Catherine, N.L.A., Barican, J., Tang, J., White, O., & Thomson, K. (2026, July). Informing a Monitoring Framework for British Columbia’s Universal Prenatal and Early Childhood Public Health Prevention and Promotion Services. Vancouver, British Columbia: Children’s Health Policy Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University. Commissioned report for BC Ministry of Health. pp. 1-19. Available from: https://childhealthpolicy.ca/informing-a-monitoring-framework/
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Category Archives: Publications
Promoting Healthy Beginnings for Indigenous Children
Waddell C, Barican J, White O, Berry BA, Mohns E, Thomson K, Corbett M, Catherine N (2026). Promoting Healthy Beginnings for Indigenous Children: Research Review on Prenatal and Early Childhood Programs. Vancouver, British Columbia: Children’s Health Policy Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University.
Executive Summary
Early childhood experiences are recognized as crucial for the health and wellbeing of both individuals and populations. Indigenous Peoples have strong cultural knowledge and traditions to support and nurture healthy child development. Indigenous Peoples have also long resisted colonialism and are overcoming its legacies through cultural revitalization and nation rebuilding. Yet the legacies of colonialism still deeply affect Indigenous children, families and communities today.
To contribute to public conversations about Indigenous early childhood programming, we used systematic review methods and identified eight relevant reviews of prenatal, postnatal, maternal and early childhood health programs developed and implemented by and within Indigenous communities in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. All eight reviews spoke to the need to honour Indigenous voices through ensuring meaningful community leadership in choosing all aspects of the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of programs. Some reviews also focused on Canadian success stories.
Based on this review we recommend:
- Making Indigenous children a leading public policy priority for BC and for Canada.
- Committing sufficient and sustained public resources to high-quality Indigenous prenatal and child health programming — across the continua of planning, development, implementation and evaluation.
- Ensuring that all Indigenous early child health programming is led by Indigenous communities.
- Recognizing that Indigenous children deserve public investments in programs with proven benefits, with evaluations including Indigenous perspectives on child flourishing.
We are shaping the future for all children, and therefore for the population, based on the public policies we invest in today. This future starts with supporting Indigenous children, families and communities according to their needs — and celebrating their many strengths.
The Mother in Norway Study (MiNS)
Pedersen, E., Finne, J., Malmberg-Heimonen, I., Stabell Wiggen, K., Nilsen, W., Solheim Skar, A., Fredriksen, E., Flaathen, E.M., Hagen, M., Rotevatn, T.A., Øien, H., Ekre, M., Catherine, N.L.A., & Tøge, A.G. (2026). The Mother in Norway Study (MiNS): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of the Nurse-Family Partnership home visiting program. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/14034948261474055
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Exploring nurses’ perspectives of an enhanced family visiting program in British Columbia, Canada (manuscript in preparation)
Catherine, N.L.A., Lever, R.L., White, O., Tang, J., Thomson, K. (2025). Exploring nurses’ perspectives of an enhanced family visiting program in British Columbia, Canada. Vancouver, British Columbia: Children’s Health Policy Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University. Report (manuscript in preparation).
Exploring clients’ perspectives of an enhanced family visiting program, in British Columbia, Canada (manuscript in preparation)
Catherine, N.L.A., Lever, R.L., White, O., Tang, J. (2026). Exploring clients’ perspectives of an enhanced family visiting program, in British Columbia, Canada. Vancouver, British Columbia: Children’s Health Policy Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University. Report (manuscript in preparation).
Early Indicators, Early Evidence. Rapid Framework for Monitoring and Evaluating Maternal-Child Outcomes (manuscript in preparation)
Catherine N, Barican J, Tang J, White O, & Thomson K. (2026). Early Indicators, Early Evidence. Rapid Framework for Monitoring and Evaluating Maternal-Child Outcomes. Vancouver, British Columbia: Children’s Health Policy Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University. Report (manuscript in preparation).
Estimating the number and percentage of children who experience parental incarceration in Canada using whole population administrative and vital statistics data
Kouyoumdjian F.G., Paynter M., Knudsen E.M., Croxford R., Bondy S.J., Jennings L., Russel N., Semeniuk R., Bentley-Wang C., Butler, A., Butsang T., Catherine N.L.A., … & Sharma S. (2026) Estimating the number and percentage of children who experience parental incarceration in Canada using whole population administrative and vital statistics data. PLoS One 21(4): e0344941. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0344941
Comparative effectiveness of take-home dosing schedules for opioid agonist treatment in British Columbia, Canada: a target trial emulation protocol using a population-based observational study
Kurz, M., Guerra-Alejos, B. C., Hossain, M. B., Min, J. E., Yan, R., Bruneau, J., Catherine, NLA., … & Nosyk, B. (2025). Comparative effectiveness of take-home dosing schedules for opioid agonist treatment in British Columbia, Canada: a target trial emulation protocol using a population-based observational study. BMJ Open, 15(10), e098317. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-098317
Strategies to engage and retain pregnant individuals and young mothers in the nurse-family partnership program (Canada): An interpretive descriptive study
Marcellus, L., Jack, S. M., MacKinnon, K., Hill, M. E., Gonzalez, A., Campbell, K., Catherine, N. L. A., MacMillan, H. L., Tonmyr, L., Van Borek, N., & Varcoe, C. (2025). Strategies to engage and retain pregnant individuals and young mothers in the nurse-family partnership program (Canada): An interpretive descriptive study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 167, 107537. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107537
History of childhood maltreatment, prenatal cortisol levels, and executive functioning: A cross-sectional study using data from the Healthy Foundations Study
DeRubeis, V., Wang., E., Joshi, D., Catherine, N., MacMillan, H.L., Waddell, C., Boyle, M., Tonmyr, L., Atkinson, L., Jack, S.M., Varcoe, C., Andrews, K., Lever, R., Marcellus, L., & Gonzalez, A. (2025). History of childhood maltreatment, prenatal cortisol levels, and executive functioning: a cross-sectional study using data from the Healthy Foundations Study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 167, 107602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.