News & Press

September 2009

CCYHC Welcomes new Co-Chair - Following unanimous endorsement by members of the Coalition Steering Committee, we are very pleased to welcome Dr. Ian Manion as new Co-Chair of the Canadian Child & Youth Health Coalition (CCYHC), effective October 18th, 2009. Dr. Manion is currently the Executive Director of Ontario’s Provincial Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, a clinical professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Northumbria (UK). He is a committed advocate for child and youth mental health sitting on a number of local, provincial, national and international boards and committees including the National Infant Child and Youth Mental Health Consortium (Chair) and Youth Net/ Réseau Ado (Co-founder). The Coalition sincerely appreciates Dr. Manion’s willingness to take on this important leadership role alongside Marilyn Booth (continuing Co-Chair) and looks forward to his valuable input and direction going forward.

Transitioning Co-Chair, Dr. Bob Armstrong will take up the position of Past Chair on October 18th. CCYHC would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Armstrong for the tremendous leadership he has provided throughout the early development of the Coalition. These have been extremely active and productive years for CCYHC and we look forward to Dr. Armstrong’s continued guidance and support as we work to build upon momentum and the combined strengths of our many partnerships.

September 2009

The Child & Family in the Healthcare System – The CCYHC Child and Family in the Healthcare System initiative is now well underway and work on two initial priorities - parental presence at surgical induction and recovery and the transition from inpatient status to "real life" - is moving ahead. The working group is formulating tools to collect data and narratives for each of these projects which will inform the development of recommendations supported by evidence and grounded in experience. A dedicated space on the Coalition website has now been created which provides an overview of the Child & Family in the Healthcare System initiative and the activities of the working group. In addition, an online issues bank has been developed to allow current and past patients, family members, and healthcare professionals to submit suggestions for consideration by the working group.  If you would like to propose a topic or idea, please click here.

April 8, 2009

Appointment of Co-Directors for the Maternal, Infant, Child and Youth Research Network (MICYRN) - Following a national search, the Coalition has appointed Dr. Anne Junker and Dr. Aubrey Tingle as Director and Associate Director respectively of the Maternal, Infant, Child and Youth Research Network (MICYRN). The appointment is effective immediately. MICYRN was established by the Coalition as a key strategy for building national collaboration around clinical research in child and youth health. In the course of establishing MICYRN, the important link to maternal health was defined and incorporated into the organizational structure and programs that now constitute MICYRN. The Director position has been supported through the host institution and this support will continue through the Child and Family Research Institute (CFRI) where Dr. Junker is Director of Clinical Research and Population Health. Dr. Tingle will join CFRI on a part-time basis in relation to his role as Associate Director of MICYRN. The Coalition would like to thank Anne and Aubrey for taking on this challenge. We believe the level of commitment and collaboration we have seen across the country for this initiative is unprecedented and we can assure them that they will have, from all of us, the support that will be required to make this a success for all of the mothers, infants, children and youth of the country.

For more information about MICYRN visit » www.micyrn.ca

March 2009

CCYHC welcomes newest members -Safe Kids Canada and the Canadian Paediatric Society - From the outset, the Coalition has identified the engagement of new members as critically important to strengthening its capacity to address the full spectrum of health challenges facing Canada’s infants, children, youth, and their families. In the last year, CCYHC has been very pleased to welcome two new members to the Coalition:

» Safe Kids Canada (SKC). As a national leader, Safe Kids Canada promotes effective strategies to prevent unintentional injuries. By building partnerships and using a comprehensive approach, they advance safety and reduce the burden of injuries to Canada’s children and youth. Bringing a demonstrated commitment to the promotion of education, research, and excellence in the area of child and youth injury prevention, Safe Kids Canada provides valuable perspective and input to the Coalition as it continues to work towards achieving its mandate of improving the overall health and care of Canada’s children and youth. Safe Kids Canada joined the Coalition in January 2009.

» Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS). The Canadian Paediatric Society is the national association of paediatricians, committed to working together and with others to advance the health of children and youth by promoting excellence in health care, advocacy, education, research and support of its membership. The vision of CPS is consistent with the mandate of CCYHC and it is anticipated that this new partnership will bring important perspective, support, and enhanced credibility to the work of the Coalition as it works to achieve defined objectives in areas of strategic priority. CPS joined the Coalition in March 2009.

October 19, 2008

» CCYHC 2008 Annual Symposium - On October 19th, 2008, the CCYHC held a symposium in Edmonton, Alberta entitled Health Human Resources for Children & Youth: What have we learned and where should we go? The symposium was very well attended and attracted participants representing a broad range of constituents and stakeholders across the continuum of child and youth health including service providers, administrators, and researchers.

October 16, 2008

» National Council meeting of the Maternal, Infant, Child & Youth Research Network (MICYRN) - The first National Council meeting of the Maternal, Infant, Child & Youth Research Network (MICYRN), held on October 16th, 2008, was a productive event with researchers and research advocates from across the country participating in the strategy sessions based on the theme: “MICYRN: Building a 5-year Vision.”

October 16, 2008

» Joint Council for Canadian Child Health Research (CCCHR) / Maternal Infant Child and Youth Research Network (MICYRN) Symposium - CCCHR and MICYRN were delighted to co-host their first national research symposium on October 16th, 2008 in Edmonton. The symposium focused on birth cohort studies -- an area of research which has the potential to yield important and relevant information on maternal child and youth health, is multidisciplinary and multi-institutional.
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June 13 , 2008

Press Release: Government Of Canada Announces Funding For The Canadian Paediatric Surgical Wait Times Project - Stage II - OTTAWA - The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health, today announced further action to reduce wait times, with an investment of up to $9.8 million in a Canada-wide project aimed at ensuring more children requiring surgery will receive timely access to care. The Canadian Paediatric Surgical Wait Times Project - Stage II, will build on the progress and partnerships established under the National Paediatric Surgical Wait Times pilot project announced by Prime Minister Harper in January 2007 and scheduled for completion later this month. View full press release.

April 1, 2008

Press Release: Canadian Child & Youth Health Coalition endorses Leitch report Toronto, ON April 1, 2008 -- Dr. Bob Armstrong and Ms. Marilyn Booth, Co-Chairs of the Canadian Child and Youth Health Coalition (CCYHC) welcomed the release last week of Reaching for the Top: A Report by the Advisor on Healthy Children and Youth. The report, prepared by Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Advisor on Healthy Children and Youth to Federal Minister of Health Tony Clement, and based on extensive nation-wide consultation, provides five key recommendations to improve the health and wellness of Canada’s children and youth. View full press release.

January 29, 2008

Health Indicators RFA: Competition results now posted on CIHR website - In December 2006, CIHR-IHDCYH and the Coalition, in collaboration with 13 other partner organizations, 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. Competition results for The Partnerships for Child and Youth Health Indicators Funding Opportunity are now available on the CIHR website.