Option 1 - Showcase: Preconception, prenatal, child health and family support
Attend a series of presentations from public health units and child and family service organizations who will be showcasing innovative approaches, resources and strategies in health promotion.

Option 2 - Knowing your audience: A key to developing effective programs
Nancy Dubois, The Health Communications Unit (THCU), will teach participants how to develop effective social marketing initiatives by getting a deeper understanding of your intended audience. The workshop will cover how to identify and quickly find the information that would be helpful, how to use this information to improve program development and delivery, and how to do this all within timelines and budgets. This workshop is for practitioners who want to gather and use existing audience analysis information, and for those who want to develop some basic skills in creating original, local and current data.

THE HONOURABLE LANDON PEARSON

The 2006 theme for National Child Day was the child’s right to be heard. An important article in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ‘the right to be heard’ means that whatever steps we take, whatever policies, laws or initiatives we deem necessary for children’s well-being should take into account the views of children themselves. How do we do that? How do we take into account a newborn’s views, a toddler’s perspective, or a 3-year-old’s opinions? Some say we can’t. Landon Pearson says we can and we must. Practitioner’s who work with expectant parents and with families have the responsibility to understand the life path of a child and the journey and joy for parents of making a family and for the child, of being in a family. Practitioners must see and understand the world through the child’s eyes and ask: are my goals for this child truly in her best interest? Is my work with this child and her family going to serve her best interests and advance what is possible for her and what she wants for herself? Practitioners must put themselves to the ’best interests of the child’ test daily.

Terrellyn Fearn, Spirit Moon Consulting

There are many things that service providers can do to foster a sense of belonging in Aboriginal families with young children, connecting parents to the information and supports they need in a respectful and caring manner, and acknowledging their strengths. This workshop offers service providers culturally specific information and approaches that can be applied in everyday practice when supporting Aboriginal families. It shares important information about what Aboriginal people feel they need to support their families in having happy, healthy children. This training will provide a wealth of information and insights, including current research, strategies and recommendations.

Hiltrud Dawson, Best Start Resource Centre

In March, 2007 the Best Start Resource Centre will officially launch ’Life with a new baby’, a province-wide PPMD Campaign. Come and get a sneak-preview of the upcoming provincial campaign. This workshop will not only highlight the campaign components but will also identify a range of strategies that local service providers can implement to support the campaign and reinforce the messages in communities across Ontario. This workshop is open to all service providers working with, or who have an interest in supporting families who are living with postpartum disorders. A centerpiece in the campaign, the DVD/video “Life with a New Baby” will be screened at this workshop.

Geneviève Lafleur, Centre Premier Berceau

Présentation d’une approche issue des travaux de T.B. Brazelton visant à promouvoir la relation parents-enfant à travers l’observation et l’interprétation du niveau de développement ainsi que des comportements et réactions du nourrisson. Les participants seront donc sensibilisés aux divers aspects de la méthode et l’accent sera mis sur les implications pratiques et cliniques qui en découlent. Le fait que cette approche aborde de façon concrète et pratique la notion de sensibilité parentale permet le soutien et le développement d’un décodage approprié des besoins de l’enfant tout en valorisant la relation parents-enfant. De cette façon, un environnement optimal au bon développement de l’enfant peut être favorisé et ainsi, à titre préventif, établir des bases solides à ces familles en construction. L’atelier se veut une présentation globale de l’approche. Cependant, l’accent veut être mis sur son intégration dans la pratique clinique et donc des possibilités concrètes d’application qui en découle dans la réalité propre aux participants. Il est ainsi fortement désiré que l’interaction avec ces derniers fasse partie prenante de l’atelier.

Darlene Kordich Hall, Reaching IN...Reaching OUT

Research-to-practice findings from Reaching IN... Reaching OUT (RIRO) will be presented along with the project’s documentary video and training materials about promoting resilience in young children. The project builds on 30 years of resiliency research demonstrating that what we think about stressful events affects how we feel about these events and what actions we take. RIRO trains adults to introduce thinking skills to children that help them bounce back from stress and adversity. This workshop is geared to professionals, paraprofessionals, caregivers and policy-makers. Handouts, video, and web-based information will be shared with participants.

