8:45 am – 9:00 am  Welcome

9:00 am – 10:00 am       

Dr. Robin Williams, Medical Officer of Health, Niagara Region Public Health Clinical; Professor, Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University

In her session, Dr. Williams plans to examine the opportunities to move the Early Years agenda forward in Ontario, looking at both the opportunities and the challenges.

10:00 am - 10:30 am - Break

Melissa Egan, Educator, Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange

Working with sexual health information can be intimidating and uncomfortable for many people. This workshop will take some time to work through that discomfort and help you to develop skills that will inform your delivery of the topic. We will spend some time discussing our own experiences of ‘sex ed’, move on to reviewing the framework provided in the guidelines and then we’ll develop strategies for how we can use the guidelines to improve the sexual health education experiences of others!

Caroline Maltepe, Coordinator, Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy (NVP) Helpline, Motherisk

Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy is the most common medical condition in pregnancy, affecting 80% of women; however, the majority of women are under-treated. Women and health professionals are often reluctant to use medications, including anti-emetics, due to a heightened misperception of teratogenic risk. The overall objective of this presentation is to provide evidence-based pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies that have been demonstrated to be effective in managing NVP symptoms. Furthermore, it is important to identify and treat aggravating factors that can exacerbate NVP symptoms. After this presentation, participants will be able to implement up-to-date knowledge and strategies in order to effectively manage NVP.

Suzanne Nickel, National Safe Sleep Coordinator, The Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths; Niagara Consulting, Marketing, and Management Specialists.

Do you know the ABC’s of Safe Sleep? 8 out of 10 infant deaths occur due to unsafe sleep practices. These deaths are preventable. Join Suzanne Nickel, National Safe Sleep Coordinator for The Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths to gain lifesaving details on what you can do to reduce the risk of SIDS and accidents due to unsafe sleep practices for infants. View the New ABC’s of Safe Sleep Video and learn how you can become a Certified Safe Sleep Childcare Provider. A must attend for everyone caring for infants or educating others on infant sleep practices.

 

Karon Foster, Director, The Parenting Partnership, Invest in Kids
Dr. Palmina Ioannone, Director of Research and Evaluation, Invest in Kids

Research shows that parents feel parenting is the most important job they will do; yet they do not have the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to be the parent they want to be. Prenatal and parenting education in Ontario is characterized by a patchwork of programs with little continuity. Using a participatory approach, Invest in Kids developed The Parenting Partnership; a program designed to meet the needs of “today’s” first time parents. This is a comprehensive program that blends both on-line learning and face-to-face classes. This presentation will focus on parent’s engagement with this unique program and the lessons that were learned.

 

Hiltrud Dawson, Health Promotion Consultant, Best Start Resource Centre, Health Nexus
Aldona Ollen, Public Health Nurse, York Region Public Health Services

Over the last year and a half the Best Start Resource Centre has been developing a resource to support healthy child development and early identification. This resource is based on the Red Flags Guide, originally developed by the Simcoe County Early Intervention Council, then reviewed and revised by the York Region Early Identification Planning Coalition and supported by York Region Health Services. The first edition of York Region’s Red Flags Guide was released in June, 2004. This session will provide a history of the Red Flags Guide and the development of the new On Track Guide. Using evaluation and survey data from early years and service providers who have used the Red Flags Guide, the session will explore how professionals can use the On Track Guide when working with children from 0 - 6.

 

Laurie McLeod-Shabogesic, FASD Program Coordinator, The Union of Ontario Indians
Lynda Banning, FASD Regional Program Worker for the Northern Superior Region, The Union of Ontario Indians

Facilitated by the Union of Ontario Indians FASD Program Team, this workshop will provide an overview of the most critical environmental health issues currently affecting the lives of Native children across Ontario. Based on the report: “Through the Eyes of a Child” this culturally-based session will look at issues such as pollution, mold, inadequate housing and living conditions, to help create awareness and the understanding necessary to help promote the development of effective strategies designed to protect our most sacred and vulnerable populations: our children.

 

Melanie Rosen, Expressive Arts Therapist; Therapeutic Clown Practitioner, Hospital for Sick Children

“Get In the Loop! Engaging Children Through Play”is an experiential workshop that will explore the meaning, depth, and value of play as it relates to our involvement in the care of early childhood. Participants will learn various creative techniques and tools to integrate into their own practice. They will also be encouraged to discover their own range of play. This workshop intends to inspire new ways of being and thinking that will enable us to approach our work with a sense of wonder and imagination. Please dress comfortably, prepared to move and play!

 

Nancy White, Singer

Singer NANCY WHITE , whose tuneful take on motherhood, the cd "Momnipotent: Songs for Weary Parents" has saved the sanity of many of frazzled mom over the years, is also the co-author of the musical "Anne and Gilbert", mother of two singing girls, and an accomplished if not slick performer. She and her witty piano player Bob Johnston will sing of pregnancy, kids, daughters of feminists, stickers on fruit, thwarted love for Leonard Cohen, multitasking, freefloating anxiety, and many other things. Possibly even social worker burnout. 

