Lead Awareness Promotional Materials
Kelly O’Grady, The First Six Years

Otitis Media Prevention Social Marketing Campaign
Lyne Soramaki, Thunder Bay & District Health Unit

Parents Matter / Parents, vous comptez
Janice MacAulay, Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs

18 Month Developmental Assessment
Patricia Mousmanis, Ontario College of Family Physicians

Expanding Multicultural Parenting Programs
Ed Bader, Focus on Fathers

This session highlights and showcases innovative approaches to child health, parenting and family support programs. Through a series of 30 minute presentations delegates will be introduced to new better practices, research, and policy initiatives.

 

Cathryn Fortier - CAPC CPNP Ottawa
Maritza Sanchez - Jessies Centre
Melissa McCaul - Jessies Centre
Jennifer Miller, Algoma Public Health, Sault Ste. Marie
Liz Palmer, Ontario Works, Sault Ste. Marie

Early prenatal care and support programs are instrumental in helping pregnant and parenting teens have a healthy pregnancy, establish good parenting skills and further their education and employment goals. This afternoon session will share new insights on engaging and retaining pregnant and parenting teens in programming, creative ways to meet their needs and strategies for teens who are in the pre-contemplation stage of behaviour change. Program examples will be used to highlight new approaches and ideas for service providers.

 

Irritability: It’s Under-Rated
Leslie Born, Counselling For Change

Parenting Partnership
Karon Foster, Invest-in-kids

FASDay Campaign
Norma Corstorphine, Porcupine Health Unit

CPNP Prenatal Curriculum
Dianne Chopping, Toronto Public Health

Father Involvement & Transition to parenting
Nancy Wai, County of Lambton Community Health Services Dept

This session highlights and showcases innovative approaches to prenatal and postnatal health promotion programs. Through a series of 30 minute presentations delegates will be introduced to new better practices, research, and policy initiatives.

 

Dr. K.S. Joseph
Depts. of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Pediatrics Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre

Canada does poorly on international rankings based on infant mortality rates. Rising rates of preterm birth and low birth weight also suggest a deterioration in perinatal health. This session will examine the challenges inherent in interpreting these indices and will attempt to provide a coherent description of perinatal health in Canada. Topics covered will range from specific concerns related to data quality (e.g., the dismal state of information on births and infant deaths in Ontario) to broader issues of social justice (e.g., the role of the health care system in reducing regional disparities in infant mortality).

Dr. Brian Timmons
McMaster University

This session will highlight the difficulty in identifying the true prevalence of obesity among preschool age children and, therefore, the scope of the problem. Participants will examine the immediate and potentially long-term health consequences of obesity during early development. The relationships between physical activity, nutrition and obesity will be emphasized. Participants will increase their awareness about the scope and complexity of the problem and practical strategies to implement behaviour change. The session includes a critique of existing prevention programs.

 

Martin Liberio
Child's Play

Educators, service providers and parents have the ability to impact a child’s future and reach their full potential. In this workshop, learn to be proactive instead of reactive using strategies that change behaviour rather than stop behaviour. This workshop presents concrete strategies that turn negative behaviours into positive behaviours with simple, yet effective tips and techniques. Participants will learn creative ways to survive these moments. This approach will not only improve children’s behaviour but will also have a dramatic effect on how they interact, play, and learn.

 

Jane Wilson
Rural Voices

Carol Gott
Rural Voices

Join us to explore how communities grow relationships and partnerships that celebrate and support the optimal health and well being of community families and children. This interactive session will share lessons learned, tools and strategies that will help participants improve service delivery in rural remote and northern communities. Presenters will be introducing a community development process called CARS (Communities Achieving Responsive Services) to workshop participants. Workshop participants will learn how to recognize and respect the diversity of community families and children while responding collectively to their unique individual needs.

 

Mark Harrison
Trojan One

Non-profit organizations are facing increasingly tough funding challenges and the number of messages in the marketplace rises everyday. Competition for the hearts and minds of Canadians is becoming more difficult and it is easy to be attracted to the sponsorship dollars that corporate Canada has access to. But how do you build positive relationships with for-profit organizations while maintaining the integrity of your non-profit? Mark Harrison has two decades of experience in sponsorship marketing and he will discuss best practices in sponsorship and relationship management as well as field your questions on the needs and expectations of corporate Canada.

