLNESS INITIATIVE

The Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) shares the science of brain development to help families, communities, and systems support lifelong health and well-being.

Brain Story Toolkit

Explore the Brain Story Toolkit: Our collection of the most-used resources to support learning, sharing, and real-world impact.

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What We Know

Science tells us that the experiences we have in the earliest years of our lives actually change our brain architecture in lasting ways. That has consequences – positive and negative – across the lifespan for our physical and mental health.

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What We Do

The AFWI mobilizes knowledge about early brain development and its connection to lifelong physical and mental health. We form the bridge between the latest scientific knowledge about brain development and what is actually done in policy and practice.

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Who We Are

The AFWI is an initiative of the Palix Foundation. We operate and develop resources under the expert oversight of a cross-disciplinary group of advisors who comprise the AFWI Advisory Council and the Curriculum Committee.

Judy Cameron PhD 2016 – Present
David A. Dodge OC 2010 – Present
George F. Koob PhD 2015 – Present
Dr. Shoo K. Lee MBBS, PhD, FRCPC 2012 – 2019
A. Thomas McLellan PhD 2011 – 2018
Anthony Phillips PhD 2010 – Present
Christine Chambers PhD 2019 – Present
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Partnership

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford, in paid partnership with the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative is working to share knowledge about the science of brain development for families and professionals.

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The Brain Story and Resilience Scale Framework

In 2023, the Palix Foundation and the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) set in motion the Resilience Scale Framework, a three-part approach to applying the Resilience Scale at the level of individuals, organizations, and systems. The Resilience Scale Framework is communicated in a series of three reports prepared by the AFWI.

View the Course Trailer
Learn more: Resilience Scale Training

News And Reports

August 2020 • Reports

AFWI Developmental Evaluation Report

From September 2019 to April 2020, Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) commissioned a developmental evaluation to explore the extent to…

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