Marking National Injury Prevention Day on July 5th with Parachute and other partners.

On Wednesday, July 5, 2023, The Sandbox Project will join Parachute and others to celebrate the seventh National Injury Prevention Day in Canada. Our goal: to educate others about the devastating effects of predictable and preventable injuries and help all Canadians live long lives to the fullest.

Parachute’s National Injury Prevention Day (NIPD) is a day to raise awareness around the importance of injury prevention and aid Canadians to live long lives to the fullest through education and advocacy. Health Canada recognizes this date as an official National Health Promotion Day.

Most injuries are predictable and preventable:

The goal is to provide the necessary information and tools to the public and to work diligently to ensure that one day Canada will be free of serious injuries. 

Quick facts

• Every day, 48 Canadians die, and 634 are hospitalized because of injuries.

• Preventable injury kills more Canadian children than any disease, and more youth than all other causes combined.

• 75% of injury-related deaths are from unintentional causes, such as falls, car crashes and poisonings.

• Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths, hospitalizations, emergency department visits and disabilities in Canada.

Improvements in the area of injury prevention have been made, but there’s still more work to do.

Impact of 2022’s National Injury Prevention Day

Media coverage of NIPD garnered 33.4 million impressions in 2022: Parachute staff did 21 interviews with CBC Radio / Radio-Canada morning shows; news outlets in Ontario and Alberta published stories about injury-prevention initiatives in those provinces, such as ATV safety best practices. Both Parachute and the Canadian Kinesiology Alliance issued news releases about NIPD, with the Alliance drawing attention to the fact that falls cause twice as many deaths among older adults than motor vehicle crashes. These releases drew another 61.4 million impressions.

Youth Participation sought in Pan-Canadian School Food Consultation

The Government of Canada values the perspectives of Canadian children and youth and wants to encourage diverse young people to participate in this vital step of developing their policy. 

The Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development, wants to engage directly with children and youth on a national school food policy.

A virtual conversation for youth in grades 7-12 on June 3rd, 2023 will be held to hear what children and youth think should be included in the Government’s school food policy and their opinions on school food programming. Youth with or without school food experience are invited to join. 

Join a Virtual Event 

The session will be hosted by the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and facilitated by Children First Canada.  

 The session will take place on Zoom. Details on how to connect will be provided once youth sign up to attend. 

Youth Input is Needed

During the session, youth will be asked questions like :

Is there a breakfast or lunch program at your school? What do you think about it? 

• Besides feeding students, what do you think the most important benefit of a school food program would be and why? 

• What do you think would encourage your friends and classmates to participate in a school food program? 

Note: Youth between the ages of 12 and 14 will need to ask their parent or guardian to sign a consent form. Youth aged 15 and over may sign the consent form on their own behalf.  

To get consent forms, register for the event or to learn more about the session, please email cicely.mcwilliam@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca

2023 Press Start CoLab Program is looking for members!

The CoLab Program is an innovation accelerator that helps the next generation of change-makers build an idea. Throughout the 10-week program, social entrepreneurs from across the nation will work collaboratively to come up with a minimally viable solution to some of our most pressing problems.

Applications for the 2023 CoLab Program are officially open until June 2nd! Take part in this year's challenge to collaborate and create solutions to the Mental Health Crisis in Canada.

To apply, please click here.

Introducing Two MPH students: Michelle Ruhigisha and Seun Akintayo

The Sandbox Project is delighted to announce that it has welcomed two new Master of Public Health (MPH) students to its team.

The two MPH students, studying at Brock University and Queens University, will be working with The Sandbox Project over the summer as part of their Public Health practicum experience. They will be able to contribute to various initiatives and projects related to child and youth health and gain valuable experience in the non-profit sector.

1. Michelle Ruhigisha: Currently completing her first year of her Masters’s at Brock University, Michelle has a background in Microbiology and research. She has previously worked as a Research Assistant at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Victoria as well as in the private sector.

   Her experience carrying out research and planning programs will support The Sandbox Project design of future iterations of the Sandbox Impact Program.

2. Seun Akintayo: Also in the first year of his Master’s Program, Seun is studying at Queens University. He has an interest in infectious diseases prevention, health promotion, and disease control and has already designed large-scale public health campaigns abroad and in Canada.

   Seun’s experience designing and implementing public health campaigns will support The Sandbox Project’s evaluation of ongoing projects.