 

2:15 pm - 2:45 pm - Break

Kim Gall, Educator and Genetic Counsellor, Ontario Newborn Screening Program
Sari Zelenietz, Educator and Genetic Counsellor, Ontario Newborn Screening Program

The Ontario Newborn Screening Program (ONSP) aims to screen every baby born in Ontario for at least 28 rare and potentially life-threatening diseases. Detection and treatment of these diseases in the newborn period helps to prevent growth problems, other health problems, mental retardation, and sudden infant death. Perinatal health care professionals have an essential role in the education of parents about screening and ensuring all babies are screened. This interactive session will discuss newborn screening in Ontario, address common questions and highlight educational resources available to both health professionals and parents. Participants will learn key points for use in their practice and help shape future educational endeavours.

 

Joy Noel-Weiss, Lecturer, School of Nursing, University of Ottawa

"If he has teeth or is old enough to ask for it, then he should be weaned!" How can health care professionals support women who nurse older babies and children? This interactive session will provide participants with tools to assist women who are breastfeeding past six months. We will review factors that tend to dissuade or persuade women to nurse older babies and children in Canada. Scenarios, role plays, and other activities will be used to explore the challenges that come with helping women who are considering or currently nursing past six months. 

 

Dr. Eileen Wood, Professor, Developmental Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University

Computer technology is becoming increasingly prevalent in schools, early childhood education environments, and in the homes of young children. Teachers, parents, and other professionals often turn to computer technology and, in particular, children’s software programs as a means for engaging children and for helping children to learn. The quality of the outcomes associated with computers is highly contingent on the quality of the software and how the software is used. This talk will examine how computers can be used to instruct and entertain young children following developmentally appropriate guidelines. Examples of “good software” and “developmentally appropriate guidelines” will be highlighted.

Kelly Gordon, Registered Dietitian, Aboriginal Nutrition Consultant
Melanie Ferris, Aboriginal Health Promotion Consultant, Best Start Resource Centre, Health Nexus

Food is a social determinant of health. It plays an important part in keeping children healthy and preventing obesity. Food is also central to all cultures. As Aboriginal people, we have always known what we need to be healthy, but today our families are dealing with a multitude of health issues. As one way of addressing these health issues, the Best Start Resource Centre has been developing and will share a toolkit that empowers Aboriginal people to raise healthier children. This workshop will help service providers to increase their knowledge of working with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal clients.

 

Brenda Whitteker, Director of Programs, Ontario Physical and Health Education Association (Ophea)

Literacy is more than reading and writing; it involves the acquisition of a variety of skills to address the challenges individuals can face in life (UNESCO, 2003). The vision for Ontario’s new Health and Physical Education (H&PE) Curriculum is that students will be physically and health literate and have the comprehension, commitment, and capacity to lead and promote a healthy active life in an ever-changing global society.  This workshop will present practical information and resources for community leaders that support physical and health literacy for children and youth. An overview of key provincial strategies including Ophea’s H&PE support strategy will also be provided.

Stephen Abrams, DDS, General Dentist; Chair, the Ontario Dental Association’s Dental Benefits Task Force dealing with access to oral care, dental program design and outcomes evaluation
Ian McConnachie, BSc, DDS, MS, FRCD(C), Paediatric Dentist, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario; Past-President, the Ontario Dental Association

This session will provide an overview of oral health and early childhood. It follows on initiatives to raise the service level to infants at risk and will include strategies for service providers for incorporating oral health into their work. Tips for encouraging parents to promote oral health with their children will also be provided.

 

John Hoffman, Writer; Communications Coordinator, Father Involvement Research Alliance
Brian Russell, Chair of the Father Involvement Initiative - Ontario Network; Parent Educator, Early Years Services, LAMP Community Health Centre

Participants will learn about research-based knowledge that can inform their thinking about working with fathers, gain practical ideas about how organizations and individuals can be more father-friendly and father-inclusive, and learn what sorts of father-oriented approaches and programs are working. John Hoffman will focus on research evidence about the influence of mothers on father involvement, unique characteristics and needs of fathers', and the needs of specific subpopulations of fathers. Brian Russell will offer simple, low or no-cost strategies that will help organizations to be more inclusive of fathers, and offer lessons from his experience in developing and facilitating fathers' programs.

 

Are you new to the Toronto area? Then get ready to jump on a bus and head downtown for a night of socializing with other Aboriginal delegates. We’ll have a chance to visit on the bus, and then we’ll enjoy the sounds of the big drum and hand drums at the Native Canadian Centre. If you’ve never been to a drum social before, then get ready for fun. Try out some new dance moves at the drum circle, join in a circle dance and make some new friends, or learn some new songs to sing with your hand drum. Enjoy a free buffet dinner at the Centre, or go out on the town and find something delicious from the nearby strip of diverse restaurants on Bloor Street West. Register early for this session as space on the bus is limited.

Add $12 to your conference fee to attend this session.

