ABOUT

Advocating the Long Form Census
CICH writes a letter to the Editor of the Globe and Mail advocating the mandatory Long Form Census.

Building capacity in Canadian healthcare professionals to address children’s environmental health
With funding from Imperial Oil, CICH developed resources and modules to build capacity among Canadian physicians and other health care professionals working with youth on a wide range of children’s environmental health issues.

Building capacity in community health professionals to address children’s environmental health in Canada’s North
With funding from Imperial Oil, CICH partnered with the National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO) to create modules to educate community health professionals on children’s health and the environment, tailored for regions in Northern Canada. In order to plan an appropriate and effective delivery strategy, CICH consulted with key decision-makers responsible for training and supporting health professionals that work with Aboriginal communities during the development of these resources. *2008- 2009

William, won’t you wash your hands!
CICH updates its popular hand washing resource kit “William, won’t you wash your hands?” targeted at preschool age children and educators. The kit is a valuable tool which increases awareness of the importance of hand washing and teaches children how and when to wash their hands. CICH made it available in six languages including Inuktitut and Mennonite dialect German, and distributed to over 500,000 children and educators. The project was funded by the Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association, PHAC, Reckitt Benckiser, makers of Lysol. The Inuktitut version of the book was commissioned by the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services; the Mennonite/Low German version commissioned by Children’s Health Foundation (Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre). *2008- 2014

Joint statement on physical punishment of children and youth
CICH joined children’s health, social services and rights advocates, and professional associations serving children to issue joint statement on physical punishment of children and youth

Rotavirus awareness
CICH completed the first Canadian public opinion survey to gauge Rotavirus awareness, immunization practices, and parent education, which resulted in the development of a fact sheet and a pamphlet on rotavirus prevention distributed to healthcare professionals and parents of young children.

Building capacity in physicians to address children’s environmental health in the Great Lakes basin ecosystem
Working with the Ontario College of Family Physicians, CICH developed and delivered 4 workshops for physicians and other health care professionals on children’s health and the environment, tailored for the Great Lakes Basin region. The project was funded by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. *2007 – 2010

4th National Survey of Maternity Hospital Practices and Policies
CICH conducted the 4th National Survey of Maternity Hospital Practices and Policies funded by PHAC to document current policies and practices in hospital maternity services in Canada, to monitor trends in maternity policies and practices compared to the previous data, and to provide comprehensive and current information on maternity care in Canada. This survey has been conducted three times in the past 30 years, most recently in 2008 with responses exceeding the targeted 90%. The results will be published in 2009 as a PHAC report and inform policies and practices in Canadian hospitals. *2007 – 2008

Child safety in automobiles
CICH developed a methodology to collect changing data on age-related physical size and weights of Canadian children and developed recommendations on how to collect this data nationally to ensure that booster seats can be designed for maximum comfort and safety of the child passenger. The project was funded by Transport Canada’s Road Safety and Motor Vehicle Regulation Directorate. *2006 – 2007

Child & Youth Activities in Support of Clean Air
CICH publishes a Directory of Child & Youth Activities in Support of Clean Air

Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment
CICH participates in the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment that published a primer on Child Health and the Environment

Letter to Health Canada
CICH writes a proposal to Health Canada on Working together on Children’s Environmental Health

Building children’s environmental health capacity among health care professionals in Canada and the Southern cone
CICH worked with child health organizations from Canada, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, as well as the World Health Organization and the International Society of Doctors for the Environment to educate and train more than 3,000 health care professionals about children’s environmental health issues in these 5 participating countries and in Canada. The project was funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency. *2005 – 2007

Measuring the environmental impact on children’s health in the Southern cone
Recognizing the success of the CICH Profile in Canada, health professionals from Argentina requested CICH expertise to coordinate a similar research project to capture and document the state of children’s environmental health in their country. The project resulted in international workshops that benefitted both Canadian and South American health professionals. CICH partnered with the Asociacion Argentina de Medicos por el Medio Ambiente, the Argentine Ministry of Health & Environment, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the University of Ottawa to complete a profile of children’s environmental health in Argentina in order to decrease environmental hazards. The results were published in several English and Spanish publications. The project was funded by the Canadian International Development Agency. *2004 – 2007

Feasibility study
CICH conducts a feasibility study for the development of indicators of children’s health and the environment in North America.

World Congress & Exposition on Child & Youth Health
CICH is a major sponsor of the 3rd World Congress & Exposition on Child & Youth Health held in May 11-14, Vancouver, BC.

Canadian Health Child Initiative
CICH partnered with Silken Laumann Foundation on Canadian Health Child Initiative to identify the gaps in existing research on physical activity and provide the evidence-based research information to form solid public policy and create sustainable programs to improve the health of children.