The Sandbox Project is excited to see what the summer will bring with the addition of these two MPH students. We look forward to their contributions’ potential impact on the health and well-being of Canadian children and youth.

Let's make sure parliamentarians make every vote a #VoteForEveryChild

As Parliament resumes after its Easter Break, let’s remember to keep elected officials accountable to Canada’s 8 million children.

Our partners at UNICEF Canada have created the Child Rights Legislation Tracker to help the public learn about what bills related to young people are being tabled, how they measure up to children’s rights, and how you can influence their progress through the House of Commons and the Senate of Canada.

To visit the Tracker, please click: https://www.unicef.ca/en/child-rights-legislation-tracker

Nutrition Discovery Labs at Toronto Metropolitan University is seeking participants!

The Nutrition Discovery Labs (ND Labs) at Toronto Metropolitan University is a state-of-the-art research lab researching the relationship between physiological and environmental factors contributing to appetite and energy imbalance. The Labs aim to advise parents, researchers, and caregivers on diet, physical activities, and the environment in preventing or managing overeating in children.

The Lab is looking for 60 children in Toronto aged between 9-14 to study the effects of dairy on children’s cognitive performance, mood and blood sugar.

A generous honorarium is provided to each participant.

To learn more about the research done at the ND Labs, please visit: https://ndlabs.ca/

To register a child, please visit: https://ndlabs.ca/join-a-study/

YCRH 10th Anniversary Alumni Panel is tomorrow!

To celebrate the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health’s(YCRH) 10th anniversary, an Alumni Panel event with former leads will be held on the 15th of March 2023 at 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT.

Speakers:

Alyssa Frampton: Alyssa has worked at the intersections of community engagement, health, and policy for the past 7 years. Alyssa has led and advised many initiatives focused on youth and community-based mental health, children’s rights, youth and community engagement, health rights, and advocacy. She currently works with the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal. She previously worked with Children First Canada in Youth Engagement.

Alyssa holds a political science degree from Saint Mary’s University, and has completed additional online courses in global adolescent health, youth mental health, harm reduction, and children’s rights. Applying her experience in public relations, policy and engagement, she has led many projects leading to better adolescent health through advocacy and policy change.

Alyssa has had a wide and diverse experience driving change with organizations across Canada, such as The Sandbox Project, AstraZeneca’s Young Health Programme, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, and the Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition. Additionally, Alyssa has demonstrated and developed skills in facilitation, moderation, and public speaking through leading over 50 speaking events and workshops, both locally and globally. Alyssa currently sits on the Springtide Collective board, and supports policy and communications with the ACCESS Open Minds project.

Umayangga Yogalingam: Umayangga joined Parachute in 2021 and is the Project Lead for the For Young Drivers, By Young Drivers project, which aims to effectively address the issue of road fatalities among youth by partnering with Canadian youth aged 15 to 24.

She holds a Master of Public Health graduate in the Social and Behavioural Health Sciences stream from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She brings several years of experience in community engagement, qualitative research, knowledge mobilization and youth health. She is passionate about meaningful youth partnership in health, health equity, and creative health promotion and education. She has worked for several organizations in the public health and non-profit space including Health Canada, Tamil Health Association and, most recently, The Sandbox Project as the Research and Knowledge Translation Lead.

Umayangga is also an avid painter and illustrator and does freelance work for Healthy Debate and the University of Toronto’s Department of Health and Society.

Andy Hall: Andy has spent most of his career working in and alongside post-secondary students in many different ways.
Andy went from being the student President at Mohawk College in 2012/2023 to be the Chair of the YCRH. Andy then switched to the staff side of the student leadership industry, working as the Marketing Coordinator for the Mohawk Student Association.

From there, he would travel down the QEW to Niagara College, taking the position of Marketing Communications Manager. While working at Niagara, Andy became the Chair of the Canadian Organization of Campus Activities from 2021-2022.

Registration is free and can be made here: lnkd.in/e7iBgg3a

Kids and Vaccines Day is today!

Building on the success of the first Kids and Vaccines Day in 2022, Children's Healthcare Canada and the Canadian Association of Science Centres (CASC), with funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada, have declared February 23, 2023 as National Kids and Vaccines Day 2023 (#KidsVaccinesDay). This day will bring together industry, influencers, and experts from across disciplines to help move the needle (pun intended) and promote vaccine confidence, focusing on routine vaccinations, to protect Canada’s 8 million children and youth.