June Webber, RN, PhD, Canadian Nurses Association

Social justice has been identified as a founding pillar of public health anda critical goal of social progress. This session, suitable for all conference participants, will provide an overview of an initiative spear-headed by the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) to support its commitment to social justice. The initiative will be described including the approach taken by CNA to advance the project, to describe how organizations define and monitor social justice, the process toward the development of ten guiding attributes and the development of several resources, a decision-tree and social justice gauge that assist in assessing policy and program documents. As part of the workshop, participants will work with these two resources to enable familiarization and practice with the concepts and tools.

Hiltrud Dawson, Best Start Resource Centre

In March, 2007 the Best Start Resource Centre will officially launch ’Life with a new baby’, a province-wide PPMD Campaign. Come and get a sneak-preview of the upcoming provincial campaign. This workshop will not only highlight the campaign components but will also identify a range of strategies that local service providers can implement to support the campaign and reinforce the messages in communities across Ontario. This workshop is open to all service providers working with, or who have an interest in supporting families who are living with postpartum disorders. A centerpiece in the campaign, the DVD/video “Life with a New Baby” will be screened at this workshop.

Wendy Burgoyne, Best Start Resource Centre

 

Louise Choquette, Best Start Resource Centre

The Best Start Resource Centre is developing a manual on prenatal education that will capture the better and promising practices implemented by prenatal educators. The purpose of the manual is to assist organizations wishing to develop a new curriculum or update an existing one. This workshop will provide an update on the status of this project, review the current literature on prenatal education and offer delegates a preview of the resource.

Darlene Kordich Hall, Reaching IN...Reaching OUT

Research-to-practice findings from Reaching IN...Reaching OUT (RIRO) will be presented along with the project’s documentary video and training materials about promoting resilience in young children. The project builds on 30 years of resiliency research demonstrating that what we think about stressful events affects how we feel about these events and what actions we take. RIRO trains adults to introduce thinking skills to children that help them bounce back from stress and adversity. This workshop is geared to professionals, paraprofessionals, caregivers and policy-makers. Handouts, video, and web-based information will be shared with participants.

Susan Stewart, Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health

Many programs are required to undergo regular program evaluations. How can program evaluation assess program strengths and weaknesses? How can evaluation results lead to improved programs and services for children and families? This workshop is intended for those with an interest in program evaluation and for those who are responsible for ensuring that programs are evaluated. This workshop is designed to enhance participants’ understanding of program evaluation and their skills in planning, conducting, and monitoring evaluations. Whether you conduct an evaluation yourself or hire a consultant, this workshop will demonstrate how program evaluation can generate the information needed to further develop and improve programs and services.

4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Evening reception and exhibit fair

Be part of the launch of the Best Start Resource Centre Postpartum Mood Disorder Campaign.

Enjoy the Humber Jr. Jazz Ensemble as you stroll the Exhibit Fair and network with colleagues.

Petit-déjeuner réseautage pour les intervenants parlant français:

Les participants francophones et francophiles sont invités à se joindre à Louise Choquette, Spécialiste en information bilingue à Meilleur départ, pour un petit-déjeuner réseautage qui aura lieu à 7h30 le mercredi 21 février. Des informations sur des sujets d’intérêts en maternité et petite enfance seront partagées avec les personnes présentes à cette activité. Pour plus d’information et pour vous inscrire,
veuillez consulter le bureau des inscriptions.

ANGELA BOWEN : FEELINGS IN PREGNANCY

Angela Bowen is a PhD candidate in Community Health and Epidemiology. Her research in antenatal depression has been called “groundbreaking”. Bowen will dispel the myths about pregnancy as an always happy, depression-free time. She will discuss the signs and symptoms, and diagnosis of antenatal depression (AD), the prevalence of AD, and the risk factors in socially high-risk and non-high risk pregnant women. Bowen will discuss effective identification of the woman with AD and examine the effects of AD on the mother, the pregnancy, the fetus and newborn, the developing child and the growing family.

