The Sandbox Project, The YCRH and Healthy Debate re-release special series In Their Own Words

TORONTO, Dec. 21, 2022 - The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge and lasting effect on the entire Canadian population. Many voices have been heard including health professionals, scientists, politicians, media personalities and private citizens. Yet, there is one group whose stories have not been told, and whose perspectives have not been sought - Canada's youth. This in spite of the fact that they will be forced to deal with the long-term and lasting consequences of the pandemic.

In 2021, The Sandbox Project, The YCRH, and Healthy Debate collaborated on a youth driven special series, In Their Own Words. This series allowed Canadian youth to have a voice and offered a space in which they could share their COVID-19 experiences.

Youth across Canada, a year later, still have more to share with us and we must listen. This series continues to provide youth the opportunity to relay their experiences of how the pandemic has affected them, in their own words using their preferred styles and media form. It is imperative that we learn and understand the current needs of youth, which can then inform the public at large as well as policy makers about future changes which should be implemented to foster growth of current youth as well as those to come. Who better to teach us than the youth themselves?

Series Release Schedule

  • 21.12.2022

  • 27.12.2022

  • 30.12.2022

  • 03.01.2023

The Healthy Communities Initiative is a $60 million investment from the Government of Canada to transform public spaces in response to COVID-19. Thanks to their contribution, we were able to reopen submissions, receiving 120 stories from coast to coast.

About The Sandbox Project:
The vision of The Sandbox Project is to make Canada the healthiest place on Earth for children and youth to grow up. It is focused on improving children and youth health outcomes with respect to injury prevention, obesity, mental health and the environment.

About the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health:
The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health was created in 2013 based on one of the recommendations in The Sandbox Project's founding report, Reaching for the Top. The recommendation focused on creating a national advisory of youth leaders to participate in decision-making around child and youth health. They collaborate with industry, government, research, health practitioners and families.

For further information: on In Their Own Words, please contact: Stacie Smith, Co-Executive Director, Young Canadians Roundtable on Health, (902) 830-3504, ssmith@sandboxproject.ca

The Current, On the Ground Landscape of Youth Engagement in Health spaces in Canada- The YCRH releases Best Practices Report

To better understand what meaningful youth engagement is, the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health (YCRH) carried out an environmental scan on strategies and best practices and published their findings. The report identified the most effective strategies for youth engagement and highlighted some of the opportunities that exist when youth engagement is part of the project’s design.

The report can be read here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/575c7d10044262e4c49720f7/t/63447c6133d2d81fa625722a/1665432715625/The-Current-On-The-Ground-Landscape-of-Youth-Engagement-in-Health-Spaces-in-Canada-Challenges-Strategies-and-Opportunities.pdf

UNICEF's Youth Advocacy Program is accepting Applications!

UNICEF Canada’s Youth Advocacy Program is looking for young people between the ages of 13-24. This is an opportunity to develop knowledge and skills and learn how to become powerful advocates and activists on issues that matter the most.

The program provides:

  1. Opportunity to learn more about advocacy, rights, the government decision-making process, and how to become powerful advocates and activists to improve the lives of young people across Canada

  2. Opportunity to connect with diverse young people from across Canada

  3. Opportunity to learn from youth and adults who have successfully advocated for change in their communities and for vulnerable children and youth around the world

  4. Opportunity to be involved in UNICEF Canada advocacy initiatives advocating for children's rights domestically and internationally

  5. Opportunity to develop your own advocacy plan based on your advocacy interests

  6. Opportunity to engage directly with decision-makers about the issues you are passionate about

  7. Opportunity to collaborate with, teach and learn from others in a participatory environment.

UNICEF Canada Youth Advocacy Program in 2023 will take place from February to December 2023. There are 8 core sessions, with space for additional sessions as identified by participants. The sessions will last anywhere between 1.5-3 hours.

To learn more and to apply; please visit: https://www.unicef.ca/en/youth-advocacy-program

The YCRH's 2023-2024 Strategic Plan is now available.

As the end of the year approaches, The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health (YCRH) have released their Strategic Plan for 2023-2024. Building on feedback gathered from members and lessons learned from previous years, the new Strategic Plan has 4 clear goals and 12 objectives on advancing youth engagement.

The vision of the YCRH remains the same: to help build a world where youth have the ability to share and discuss concerns about their health and wellbeing and contribute to the development of initiatives that influence their community.

You can read the Strategic Plan here.

Empower youth by donating to the YCRH this Giving Tuesday!

The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health (YCRH) was created in 2013 in response to the interest generated by the report Reaching for the Top: A Report by the Advisor on Healthy Children and Youth, conducted by The Sandbox Project’s founder, Dr. Kellie Leitch.

 Over the last 8 years, the YCRH has grown its membership and is composed of strong Canadian youth leaders from regions including Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, with ongoing recruitment of youth from regions including Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut. The YCRH comprises over 40 students and young professionals ranging from 15 to 31 years old with an academic and/or professional background in: Public Health, Public Relations, Health Policy, Global Politics, Criminology, Epidemiology, Kinesiology, Psychology, Sociology, Social Work, Therapeutic Recreation, Nursing, Medicine, Nutrition, Biomedical Engineering, and Programming and Web-Development.

The diverse academic and professional backgrounds as well as national membership distribution allowed the YCRH to expand its reach in partnering with organizations such as: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s IHDCYH youth advisory council, Healthy Debate, Children’s Healthcare Canada, Frayme, Inspiring Healthy Futures, and Participaction; with additional access to collaborating partners of The Sandbox Project including: Jack.org, BGC Canada, CHEO, Wisdom2Action, Mental Health Literacy and many more.

The YCRH’s broad network and young professional membership allows for the creation of youth-led projects and collaborations with youth across Canada as well as professionals who work with youth. The most recent project “In Their Own Words” partnered with Healthy Debate, a news outlet that publishes journalism about health care in Canada, and The Sandbox Project. This series facilitated the storytelling of Canadian youth’s COVID-19 experiences utilizing multimedia as a form of communication. Presently, the YCRH is leading a Children’s Book regarding youth resiliency throughout COVID-19, partnering with professionals who work with youth including Psychiatrists, Pediatricians, Principals and Psychotherapists. The YCRH is concurrently pursuing a Photovoice project, a qualitative research project that aims to understand youth’s mental health experiences during COVID-19, utilizing photos to express the participant’s story accompanied by group discussion sessions. 

To support the YCRH to amplify youth voices, please consider donating here: http://sandboxproject.ca/support-the-sandbox-project

Please ensure you select “The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health” as the fund you would like to donate to.