Child Health and Well-being Dialogue Forum Results
On Monday, June 5th the School of Public Policy and Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI) hosted a forum on child and youth health and well-being.
The objectives of this forum were to create a shared vision regarding policy making, to identify priority areas, to discuss findings from an environmental scan, and to achieve a consensus on which action should be taken immediately after the event. With more than 100 event participants from various sectors, we made important progress towards our objectives!
We were honored with Elder Eldon Weasel Child providing an opening ceremony to start the dialogue in a good way and shared his knowledge and give reflections on the important considerations for child health and wellbeing policy. He expressed the importance of compassion and spoke of its significance in Blackfoot culture. We learned that one is not considered a whole person if they lack compassion. Many time, policies lack the compassionate input from people on the ground. Elder Eldon Weasel Child also enlightened many of us about the connection between the Siksika nation and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; importantly, he highlighted how Maslow neglected to credit the Siksika nation in any of his work. Elder Eldon Weasel Child also urged the audience to be extremely thoughtful when wording and applying policies that include scientific concepts and theories. He made this point by telling the story of a family from his nation who lost custody of their children to a white foster family due to the way in which attachment theory was used to their advantage. His words touched the audience deeply and provided the needed context and meaning for the event.
Remarks were provided by Dr. Jackie Sieppert, Director of the School of Public Policy and Dr. Susa Benseler, Director of ACHRI. Dr. Sieppert reminded us of the importance of evidence based decision-making and addressing health inequities. Dr. Susa Benseler addressed the forum's connection to the University’s One Child, Every Child Initiative. She emphasized the importance of partnerships toward the shared goal of the forum, which was to create an environment where the youth of our society can thrive.
The Child Health and Wellbeing Indicators team was able to present findings from our environmental scan on child/youth health and wellbeing policies, data and partners in Alberta. The dialogue within the group gave us many insights, such as what everyone sees as a priority in child/youth well-being policy-making. This included:
- cross-sectoral/ministerial collaboration
- putting kids at the centre, community capacity
- equity/EDI/inclusivity/accessibility
- breaking generational cycles
- early intervention/prevention
- data/measurement/outcome monitoring
- cultural competency in policy making
- community/Family needs and voices
- lived experience – all voices need to be heard
- importance of implementation
- grow up in a thriving setting
- and taking a holistic approach (e.g. physical, emotional, spiritual, cultural, social).
Our team is so thankful for everyone’s engagement in the Child and Youth Health and Well-being Policy Dialogue Forum. We are excited about the agreement to continue discussions and next steps in working groups along four themes:
- Theme 1: Make children a policy priority and co-design a shared vision for child health and wellbeing in Alberta
- Theme 2: Create cross-sectoral child health & well-being structure to improve collaboration, efficiency and collective accountability
- Theme 3: Improve measurement, data collection and ensure consistent monitoring of child health & well-being
- Theme 4: Focus on health equity and prioritize marginalized groups
We see this as a fantastic steppingstone, and we are eager to start taking action through the working groups to support child/youth health and well-being policy-making in Alberta!