Dr. Richard Volpe, Institute of Child Study

What exactly is “best practice”? How and why do service providers seek out “best practices”? How can a “best practices” framework really benefit the practical, hands-on work that practitioners are engaged in? How can “best practices” be applied to community-based programs and how can organizations with limited research expertise and capacity incorporate findings from other “best practice” research? This workshop is open to all delegates; those who have experience in defining and implementing best practice and those for whom best practice is a new concept. Come learn together from a respected professional in the field – and from each other.

Michelle Schwarz, Halton Public Health

The Best Start Resource Centre, in collaboration with Halton Public Health, is developing a manual for service providers who work with women over the age of 35 who are pregnant or who are planning a pregnancy. The manual will summarize relevant information about the increasing rates of “delayed pregnancy”, the social context of “delayed pregnancy”, related opportunities and health concerns, and important aspects of care, intervention and services for this group of women. Come to this workshop to learn about what the research says about delayed pregnancy and what better and promising practices are in this area.

Mary Ellen Prange, Ontario Public Health Association
Co-presenter: Zannat Reza, Nutrition Resource Centre

The proportion of ethnocultural groups within Canada’s population has increased dramatically over the last few decades. Directing health promotion and prevention messages to specific ethnocultural groups requires an acquaintance with the culture of the particular group. Identifying health communication channels and sources that are culturally appropriate, credible, and considered influential by the intended audience, is critical to communicating health messages successfully. Working in partnership with community groups and community-based agencies helps reach the intended audience, identify culturally-appropriate strategies and gives more credibility to the messages. This session will detail the process undertaken by the Nutrition Resource Centre to culturally adapt two nutrition print resources, “How to Build a Healthy Preschooler” and “How to Feed Your Growing Child”, from English into three languages: Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese and Punjabi. This inter-active session will be of interest to all practitioners who deliver health promotion messages in printed format to New Canadians.

Rachel Deans, Ontario Physical Health and Education Association

JiggaJump is an innovative and interactive multi-platform initiative to promote active, healthy living for young children. JiggaJump uses music to engage children ages 3 to 6 in a range of fun physical activities and movement experiences to help plant seeds for a lifetime of healthy choices and active living. The goal of the JiggaJump program is to encourage community leaders, especially those with limited experience related to physical activity, to integrate physical activity into existing (sedentary) programs using the JiggaJump music CD and the materials provided in the Leader’s Guide. This high energy, interactive workshop will further increase your awareness of the importance of physical activity in the early years and give you a chance to particpate in the JiggaJump experience for yourself. Delegates who attend the workshop will receive a free JiggaJump music CD and Leader’s Guide and will be expected to be physically active during the workshop.

Dr. Sarah McDonald, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at McMaster University

This session will cover the impact of diabetes on pregnancy, and pregnancy on diabetes, with a focus on trying to achieve the best pregnancy outcome for mother and baby. Information on pregestational diabetes (Type 1 and 2) as well as gestational diabetes will be covered. Specific
issues will include: decreasing the rate of miscarriages and congenital anomalies, achieving appropriate in utero growth, decreasing stillbirths and decreasing the rate of maternal complications. The focus of this session is health promotion. Good antenatal care, and ideally, pregnancy counselling, of women with pregestational diabetes is vitally important to good perinatal outcomes.This workshop will involve a mix of theoretical knowledge, and practical points on caring for patients with diabetes |during pregnancy, and will be of interest to front-line service providers.

JANE BERTRAND - EARLY LEARNING PROGRAM

Jane Bertrand is the Chair of the provincial Expert Panel on an Early Learning Program. The panel has been working on developing a learning program for preschool children that can link to junior and senior kindergarten curriculum and ultimately become a single integrated learning program for children in child care and kindergarten. Bertrand will share findings from the work of the panel and provide a glimpse into the future of early learning and child care in Ontario.