Updates

Collaboration can help advance children’s wellbeing

June 25, 2023

Canada needs to substantially increase public investments in effective interventions to improve the mental health of children.

That was one of the key messages from a June 19/23 talk by Christine Schwartz, psychologist, SFU adjunct professor and Children’s Health Policy Centre scientific writer.

She was speaking to policy-makers, practitioners and researchers at a talk sponsored by the Children’s Healthcare Canada network.

The 30-minute Zoom presentation, followed by a Q&A session, was part of the SPARK program, designed to showcase knowledge, evidence and expertise to spark conversations, ideas and action.

“Effective collaborations between researchers and policy-makers can play a tremendous role in advancing the wellbeing of children,” Schwartz told the group. Audience members were especially interested in learning how CHPC team members have been able to conduct research that is both academically rigorous and responsive to the needs of policy-makers.

Go here to see a recording of the presentation.


CHPC associate director celebrates new appointment

June 16, 2023

Children’s Health Policy Centre Associate Director Nicole Catherine has just been named an affiliate faulty member of The Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) at the University of British Columbia.

Catherine also holds the Canada Research Chair Tier 2 in Child Health Equity and Policy and is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University.

“I am thrilled to join HELP as an affiliate faculty member,” she said in the announcement of the honour. 

In an April 27 talk to faculty, staff and trainees at HELP, Catherine said that early prevention of childhood adversities through research-policy-practitioner collaborations is one of her major motivators.

As the former scientific director of a public health randomized controlled trial known as the BC Healthy Connections Project, she told the group: “Our plans to examine the longer-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an early intervention, across adolescence, will directly inform policymakers, those who need to act to help children flourish.”

Audience members said the retention protocol — developed prior to data collection — impressed them because it ensured sustained engagement with 739 unserved families across 2.5 years. Catherine said: “Families that are unfairly labelled difficult to reach, and therefore underserved by health care, still need to be reached.”

Catherine is now leading new work exploring how to adapt enhanced maternal-child health programs, such as Nurse-Family Partnership, for Indigenous children and mothers in BC.


‘Keep the focus on kids’ — Waddell

May 29, 2023

A Canadian South Asian lifestyle magazine based in Vancouver, DARPAN, recently interviewed Children’s Health Policy Centre director Charlotte Waddell.

The feature, called the Darpan 10, is directed at community and thought leaders, addressing them with 10 questions relating to their role. Here, for example, is one of the questions:

“As part of your education and work that you have done with children, can you share some insights that would help better the public education system as a whole?”

Waddell’s answer:

“A huge lesson for me, in thinking of the research and the young people I have cared for as a child and youth psychiatrist, is to address social disparities in our society. Again, I am considering adversities such as socioeconomic disadvantage, colonialism, and racism. These problems do not cause all childhood mental disorders. But they affect kids unequally.

“So some kids have to carry higher burdens than others, through no fault of their own. In turn, the stresses associated with kids having to take these extra burdens can translate into higher rates of certain mental disorders over time. So it would help to address these disparities, treat all kids well, and ensure adequate prevention and treatment services for mental health difficulties. In turn, it will help the public education system if more kids are flourishing.”

The entire interview can be seen here.


Service shortages have created a crisis

May 16, 2023

There is a crisis in children’s mental health due to service shortages.

That was the key message of an April 4/23 talk by Children’s Health Policy Centre director Charlotte Waddell to roughly 200 public health leaders and practitioners from across BC.

Hosted by BC Centre for Disease Control Foundation for Public Health, the talk was the keynote event opening a two-day conference on strengthening mental health for children and youth — or the “Best Brains Exchange.”

“Public health can help greatly to improve children’s mental health by advocating for comprehensive population health approaches,” Waddell told the group. “You can also ensure that effective prevention and treatment interventions are made available to all children in need, and insist on good public data to track our progress.”

The talk was 20 minutes, followed by 40 minutes of conversation.