Promoting the Best Healthcare for Infants, Children and Youth


Goal 1:To promote the best healthcare services for all infants, children and youth in Canada.


Recommendations

Activities and projects listed with each recommendation reflect any work that is being done within the child and youth health sector that may be considered relevant to, or contributing to, enacting the recommendation.  Activities and projects are not necessarily being performed by members of this working group, nor were they necessarily initiated as a result of the work being done by this committee.

The authors have attempted to assure the information contained in these pages is accurate however we cannot be sure that we might have included something that is not correct . The information contained in these webpages may have some inaccuracies or be out of date. We would greatly appreciate receiving any comments, updates, information on other relevant activities or corrections you might have.

Recommendation 1 - Establish Child Health Commissioner for Canada

Support the establishment of an infant, child and youth commissioner for Canada.

Current activities relevant to the recommendation:

Leitch Report - Reaching for the Top
Reaching for the Top, commissioned by the Federal Minister of Health, and produce by Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, MD, MBA, FRCS(C), Chair / Chief, Division of Paediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital, London, Ontario Assistant Dean (External)/Assistant Professor, Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario.  

This report highlights five key recommendations. They are as follows:
  1. Develop and implement a National Injury Prevention Strategy for children and youth;
  2. Establish a Centre of Excellence on Childhood Obesity;
  3. Improve Mental Health Services for Canadian children and youth;
  4. Undertake a Longitudinal Cohort Study to provide data on the health of Canadian children and youth to help understand environmental factors impacting children's health; and,
  5. Establish a National Office of Child and Youth Health with a permanent Advisor.


Child Health Expert Roundtable - Canadian Medical Association

As the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) Board of Directors identified Child Health – specifically the early years (aged five years and under) – as a strategic priority for the organization, it was imperative that the CMA consult with both Canadian child health experts and stakeholders in order to develop a consensus based action plan to address the following:

    • What role do Canadian physicians play in supporting optimal health outcomes for children under the age of five? How can the CMA support Canadian physicians to achieve these outcomes?
    • What role should the Canadian federal government play in supporting optimal health outcomes for children under the age of five? How can the CMA effectively advocate for these outcomes?
    • Given that the stated goal of the CMA is for Canada to rank within the top five countries internationally, vis-a-vis children’s health status under the age of five, within five years (top five, under five, within five), what specific measures or indicators will form the basis of evaluation? 

The CMA invited the participation of 27 child health experts (herein referred to as “the experts”) and stakeholders to participate in two one day consultation and strategy sessions taking place in June and October, 2008 in Ottawa ON. The purpose of the session was to harness the knowledge of identified Canadian child health experts and stakeholders, with a focus on the early years. The CMA aims to translate this knowledge into a strategic action plan to support achieving a goal of “top five, under five, within five”.

One of the recommendations that came from the group included the development of a national child and youth health office, within the federal government that included a Child and Youth Commissioner or Secretary of State position. This position should include First Nations Children into Commissioner mandate.

For more information on this report, contact emmanuellemorin@cma.ca.


Marc Garneau announces his first Private Member’s Bill: A national Children's Commissioner for Canada





Recommendation 2 - Advocate to Policy Makers for Children's Healthcare Needs

Advocate to provincial policy makers that child healthcare needs – especially those of medically vulnerable infants, children and youth – be included in needs-based methods of allocating health resources (financial and human).




To encourage policy-makers to examine their own progress on child and youth issues and to foster discussion among Canadians, the Canadian Paediatric Society produces a biennial status report on public policy affecting children and youth.

This report examines how effectively Canada’s provinces, territories and the federal government are using their legislative powers to promote the health and safety of children and youth.




Recommendation 3 - Support Efforts to Improve Health Human Resource Data

Support national (e.g., Canadian Institute for Health Information) and provincial health ministerial efforts to improve health human resource data and make them relevant to the healthcare of infants, children and youth.







Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres (CAPHC) - Canadian Paediatric Decision Support Network (CPDSN)
CAPHC - CPDSN


CAPHC - Knowledge Exchange Network (KEN)

The CAPHC Knowledge Exchange Network (CAPHC-KEN) is a wiki-based, interactive, online community focused on sharing and growing knowledge in child and youth health service delivery. Because content in the KEN is authored and posted by qualified members within the child and youth health community, the KEN reflects a dynamic repository of knowledge that directly reflects the intersts and priorities of the child and youth health service delivery community.

For more information go to: www.caphc.org/ken


Health Canada and Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)



Child & Youth Health Human Resource Strategy. The Canadian Child & Youth Health Coalition (CCYHC) is committed to promoting sustained excellence in education and training to ensure a workforce prepared to meet the health needs of children and youth across the spectrum of promotion, prevention and care. A working group has been established to review the state of health human resources across the child/youth sector and identify gaps and pressing issues. More

Recommendation 4 - Develop an Inventory of Best and Promising Practice Interdisciplinary, Family-Centred Models

Develop an inventory of the best and most promising interdisciplinary, family-centred models for infant, child and youth healthcare. Distribute this inventory along with a template that interdisciplinary groups of providers can use to select the most suitable models to meet their community’s needs.