Dr. Clyde Hertzman, Director, Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP); Tier I Canada Research Chair, Population Health and Human Development; and Professor, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia

We have now created a pan-Canadian platform for monitoring early child development (ECD), including data from six provinces. It is based upon mapping vulnerability using the Early Development Instrument. The platform allows those interested in ECD to understand patterns of development according to neighbourhood and region across the country. Since each province is taking its own approach to policies and programs in the early years, the pan-Canadian platform will help us understand which regimes are most successful in improving the state of ECD. Moreover, it provides a basis for like-minded communities across the country to create learning partnerships to improve ECD.

10:00 am - 10:30 am - Break

Jodi Hall, Founder, Program Coordinator, Counsellor, Workshop Facilitator, A Safe Passage

Women who have experienced trauma (childhood sexual abuse, sexual violence, woman abuse) transition to mothering in ways that are unique requiring care-providers to develop refined skills in meeting and responding appropriately to their unique needs. This is particularly true for women who are socially marginalized, stigmatized and therefore excluded from consideration in the provision of health care services, for instance: disabled women, minority women, poor women. This workshop will provide a comprehensive overview of these challenges, as well as counseling strategies for engaging with women who have experienced trauma that move us beyond a focus on screening protocols and toward a focus on the creation of safer spaces and authentic client-care relationship.

Lorri Sauve, Outreach and Program Coordinator, Project READ Literacy Network; Member, Action for Family Literacy (AFLO)
Lesley Brown, Executive Director, the Ontario Literacy Coalition

Parents and primary caregivers are the conduit to a child’s success. Through this interactive workshop we will:

• Provide an overview of Family Literacy in Ontario and how it differs from Early Literacy programming
• Examine adult literacy statistics linking it to issues that affect health, poverty and educational opportunity
• Demonstrate the links between the parents’ literacy and their children’s literacy
• Provide ideas for what this means to Early Literacy programs and how to outreach to parents with low literacy and the differences with ESL parents

This will be an interactive workshop that will engage participants to better understand the issues of low literacy, how family literacy incorporates the cultivation of positive parenting skills, health literacy, financial literacy and computer literacy, as well as links to community supports.

Sylvie Boulet, Bilingual Health Promotion Consultant, Best Start Resource Centre, Health Nexus

In October 2009, Best Start Resource Centre launched a provincial awareness campaign for parents and caregivers about physical activity in children aged 2-5. Provincial strategies included transit ads, articles in parenting magazines, web and print information for parents and caregivers, radio and print media strategies. The workshop will:

• Present an overview of the literature review on the physical activity in 2-5 year old children,
• Present the components of the campaign: design, implementation and evaluation,
• Review of the material produced for the campaign,
• Reflect on lessons-learned and success factors of the campaign.

Dr. Richard Volpe, Professor and Projects Director, Life Span Adaptation Projects, Institute of Child Study, Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, University of Toronto

This session will cover key information from “Preventing Inflicted Infant Head Trauma: A Best Practice Implementation”, the final report of Phase I of the Ontario Newborn Neurotrauma Foundation’s Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Initiative. Practical tips for service providers and a short overview of Phase II will also be provided.

 

Tara Vyn, Public Health Nurse, Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit
Jillian Mallory, Public Health Nurse, Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit

This presentation will highlight current research regarding school readiness and will introduce strategies for service providers to help parents prepare their child for school. The many facets of school readiness will be explored through interactive exercises and by listening to personal testimonies from community members. In particular, a parent-friendly booklet created by the presenters will be reviewed with the participants and discussion will follow regarding implementation and execution of this resource in other communities. This session will be beneficial to those individuals working with families with children in their early years.

 

Melanie Ferris, Aboriginal Health Promotion Consultant, Best Start Resource Centre by Health Nexus

Aboriginal people in Canada have the highest birth rate, and the youngest population. Our Elders tell us that children are a sacred gift sent from the Creator, and many people recognize the healing that needs to happen with these babies so that our entire communities can become healthier. Using cultural teachings and tools in your everyday work with Aboriginal parents helps us to heal from the negative effects of the residential school and foster care systems. Come to this workshop if you’re ready for an interactive, hands-on experience that will help get you more comfortable with incorporating tools and teachings into your daily work. Ultimately, this workshop will help service providers to increase the bonding and attachment between babies and their parents that comes with a healthy connection to culture.

Greg Lubimiv, Site Consultant, Invest in Kids

Details about the session to follow.

Merry-K Moos, Professor (retired), Maternal Fetal Medicine Division, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of North Carolina

After two decades of grass roots energies, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established a Select Panel on Preconceptional Health in 2006. The panel, recognizing that healthy women are at increased likelihood of having healthy pregnancy outcomes, prepared a blueprint for moving the reproductive prevention paradigm from a pregnancy orientation to one centered on a woman’s health. This presentation will explore strategies employed to achieve each of the 10 Select Panel recommendations, remaining opportunities and challenges as well as lessons learned that may have relevance for moving the agenda forward in Canada.