Back to SearchKingston, March 9, 2017 - Researchers from local public health agencies in Ontario have identified important gaps in health data for Ontario’s school-age children and youth. The findings are the result of a year-long research project examining the need for data of good quality to monitor the health of children and youth in the province of Ontario. The study was funded by Public Health Ontario as part of the Locally Driven Collaborative Projects (LDCP) program, and organized by public health professionals and other experts in the area of the assessment of the health of children and youth. Today they have released their findings in a final report called “Children Count”.
“To support good health and positive well-being, local programs and services are needed that focus on the needs of children and youth,” said Dr. Ian Gemmill, Medical Officer of Health, KFL&A Public Health. “As decision-makers, we want to know that the programs and services we are funding will make a difference in the lives of school-age children and youth, and one can know that only if one has good quality data to use for evidence”.
Unlike some Canadian provinces and developed nations, Ontario currently lacks a co-ordinated surveillance system for the health of children and youth. The report titled Children Count examined this issue through a comprehensive survey with local public health agencies in Ontario and key informant interviews with provincial leaders representing education, academic institutions, and government. The study revealed that 94% of the local public health agencies that participated in this study do not have the data they need to assess, to plan and to evaluate health programs for children and youth. The key informants from education, government and academia reiterated the need for data of the highest quality on the health of children and youth that can be used within a number of sectors. Better collaboration and a co-ordinated surveillance system would help lessen the duplication of efforts, the strain on resources, and higher expenditures, while ensuring that schools are not being flooded with surveys.
To address the gaps and barriers to collecting meaningful data, Children Count identifies four key recommendations to improve monitoring the health of school-aged children and youth:
- Establish a Provincial Task Force
- Advocate for Children and Youth
- Support Multi-Sectoral Collaboration
- Strengthen and Co-ordinate Existing Surveillance Systems
Implementation of the recommendations will enable the effective measurement of local health programs for children and youth, and the delivery of evidence-based programming that is focussed on improving the health of Ontario’s youngest citizens and creating a positive path for their future health.
It is strongly recommended first that a provincial task force be established as soon as possible to identify next steps for improving how Ontario monitors the health and well-being of children and youth, and to ensure that the remaining recommendations translate into action so that this gap is filled.
QUICK FACTS
- The study examined the gaps and challenges encountered by professionals and decision-makers that are owing to the lack of a systematic approach to monitoring the health of children and youth in Ontario.
- The study gathered the opinions of 377 public health professionals from 34 local public health agencies in Ontario, and 11 experts from government, education, and academia provided in-depth interviews.
- The current system of collection of health data for Ontario’s children and youth limits the responsiveness of public health programs to meet local health needs.
- There are few data on mental health, physical activity, and healthy eating amongst Ontario’s children and youth, which hinders planning and implementation of appropriate public health programs and services.
- Schools are inundated with surveys, overburdening teachers and students. Co-ordination is imperative; ideally a standardized universal system for measurement would be in place.
- This research focussed on the need to measure the health of children and youth. It did not focus on educational accomplishments, such as measured by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) tests, or readiness to learn, as measured by the Early Development Instrument (EDI).
- Investing in a co-ordinated and sustainable system for monitoring the health and well-being of children and youth would benefit stakeholders across multiple sectors, and would improve the ability of professionals to meet the health needs of children and youth through well planned and measured programs and services.
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For more information, contact:
Susanne Orychock, BPR
Communications and Public Relations Specialist
Phone: 613-549-1232, ext. 1236
Toll-Free: 1-800-267-7875
Fax: 613-549-7896
susanne.orychock@kflapublichealth.ca
KFL&A Public Health
221 Portsmouth Avenue
Kingston, Ontario K7M 1V5
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