Everyone living in Canada desires and deserves a healthy life. We collectively imagine a future where children, youth, and their families thrive, have access to a livable income, safe housing, and clean water; enjoy food security; and feel a sense of belonging. Living well also depends on access to equitable, evidence-informed, high-quality healthcare services, which, these days, is a luxury many Canadians do not enjoy. Mounting evidence shows that children now wait longer than adults for essential healthcare services, a reality that paints a bleak picture for their – and our – future.
Recent research commissioned by Children’s Healthcare Canada demonstrates that delays in access to care come with costs – both human and financial. For example, the Conference Board of Canada estimates the annual costs to treat anxiety and depression amongst children and youth to be $4 billion (CDN); a figure that balloons to nearly one trillion dollars over a lifetime without timely access to interventions. While waiting for community-based mental health services, hospital-based surgical and diagnostic interventions, or children’s development services, many children experience physical or emotional pain, they may fall behind in school, miss social development milestones and, often, their conditions worsen, in some cases, irreversibly. As parents, caregivers, and guardians, we can no longer ignore the mounting evidence of profound impacts of inaction.
To inspire and ensure healthy futures for children and youth, Children’s Healthcare Canada, along with our member organizations and partners, embarked on a quest to define a vision for “right-sized” children’s healthcare systems and the path to realize that vision. Through seven virtual roundtables and two in-person consultations, we convened over 600 champions for children (families, healthcare providers, researchers, social service providers, and others) to contribute lived- and living experience and expertise to inform and guide the development of recommendations targeting provincial/territorial and federal governments, but also healthcare delivery organizations, and advocacy organizations like Children’s Healthcare Canada. These recommendations were issued in a report released earlier this spring called Beyond Bandaids: Delivering a Future Fit for Kids.
Collectively, Children’s Healthcare Canada and its members imagine a future where right-sized children’s healthcare systems are accessible, equitable, connected, and purpose-built to meet the needs of children, youth, and their families, and the highly specialized workforce that serves them. To achieve this vision, there was broad agreement on the necessary conditions for children’s healthcare systems
transformation:
• Dedicated and protected funding envelopes for children’s healthcare systems across the continuum of care, including child health research;
• Publicly accessible child health data captured under national health data strategies;
• The highly specialized health workforce that cares for children and youth must be an intentional focus of national health workforce planning initiatives.
The Association, along with our members and partners, are calling on the federal government to take a leadership role, declaring children’s health and well-being a national priority, launching a National Children’s Strategy, and creating a Chief Children’s Health Officer to ensure progress towards specific goals.
As a result of the work led by Children’s Healthcare Canada, there is visibility and momentum for change. This May, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health (HESA) released findings of their 2022-23 study on child health, Fostering Healthy Childhoods: A Foundation for Resilient Generations. Many child health leaders testified in front of the committee, and as a result there is alignment between the recommendations of the HESA report and those issued in the “Beyond Bandaids” report.
The HESA committee recommends, amongst other things, that the government establish an office tasked with accountability for child and youth health, implement a national pediatric data and workforce strategy, and increase mental health funding for children and youth. These recommendations, in conjunction with other child-centred policies and structures (improving access to high-quality childcare, improving parental leave benefits, incorporating child impact assessments, and increasing the Canada Child Benefit for example) will put children on a path to thrive.
There is reason to be hopeful. At the same time, it will take continued collaboration across sectors and partnerships with governments of all levels, guided by the lived experience of youth and families to effect change.
Our Association is on a mission to measurably improve the health of children. To join us and shape a vibrant future for kids in Canada, consider participating in conversations taking place in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, October 20-22, 2024, during our annual conference, or through any number of dynamic networks our Association hosts, convening child health leaders across the continuum of care. For more information on these opportunities, please visit our website www.childhealthcan.ca
Together, we are making progress. Together, we are one step closer to right-sized healthcare systems that ensure Canada is home to vibrant, healthy children and youth now and into the future.