Green Week
Played an influential role as a member of the Canadian delegation at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, South Africa) and in other international meetings of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (Mexico City, Mexico), and the Health and Environment Ministers of the Americas (Ottawa, Canada). CICH was the only Canadian delegate at Green Week, the European Commission research meeting, ensuring the special environmental health concerns of children are addressed. The Institute was the only non-governmental organization in the government delegation to the Pan American Health Organization, which is developing a five-year maternal and child health agenda for the Americas.

Children’s Environmental Health
Began networking through partnerships in Canada to address children’s environmental health as part of the Voluntary Sector Initiative, the ground-breaking accord between the Government of Canada and the voluntary sector.

UN Special Session on Children
CICH supported the attendance of two youth delegates, Krista Riley (Canada) and Gencer Oswaldo Ceron (Colombia) at the UN Special Session on Children (New York City – May 8-10, 2002). The Session took stock of successes and failures since the World Summit on Children held in 1990, and for governments to negotiate new commitments in the form of the Outcome Document “A World Fit for Children”. This was the first Special Session to be convened on the topic of children and youth. Furthermore, it was the first time that children and youth were given the opportunity to be active participants at a conference of this magnitude.

Environmental Youth Health Audit
Funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Environmental Youth Health Audit was a collaborative effort of CICH and its partners Save the Children Canada and Pollution Probe. Youth in five communities in Ontario (Wikwemikong, West Scarborough, Walpole Island, Sudbury and Walkerton) researched and identified environmental priorities in their communities. The youth then built consensus, planned community-based action and are evaluating the outcomes. The goal of the project was to strengthen critical thinking and leadership skills, and to ensure that children and youth speak up about their own environmental concerns, which often differ from those of adults. Each community reported the outcomes in fall 2002.

FASEOut
CICH worked with 14 front-line organizations that come into contact with children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder to improve their programs/services and staff training. This included teachers, health professionals, youth groups and addiction/penal services. The project which was funded by PHAC was evaluated in 2008. *2002 – 2006

Co-hosted Children’s Environmental Health II
A Global Forum for Action (Washington, D.C.) which brought together public health specialists, medical practitioners, scientific researchers, policy makers and community-based organizations worldwide and resulted in increased global awareness of children’s particular vulnerability to environmental contaminants.

Developed the Nourish, Nurture & Neurodevelopment research
Implications for Caregiver Practice, which synthesized recent brain development research. More than 9,500 kits have been distributed nationally to early childhood practitioners, health units and resource centres.

Shaken Baby Syndrome
Co-signed the Joint Statement on Shaken Baby Syndrome, a major tool used throughout Canada by health care professionals and caregivers, child serving organizations, parents, law enforcement and departments of justice.

The Health of Canada’s Children: A CICH Profile, third edition
Researched and published The Health of Canada’s Children: A CICH Profile, third edition, which provided a comprehensive snapshot of the state of children’s health and gave direction on how to improve child health.

Beyond 2000: Healthy Tomorrows for Children and Youth
Co-hosted national conference (Ottawa, Canada) Beyond 2000: Healthy Tomorrows for Children and Youth. The conference brought together many sectors and groups from across Canada: researchers, physicians, social workers, community programs, nurses and many others.

National Children’s Agenda
Contributed to policy and program initiatives in the National Children’s Agenda, a $2.2 billion transfer from the federal government to the provinces in support of community programming.

New parental resources
Created two new parental resources for parents, one teaching infant massage and a second describing activities around reading with small children.

Environmental Health Affiliate for the Canadian Health Network (CHN)
CICH became the expert Environmental Health Affiliate for the Canadian Health Network (CHN), providing credible and up-to-date information on environmental health issues for CHN’s website.

Changing Habits, Changing Climate
Established Changing Habits, Changing Climate to improve awareness, education and understanding of climate change and its effect on the health of urban and rural children. Provided valuable information to policy makers, health practitioners and the Canadian public to take action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and make informed behaviour changes. More than 500,000 brochures were distributed across Canada, including one to every school in Canada.

The First Years Last Forever
Developed and distributed 3.5 million copies of The First Years Last Forever, which translated new research on child development into actions for parents and caregivers.

Phthalates in soft plastic toys
Worked with the Federal Government, other NGOs and the public to ban the use of phthalates in soft plastic toys sold in Canada.

What on Earth?
Organized What on Earth?, the first national symposium on the impact of environmental contaminants on child health. Held in Ottawa, this symposium identified the particular susceptibility of children for the first time.