To learn more and register for The Townhall, please click here.

A Step in the Right Direction: New Funds for Pediatric Care Are A Welcome Step in “Right-Sizing” Children’s Health System.

Source: Children’s Healthcare Canada News release on February 8th, 2023

Children’s Healthcare Canada and the Pediatric Chairs of Canada are pleased to see the convening of a successful First Ministers meeting to discuss health care funding. We commend the commitment of the Prime Minister and Premiers in prioritizing children’s health with the new pledge of $2 billion dollars towards addressing the crisis in pediatrics, including emergency and surgical care.

“This announcement is a welcome first-step towards improving healthcare for children. These historic funds will help to catch up on backlogs for essential services and stabilize the pressures experienced by healthcare systems serving children across Canada,” states Julia Hanigsberg, Board Chair for Children’s Healthcare Canada and President and CEO of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.  

Children’s health systems have been overwhelmed recently by a convergence of shortages of essential medicines, spikes in respiratory and viral illnesses and surges in urgent and emergent care, resulting in total shutdowns of procedural and surgical capacity. This coupled with historic underinvestment in child and youth well-being has resulted in worsening health outcomes for Canadian children. Where Canada once ranked amongst the top ten OECD countries for child and youth health outcomes, we now rank among the bottom ten.

Children’s Healthcare Canada and the Pediatric Chairs of Canada are pleased to see the federal government and provinces sharing alignment in key healthcare priorities impacting children, including increasing access to primary care, addressing health workforce shortages, improving access to mental health services, enhancing Indigenous health, and modernizing the health system through data sharing and digital tool utilization.

“The funds announced this week are an important first step towards addressing the ongoing crisis in children’s healthcare. The next step now is ensuring that we are also addressing the longer-term goal of “right-sizing” pediatric health systems to meet the demands of Canada’s growing population of children,” says Emily Gruenwoldt, President and CEO, of Children’s Healthcare Canada, and Executive Director of Pediatric Chairs of Canada. “Going forward, we hope to see all levels of government commit to the development of a pan-Canadian child and youth health strategy with sustained investments towards improving children’s health outcomes.”

Over the past year, Children’s Healthcare Canada and the Pediatric Chairs of Canada have actively engaged all levels of government to call for investments to address the crisis in children’s healthcare and support a pan-Canadian child and youth health strategy. As governments look now to “fix healthcare for a generation”, it is imperative we start first with our children who will make up Canada’s future.

Children’s Healthcare Canada in partnership with our members and academic leaders, will continue to elevate concerns about the state of children’s healthcare and work closely with federal, provincial and territorial policymakers to strengthen pediatric health care systems and improve access and outcomes for all generations of children in Canada.

---

Children’s Healthcare Canada is a national association serving healthcare delivery organizations that care for children and youth. Membership includes all 16 children’s hospitals in Canada, community hospitals, children’s treatment centres, regional health authorities, palliative care, respite, and home care agencies.

The Pediatric Chairs of Canada represents the Department Heads of Pediatrics within Canada’s 17 medical schools.

UNICEF's Child Rights Legislation Tracker is keeping Elected Officials Accountable

UNICEF Canada has been advancing policies that help governments make children visible and give them higher priority. Policies from digital privacy rights, to dental and childcare, to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, affect children’s rights and are on the legislative agenda this parliamentary session.

UNICEF Canada’s Child Rights Legislation Tracker is making it easier to keep elected officials accountable to Canada’s 8 million children and youth. The platform tracks legislation as it is tabled, how they measure up and provides information on how you can influence their progress through the House of Commons and the Senate of Canada.

The Child Rights Legislation Tracker can be found: https://www.unicef.ca/en/child-rights-legislation-tracker

"It Is Time to Call a Code for the Healthcare Crisis: Canada is Failing Children’s and Youth’s Mental Health"

As the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become increasingly clear that children and youth continue to struggle to deal with “uncertainty, unpredictability and isolation” brought on by the pandemic, This has led to a crisis in children and youth mental health in Canada.

The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health (YCRH) has interviewed leading health experts and carried out research to better understand what this crisis looks like and how its affecting children and youth all over the country. From a lack of hospital beds to longer waiting times, hospitals are struggling to cope and the youngest Canadians are being affected.

Steps can be taken to help solve this growing crisis.

To learn more about what can be done, please click here