Dr. Christine Platt was recently selected to receive the Audrey Hepburn Award for Contributions to the Health and Welfare of Children. This is a prestigious accolade that speaks to her long-time dedication to children through research and evidence-based practice.
Named after the famous actress on account of her impactful humanitarian work, the award is given every two years by the international nursing honors society Sigma Theta Tau. Only one Audrey Hepburn Award is given across the entire international organization, and candidates are nominated by other organization members.
The award recipient must meet several criteria, with a primary focus on demonstrating significant contribution to the health and welfare of children. This impact may be made through research, evidence-based practice, policymaking, or other channels.
Dr. Platt feels extremely honored and excited to receive this accolade. She says it is among the most significant recognitions of her career, not just because of the award's selectivity, but because the achievement couldn’t be more fitting for her life’s work.
Children’s well-being, especially as it relates to foster care, is very near and dear to Dr. Platt’s heart. Not only has her own family participated in the foster care system, but her research on improving it from a health perspective is expansive and influential.
“I see it as a huge need,” Dr. Platt said regarding her research on foster systems. “These children aren’t in this situation because of any fault of their own…they’re just there.”
As director of the Family Compassion & Care Lab, a BYU-based research initiative focused on family caregiving for those with complex medical needs, she has been a foundational part of numerous research projects with the aim of helping children.
Among her recent work is a study of how children with medical needs placed in foster homes are cared for by their foster siblings in ways previously understated. The goal of this work is to promote better support and education for foster siblings, not just parents, thereby advancing the level of care that can be provided to the child in-need.
Being able to help a family that is taking care of [foster children] as well as finding ways to improve their outcomes…is really important.
She has also worked to improve the scope and quality of data regarding foster children and their outcomes. She is a co-creator of the Foster Care Systems Database, which collects data about foster systems in different U.S. states. In other words, information about how each system is run is categorized and made easily accessible.
This information can be used for increased comparison between states, as well as to track which systems produce the best outcomes in the short and long-term. The goal is to eventually have comprehensive data for every state.
For Dr. Platt, the greatest benefit of having this distinguishing achievement attached to her name is the opportunities she will have to do even more work for children. Like-minded professionals will recognize the importance of her research, and new doors for superior collaboration will be opened.
“Receiving this award will expand my opportunities to build meaningful global collaborations, enabling me to advance my research and implement innovative interventions and projects that improve the health and wellbeing of even more children,” she said with enthusiasm.
Dr. Platt will be presented with the Audrey Hepburn award in November 2025 at the 48th Sigma Theta Tau Biennial Convention in Indiana.