Actions & Accomplishments

The Coalition firmly believes that working together on jointly established strategic priorities makes it possible to achieve more in identified areas of concern than any one of its member organization can accomplish on its own.  Building on the combined strengths of its many partnerships, the CCYHC has made significant progress towards achieving its objectives within the context of several key initiatives and programs. For example:

Child and Youth Health Indicators Development Program
Maternal, Infant, Child, and Youth Research Network (MICYRN)
National Paediatric Surgical Wait Times Strategy
Health Human Resource Strategy
Advocacy Activities

Child and Youth Health Indicators Development Program

In order to support empirically based policy and decision-making, the CCYHC identified the implementation of a strategy for the development, validation, and uptake of child and youth health indicators as one of its first priorities. It is widely recognized that the current lack of robust evidence-based indicators and standards severely impedes our ability to determine the current status of health and health care for Canadian children and youth, conduct comparative analyses to assess performance, and establish benchmarks to establish the optimal level of health service delivery.

In 2006, in collaboration with the CIHR-Institute of Human Development Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH) and 13 other partner organizations, the Coalition launched a Request for Applications (RFA) to validate and/or develop child and youth health indicators.The purpose of this initiative is to support teams of researchers and decision makers to develop and apply indicators of child and youth health and health care.

In partnership with the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation (CCHSA), the CCYHC will also work to promote the uptake of validated child and youth health indicators by incorporating these into CCHSA’s accreditation process.

Learn more about the Indicator Program

Maternal, Infant, Child, and Youth Research Network (MICYRN)

In 2006, the CCYHC identified a national clinical research network as a top priority and established the Maternal, Infant, Child, and Youth Research Network (MICYRN). MICYRN is a multi-disciplinary initiative to support world-class clinical research nationwide. It is believed that the synergistic strength gained from a formal collaborative network of leading researchers and integrated infrastructure will spur tremendous advances unattainable by individual groups.

MICYRN’s primary objectives are to build innovative platforms to address gaps in the clinical research environment through the establishment of core programs in research partnerships, training, knowledge translation, research methods, research ethics and regulatory affairs, and funding partnerships. This network also sets out to establish integrated access to innovative tools in data management, genomics, and biobanking.

MICYRN has the capacity to improve the health of virtually every mother and child in the country through creating an environment of innovation, research efficiency and effective application of new discoveries to policy and practice.

Learn more about MICYRN

National Paediatric Surgical Wait Times Strategy

In 2005, Dr. Brian Postl, Federal Adviser on Wait Times to the Prime Minister, approached the CCYHC to lead an initiative to develop recommendations for a national paediatric surgical wait times strategy. In 2006, the Coalition, in collaboration with the Pediatric Surgical Chiefs of Canada, hosted the National Workshop on Paediatric Surgical Wait Times to develop these recommendations. 

On January 11th, 2007 Prime Minister Harper announced $2.6M in support of a National Paediatric Wait Time Guarantee Pilot Project to identify children waiting longer than the acceptable time for surgery - a very important first step in gaining public attention to the needs of children and youth waiting for surgery.

Building on this targeted framework, the CCYHC will endeavour to apply the surgical wait times strategy to a broader set of wait time issues in other high priority areas where children and youth wait for essential health care services.

Learn more about the Paediatric Surgical Wait Times Strategy

Health Human Resource Strategy

The development of a Health Human Resource (HHR) Strategy has been identified by the Coalition as another critical priority in the area of child and youth health and one where the combined efforts and expertise of the individual members could have significant influence.

CCYHC continues to explore HHR resource issues across interdisciplinary health professions and is committed to the promotion of 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.

Advocacy Activities

In addition to the identification and development of specific national priorities and strategies, the Coalition has also worked in an advocacy role to provide support and feedback to several child and youth related initiatives on a national level:

• “Healthy Children and Youth” – Federal Government Consultation. In June 2007, in response to an invitation from Dr. Khristinn Kellie Leitch, Federal Advisor on Healthy Children and Youth, the CCYHC surveyed its members and submitted a comprehensive report as part of a Federal government consultation to identify the pressing health issues facing children and youth, gaps in programming and services, and solutions which might serve to address these gaps. The recommendations provided by the Coalition were the result of broad national stakeholder consultation and represent viable and impact-oriented solutions to advance the health of Canada’s children and youth.
  

• “Racing for Kids’ Health” – Establishing Priorities in Canadian Child & Youth Health Research. In early 2007, in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (CIHR – IHDCYH) and the SickKids Foundation, the Coalition developed a brochure designed to highlight current priority areas in Canadian child and youth health research. The document provides salient facts related to child and youth health in Canada, lists key gaps in our knowledge that future research should attempt to fill, and suggests how the new knowledge can be applied to improve the health and health care of Canada’s children and youth.

• Canada’s Child & Youth Health Charter.  As one of many important stakeholders, the Coalition has been working (since April 2007) in consultation with the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Paediatric Society, and The College of Family Physicians of Canada to finalize a Child and Youth Health Charter and to move forward a child-health declaration that defines child and youth health as key national priorities.

The Canadian Child & Youth Health Coalition is a collaborative and consensus-driven organization representing the interests of the entire child and youth health care community. The activities of the Coalition thus far have demonstrated what can be accomplished on a national level by willing and passionate individuals and organizations. The CCYHC will capitalize on this capacity, enthusiasm, and momentum as it continues to develop and expand its membership and scope of activity in the coming years.