Shared visions, Joint Mission: Fearless Partnerships for Canada’s Kids

“The future is experienced in the present as anticipation, and imagination”. These past weeks I have been lucky enough to attend three unique events that have ignited my imagination about Canada’s future, that is to say, Canada’s 8 million kids!

It may surprise some of you that Canada ranks 30 out of 38 wealthy countries in child health, and 31st in child mental health according to the Unicef report card. We can do better. Kids are having surgeries delayed, missing critical developmental windows, and are unable to access timely mental health services – all of which have life-long impacts, and yet only represent a fraction of the problems facing our under-sized system. Our child-health system was built using siloed funding envelopes, narrow reporting metrics, and inadequate consultation. The challenge ahead is daunting, but after three recent events spanning child-health systems I am inspired, energized, and optimistic. What we need next is clear: Fearless Partnerships for Kids.


Service Delivery
Longwoods hosted the CEO’s of the children’s hospitals, mental health, and rehab associations to discuss their mission to Make Kids Count. These leaders saw common challenges and developed shared strategies. Speaking with one voice through the Children’s Health Coalition they convinced the Ontario government which subsequently committed $330 million in pediatric funding. Our care service delivery sector is full of bright and dedicated staff who meet wicked problems with innovative solutions. When they spoke as one voice – government listened.

Research
The Kids Brain Health Network conference brought academics, implementation experts, and family partners together to share state-of-the-knowledge research and strategies. The caliber of the innovative and cross-sectoral approaches, such as the inspiring One Child Every Child initiative, made me excited by what made-in-Canada solutions can accomplish. What inspired me most of all were the presentations by the Family Engagement in Research course alumni. This course gives family partners and researchers the training, language, and frameworks to be equal partners of the team. When research professionals collaborate with families, we see further, ask better questions, and imagine bigger.

Policy
The Inspiring Healthy Futures summit brought together child-health leaders from across the country representing diverse systems to imagine a future fit for kids! The youth leaders in attendance articulated an especially clear vision; that their voice must be included in any conversations affecting them! Together these system leaders sent an unequivocable message to policy makers that kids must be made a priority. Inspiring Healthy Futures promises to be a positive forum for policy conversations where partners can remind decision makers the importance of considering child-health in all policies. Together: #weCANforkids

In a country made up of many jurisdictions, ministries, and systems serving kids it is more critical then ever to connect across sectors and geography to improve child-health. As Myron Rogers says: “When a system is ailing, we must connect it to more of itself”. We must foster our current networks, add new ones, and prioritize communication, collaboration, and coordination. We are greater than the sum of our parts.

Improving our Unicef Ranking will take more than changing any one approach. It will require fearless partnership across systems. It will require shared visions and a joint mission: A future fit for kids.



What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Let’s start a conversation!