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About

British Columbia (BC) will launch the Enhanced Family Health Program (EFHP) in 2026 as a province-wide health promotion and prevention initiative. The EFHP builds on learnings from various enhanced initiatives across the province — including our BC Healthy Connections Project — to expand supports to more of BC’s diverse families who are currently underserved. The program will be embedded within BC’s public health system across all five regional health authorities. Our team at the Children’s Health Policy Centre is supporting the initiative by providing our research expertise.

We have developed an innovative Rapid Framework for Monitoring and Evaluating Maternal-Child Outcomes. We identified three early maternal indicators — or “active ingredients” — that influence three priority child outcomes. Our approach is well-suited for BC’s EFHP because it focuses on early evidence for early impact, even while child outcomes at age two years are still emerging. We recognize that public health programs often lack capacity for primary data collection, and therefore partnerships with academic researchers are essential.

Rather than monitoring a large array of diffuse indicators, focusing on the most relevant indicators will help the EFHP invest resources where they are most likely to have a positive impact on children and mothers.

A report on the framework will be released in the coming months.

Principal Investigators

• Nicole L.A. Catherine (Nominated Principal Investigator)
• Kim Thomson (Co-Principal Investigator)

Funders

• The report was funded by the BC Ministry of Health and supported by SFU Faculty of Health Sciences Mowafaghian Child Health Faculty Award, Canada Research Chairs program (Catherine)

Project Partners

• Provincial Health Services Authority – Child Health BC and Perinatal Services BC
• BC Ministry of Health