Virginia McEwan
St. Clair Child & Youth Services

Jodi Tiller
St. Clair Child & Youth Services

Are you interested in a creative approach to addressing the multifaceted needs of women with postpartum mood disorders (PPMD)? Recently, there has been much needed attention given to PPMD. St. Clair Child and Youth Services has been a pioneer in providing PPMD services in Lambton County for over 10 years. Now positioned within a Best Start demonstration site, we have expanded on our vision of providing comprehensive services to women, to families, and to our community. Beginning with mom’s first call, we will describe each step we take alongside women and families as they transition from just surviving to thriving in the postpartum period.

 

Christina Honeywell
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario

Mireille Cloutier
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario

Since April 2006, newborn screening has undergone a dramatic overhaul in Ontario, with 25 treatable disorders added to the screening panel and more to come. This session will provide an update on the expanded program and highlight educational information and resources available to both health professionals and parents. Preliminary findings of a survey of service providers about current practice in Ontario will be presented. This interactive session will provide an opportunity for participants to help shape future educational endeavours in this area.

 

Martin Liberio
Child's Play

Values are like a compass, they always point to the true point. If one knows how to read their compass and understand the true north values, one does not get lost or confused in their work with children and families. The plenary session will outline the values which steer our work with children and families. These values are self-evident, self validating natural laws – they do not change or shift over time. They provide ’true north’ when navigating in your profession.

 

Dr. Brian Timmons
McMaster University

This session will highlight the difficulty in identifying the true prevalence of obesity among preschool age children and, therefore, the scope of the problem. Participants will examine the immediate and potentially long-term health consequences of obesity during early development. The relationships between physical activity, nutrition and obesity will be emphasized. Participants will increase their awareness about the scope and complexity of the problem and practical strategies to implement behaviour change. The session includes a critique of existing prevention programs.

 

Andrea Rideout
Atlantic Medical Genetics & Genomics Initiative, IWK Health Centre, Nova Scotia

The goal of this workshop is to help participants improve their informedchoice discussions about prenatal screening. Prenatal screening tests for Down syndrome will be reviewed. Cases will be used to illustrate various approaches to counselling women and their families. Points for discussion include a review of available screening and diagnostic tests in Ontario (integrated prenatal screening, first trimester screening, second trimester screening, choroinic villus sampling, and amniocentesis), analysis of what women want, facilitating informed decision-making, communicating risk, talking about disability and understanding screening results.

 

Louise Hanvey
Hanvey Consulting and Sharon Bartholomew, Public Health Agency of Canada

Sharon Bartholomew
Maternal and Infant Health Section, Public Health Agency of Canada

This session will describe the methodology and preliminary findings of the Survey of Routine Maternity Practices in Canadian Hospitals –conducted by the Canadian Institute of Child Health for the Public Health Agency of Canada. The survey documents current policies and practices in hospital maternity services in Canada; monitors trends over time when compared with the previous surveys 1981, 1985 and 1993; and complements data collected from the Canadian Maternity Experiences Survey. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to learn about: current practices in Canadian hospitals and how they compare to standards and evidence-based guidelines; and the challenges of collecting data from Canadian Hospitals.

 

Ritu Sharma
Ontario Health Promotion Resource System Secretariat

Mary Graham
FOCUS Resource Centre

Technologies being touted as used for online learning and collaboration have exploded in the last few years. But what is available free or at reasonable cost, how can you tell what might actually be useful and how could you use them? This workshop explores potential uses of a few of the technologies available that could be easily available to a non-techie person. Technologies may include: webinars, blogs, wikis, e-learning portals, and other interesting technologies. This session will take you online to view examples, allow for interaction, discussion and small group work.

 

Louise Choquette
Best Start Resource Centre

This session will provide an overview of Franco-Ontarian communities and their needs. It will explain some of the health promotion challenges: the socio-cultural context, the access to French-language schools, the literacy levels, the exogamous families, the multicultural context and the working environment of francophone service providers. It will highlight some suggestions for service delivery and showcase some successful and innovative programs. Although the session is planned to be delivered in English, for anglophone service providers, French may be used to accommodate participants as needed.

 

Judith Colbert
Early Care and Education Consultant

Transitions pose special challenges for young immigrant and refugee children. A review of practices typically associated with high quality programming, especially practices identified with school readiness, suggests that strategies recommended for mainstream populations are often barriers to positive outcomes for newcomers. This presentation identifies key challenges and, to overcome barriers, proposes strategies that may be expressed as best practices for any setting where newcomer children are served.

 

4:45 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. The French Connection!

A networking event for francophones providing an opportunity to exchange ideas and resources. Participants will be encouraged to discuss issues related to their work with francophone communities. This informal session will be led in French by Louise Choquette, Bilingual Health Promotion Consultant.