UNICEF’s Progress of Nations
Established international credibility by researching the chapter on children in industrialized countries for UNICEF’s Progress of Nations, participating in a Canadian mission to Cuba and by becoming a member of ChildWatch International, an international network of researchers that monitors children’s health under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

e-Parenting Network
Human Resources Development Canada. Office of Learning Technologies. Final Project – Pilot Project. e-Parenting Network *1995-2002

Nobody’s Perfect Parenting Program
CICH and the Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs were the national coordinators of this Health Canada program from 1995 – 2003.

Developed during the 80s as a joint project of the Atlantic and Federal health departments, this program’s goal is to improve parenting by using community facilitators to introduce positive mentoring in small groups. The Nobody’s Perfect Program serves families in every province and territory under the coordination of provincial and territorial partners who implement the program in their jurisdictions.

The Health of Canada’s Children: A CICH Profile, second edition
Published The Health of Canada’s Children: A CICH Profile, second edition, which highlighted the steps Canadians have taken to improve child health, where improvement is needed, and emerging problems and issues. This edition resulted in comprehensive health policies and programs under the Brighter Futures initiative of the Government of Canada.

Reducing Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Key participant in the joint statement Reducing Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in Canada, which recommended that healthy infants sleep on their side or back, be breastfed and be cared for in a smoke-free environment. Resulted in a 60 per cent decrease in infant deaths due to SIDS.

Working Together for a Safer World
Organized the second national conference on childhood injury prevention entitled Working Together for a Safer World to examine the extent of childhood injuries and highlight prevention actions. Increased understanding resulted in legislation of car seat restraints, safety equipment such as bicycle helmets, and standards for cribs and toys.

The Health of Canada’s Children: A CICH Profile, first edition
Researched and published The Health of Canada’s Children: A CICH Profile, first edition, offering the first comprehensive look at the state of health care for Canadian children. The Profile demonstrated that childhood injuries were a major cause of death and hospitalization for children, and led to government prevention and surveillance programs and campaigns to reduce the likelihood of childhood injuries.

Key contributor to the development of standards for playground equipment in Canada (published by Canadian Standards Association in 1990), making playgrounds safer for children.

The Health of Canada’s Children: A CICH Profile
The Profile provides a comprehensive but concise summary of validated survey and epidemiological data on the health of Canada’s children and youth abstracted from research, academic and government publications. The information covers a broad range of community and child and youth indicators in a reader-friendly format with graphs and visuals accompanied by brief explanatory notes.

The Profile provides a valuable depository of Canadian information on the health of children and youth that can serve as a basis for surveillance system.

The Profile is organized around the following topics:

• Aboriginal children and youth
• Children’s health and the environment
• Disabilities
• Economic inequity
• Genetics & paediatric health
• Conditions for health living
• Immigrant & refugee children and youth in Canada
• Medical home of children and youth in Canada
• Mental health of children and youth

The Profile has been recognized both nationally and internationally for the breadth of its coverage, depth of analyses and scientific integrity. The quality is assured by the active participation of more than one hundred highly respected Canadian experts in health and social sciences who volunteer as members of the Committees which oversee its development.

http://profile.cich.ca/

Implementation plan for a postpartum support program
Developed, in co-operation with other organizations, an implementation plan for a postpartum support program that placed greater emphasis on the health of the baby, mother and family before and after birth.

Guidelines for resuscitation services
Conducted the first National Survey on Resuscitation of Newborns, resulting in the creation of guidelines for resuscitation services in hospitals and training of personnel.

New standards for flammability
Recommended changes in children’s sleepwear standards to the Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada, resulting in new standards for flammability.

Safe & Happy Personal Safety Kit
Developed and distributed the Safe & Happy Personal Safety Kit featuring Max the Safety Cat to 6,000 childcare centres to assist educators in addressing the sensitive subject of child sexual abuse with preschoolers.

Lead-free gasoline
Key contributor to the Canadian Coalition for Lead-Free Gasoline, making Canada one of the first countries to legislate lead-free gasoline.

Child Safety: What Can We Do Better?
CICH and the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation held the first national conference on childhood injury prevention entitled Child Safety: What Can We Do Better?

Canadian Coalition for the Prevention of Developmental Disabilities (CCPDD)
Founded the Canadian Coalition for the Prevention of Developmental Disabilities (CCPDD), a multi-sectoral group dedicated to improving perinatal care in Canada. The Coalition’s work led to the development of standards for the role and function of nurses in reproductive care.

Promoting immunization
Undertook a national survey of immunization administration in Canada and organized a national media campaign with other organizations to promote immunization, resulting in an increase in protection rates among school children across Canada.

The Canadian Institute of Child Health
The Canadian Institute of Child Health was established as an independent corporation by The Hospital for Sick Children and the Canadian Council on Children & Youth.