Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
By Umayangga Yogalingam, (Co-Executive Director, The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health)
2020 was an interesting year for the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health (YCRH). We were in the midst of planning the annual Sandbox Summit when the pandemic was declared in March 2020 and the Summit had to be postponed. Soon came the ever-familiar lockdown and work-from-home orders, daily COVID-19 case counts, Zoom fatigue, and anxiety about the future.
As a national youth advisory committee, we didn’t have to significantly adjust our processes as the YCRH has always relied on virtual means of meeting and planning, but it was still challenging. During the pandemic, Canadian youth have had to adapt their lifestyles, routines, and relationships in unprecedented ways to ensure the safety of themselves and their loved ones. These adjustments have been difficult. Youth have had their schooling moved online, have had difficulty obtaining meaningful employment, and some have had to navigate various means to meet basic needs to support themselves and their families. Many surveys have found that many youth reported a decline in mental health resulting from burnout, feeling isolated, and worrying about the pandemic’s impact on the health of themselves and their families, education, job prospects, and social life.
It has been a difficult time for youth but despite these challenges, the members of the YCRH demonstrated tremendous leadership in the work towards bettering the health and well-being of Canadian youth, families, and communities through various initiatives. Some highlights include:
Launching the first webinar of our webinar series called The YCRH Webinar Series: Coping with COVID-19 as a Family in September where families across Canada got to learn more about physical activity, healthy eating, and mindfulness meditation during the pandemic.
Presenting at the Students Commission of Canada’s #CanadaWeWant Knowledge Exchange Event and at Children’s Healthcare Canada’s annual conference on the importance of meaningful youth engagement in health spaces across Canada
Partnering with the Students Commission of Canada to facilitate three discussions with youth on health and well-being, employment, and the environment and climate change in order to inform the federal-level State of Youth report
Organizing and hosting two national youth forums as part of a new initiative called Inspiring Health Futures: WeCANforKids, in collaboration with Children’s Healthcare Canada, the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health, Pediatric Chairs of Canada and UNICEF Canada.
The YCRH is a microcosm of the amazing work that Canadian youth have been doing during the pandemic to protect, serve, and build their communities. Youth health and well-being have been significantly impacted during the pandemic and as such, it is important now more than ever to incorporate youth into decision-making as we all make steps towards pandemic recovery and beyond. Youth have proven themselves time and time again that they are resilient in the face of adversity, knowledgeable about the issues that affect them, and dedicated to bettering their communities. It’s time to listen to them and act.
Umayangga Yogalingam is a recent graduate from the Master of Public Health program at the University of Toronto and is passionate about mental health, health equity, environmental health, and the impact of race, culture and ethnicity on health. In addition to being the Co-Executive Director of the YCRH, she is also the Research and Knowledge Translation Lead at The Sandbox Project.