8:30 a.m. - Keynote

Barb Chapman
Children's Health Network

Dr. Mark Walker, MSc, MD, FRCSC
University of Ottawa & Ottawa Health Research Institute

Vivian Holmberg, B.Sc., Dipl. Ac.
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

The recently established Ontario Perinatal Surveillance System (OPSS) currently captures information on approximately 84% of all births in Ontario, providing comprehensive data on births, birth interventions and infant outcomes. The data from the OPSS have considerable implications for the planning and evaluation of perinatal health services in communities across the province. This keynote will provide an update on perinatal health services based on recent OPSS data followed by a discussion about what these findings mean for our work with expectant women and families, and the health of our communities.

 

Dr. Gideon Koren
Motherisk

Wendy Burgoyne
Best Start Resource Centre

This session will share important research information about folic acid use in the preconception and prenatal periods. It will share information about the role of folic acid in fetal development, suggested dosage, formulation and timing of folic acid intake. Participants will also have the opportunity to learn about strategies to raise awareness about folic acid, and to share ideas and initiatives.

 

Linda Kongnetiman
Alberta Children's Hospital

It is becoming increasingly important with the growing ethnic diversity in Canada, that organizations address the barriers that new comers face in accessing health services. The Child and Women’s Health Diversity Program tries to address these barriers by educating healthcare professionals, developing tools and conducting research. In this dynamic two hour workshop, the facilitator will address the usefulness of the tool “Immigrant/ Refugee women Cultural Health Practices; A guide for health care professionals”. Attendees will discover why this tool was developed and how this tool can support them. A combination of presentation, small group discussion, exercises and simulation will be used.

 

Rick Volpe
Institute of Child Study

The Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation (ONF) Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention program is a complex community systems evaluation and adaptation of the largely hospital based Upstate New York Shaken Baby Prevention Program. An innovative feature of the ONF Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Program is the intense involvement of a variety of community and public health programs in all aspects of the delivery, provision, and promotion of the programs and associated materials. The ONF program is now being implemented in eight Ontario communities. Data is being gathered on how the program works in the Ontario and how evidence-informed practices can be disseminated and implemented. This presentation will provide an overview of the program, a summary of Phase I and II of the associated evaluation research, and interactively discuss lessons learned to date.

 

Hiltrud Dawson
Best Start Resource Centre

Kathy Ventor
Sunnybrook & Women's College Hospital Breastfeeding Clinic

This session will give an overview of the Baby-Friendly assessment process in Canada and the current progress in Ontario. Looking specifically at policy development and multi-disciplinary education to meet the outcome indicators Kathy and Hiltrud will give examples from the field. One of the examples will be a breastfeeding web-course adapted for use in Ontario by the Best Start Resource Centre.

 

Pat Hamilton
Vanier Institute for Women

Julie Pickering
Vanier Institute for Women

Two thirds of incarcerated women are mothers of children under five years of age. Many also have substance use issues and mental health concerns. The incarceration, and these additional health risks make pregnant offenders a unique population of concern that requires specialized care, both from within the institution and from community services. This session will talk about pregnant offenders, their health issues, the care they receive, and how community partners can make a difference.

 

Julie Wilson
Tsi Non: we Ionnakeratstha Onagrahsta

This presentation will address how Traditional Native birthing practices and Western medical birth practices can coexist simultaneously to create a more appropriate model of care for Aboriginal women. The presentation will illustrate how this innovative approach is meeting the childbearing needs of Aboriginal women in Southwestern Ontario, while promoting individual, family and community healing and wellness.

The presentation will provide an overview of Tsi Non:we Ionnakeratstha Ona:grahsta' including the organizational structure, mandate and population served. It will also address the Aboriginal Midwife's scope of practice. Finally, it will identify social barriers to health and wellness along with health concerns affecting the Aboriginal childbearing population.

This presentation will be useful to health care providers serving the Aboriginal community whose needs are unique and often unmet by the mainstream health care system.

Doug Norris
Environics Analytics

Linda Kongnetiman
Alberta Children's Hospital

Judith Bernhard
Ryerson University

Ontario’s demographics are rapidly changing and the composition of our communities reflects the increasing diversity of the population. These changes have a significant impact on the planning and delivery of services across the province, in both large and small communities as well as urban and rural. Following an overview on the extent of these demographic changes, panelists will help us understand some of the specific implications for maternal and child health programs, and strategies to ensure that our programs meet the needs of our growing diverse population.