Paediatric Undergraduate Program Directors of Canada (PUPDOC)

Agreed on the following principles:

  • PUPDOC would like to remain involved in the Symposium Project
  • PUPDOC will form a Steering Committee to lead our work
  • All members will be consulted for their input
  • A Canadian undergraduate paediatric curriculum will be developed that:
  • Incorporates relevant topics from the Symposium Recommendations as well as other aspects of child and youth health,
  • Includes objectives, educational resources, and assessment components, and is
  • Comprehensive,
  • Based on the CanMEDS principles,
  • Out-come based,
  • Competency based,
  • Translatable, and
  • Flexible.

Bridging the Gap between Health Centres and the Community - Improving Services for Families of Children with Complex Care Needs

At the Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres (CAPHC) 2005 Annual Meeting, family members and health professionals from various disciplines explored continuity of care and the integration of services for children and youth with complex health care needs. Participants agreed that in our current fragmented system transition points are especially difficult; it is often at these times in a child’s care that coordination breaks down and critical gaps in service appear. Working together, and in response to identified challenges and opportunities, delegates identified key components of an effective and supportive continuum of care, and began the discussion on interventions and changes that would positively affect the care of children and youth, and lend support to families.

CAPHC, in partnership with the Child and Youth Home Care Network (CYHN), the Canadian Family Advisory Network (CFAN) and the Canadian Network of Child and Youth Rehabilitation (CN-CYR) was subsequently encouraged to develop a national strategy to improve transitions and continuity of care.

The initial phase of this initiative entitled “Bridging the Gap between Health Centres and the Community”, supported by a grant provided to CAPHC from Bell Canada, concluded in December 2006 with the dissemination of a national resource:Finding Our Way Back Home



CAPHC - Knowledge Exchange Network (KEN)

The CAPHC Knowledge Exchange Network (CAPHC-KEN) is a wiki-based, interactive, online community focused on sharing and growing knowledge in child and youth health service delivery. Because content in the KEN is authored and posted by qualified members within the child and youth health community, the KEN reflects a dynamic repository of knowledge that directly reflects the interests and priorities of the child and youth health service delivery community.

For more information go to: www.caphc.org/ken


The Child and Family in the Healthcare System

Comprised of health care leaders, staff, as well as family and youth advisors, the Child and Family in the Healthcare System Working Group, led by CFAN, was established in January 2009 to guide the development of priority initiatives towards enhancing the experience of infants, children, youth and families within the health care system.


Paediatric Chairs of Canada (PCC-CPSI) - Patient Safety Competencies Project


Recommendation 5 - Develop a Resource for Paediatricians and Family Physicians on Navigating the Provincial Health Systems.

Develop a handbook and/or website directory for paediatricians and family physicians that includes referral processes, potential contacts and tips to navigate the infant, child and youth health care system within each jurisdiction.

Montreal Children's Hospital (MCH) McGill - Ruis - Harvey Guyda


Recommendation 6 - Implement Flexible Education Curricula for Paediatric and Family Medicine on Current Health Priorities for Children

Develop and implement flexible education curricula on infant, child and youth healthcare for undergraduate and paediatric and family medicine residents that include, but are not limited to, healthy active living; public health; community paediatrics; aboriginal health; early childhood development; prevention of injury and maltreatment; obesity; the impact of social determinants on physical, mental and emotional health (i.e., social paediatrics); and advocacy.

Paediatric Undergraduate Program Directors of Canada
PUPDOC

Agreed on the following principles:

  • PUPDOC would like to remain involved in the Symposium Project
  • PUPDOC will form a Steering Committee to lead our work
  • All members will be consulted for their input
  • A Canadian undergraduate paediatric curriculum will be developed that:
  • Incorporates relevant topics from the Symposium Recommendations as well as other aspects of child and youth health,
  • Includes objectives, educational resources, and assessment components, and is
  • Comprehensive,
  • Based on the CanMEDS principles,
  • Out-come based,
  • Competency based,
  • Translatable, and
  • Flexible.



College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) - Accreditation

The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) accredits residency training programs in family medicine; family medicine/emergency medicine; and enhanced skills at all 17 medical schools in Canada. Residency training programs in palliative medicine are conjointly accredited by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC).

For a list of residency training programs accredited by the CFPC, please click here .

The purpose of the accreditation of residency programs by the CFPC Accreditation Committee is twofold: to attest to the educational quality of accredited programs and to ensure sufficient uniformity and portability to allow residents from across Canada to qualify for the CFPC examinations as residency eligible candidates. Accreditation is voluntary and is conducted at the request of faculties of medicine at Canadian universities.

The document entitled “Standards for Accreditation of Residency Training Programs: Family Medicine; Emergency Medicine; Enhanced Skills; Palliative Medicine" (The Red Book) outlines the standards used by the CFPC to accredit family medicine, emergency medicine, and enhanced skills residency programs based in departments of family medicine at Canadian university faculties of medicine.



PCC & National Program Directors - Patient Safety Competencies


Recommendation 7 - Examine Impact of Physician Funding Models and Innovative Secondary Paediatric Care

Examine the impact on effective healthcare services for infants, children and youth (acute, chronic, mental health, behavioural, etc.) of: i) various physician funding models (alternate funding programs, fee-for-service, etc.); and ii) innovative ways to provide secondary paediatric care that leverages primary care reform initiatives.

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