2015 Best Start Resource Centre Annual Conference

PC1 - Aboriginal and Child Health

Traditional Family Parenting

Janet Fox, Mahkesis Consulting

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In this full-day session, Janet Fox of Mahkesis Consulting discussed Traditional Family Parenting, highlighting how First Nations peoples have always had the knowledge that raising a child holistically prepares them to make positive choices and build healthy relationships. Explaining that the development of healthy children leads to the foundation of healthy communities, Fox emphasized the importance of sharing these teachings with the next generation as they are a source of strength and identity. She discussed how the breakdown of traditional family systems began with colonization and residential schools, and highlights how when the first set of children went away family systems began to deteriorate.

As part of this session, participants:

• Discussed traditional family systems and how our ancestors raised their children.
• Learned about the tools used in traditional family systems, including the moss bag, cradle board and the traditional swing.
• Explored strategies for restoring traditional family systems and sharing these teachings with new parents.
• Gained awareness of the importance of bonding during early childhood and its impact on a child’s future.

PC2 - Healthy Babies Healthy Children

Intimate Partner Violence: Screening, Assessment and Intervention in In-home Support Situations

Debbie Aylward, RN, BScN, MScN, Perinatal Consultant, Champlain Maternal Newborn Regional Program

Dr. Susan Jack, RN, PhD, School of Nursing, McMaster University

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In this half-day workshop, designated for Healthy Babies Healthy Children Program staff, Debbie Aylward and Dr. Susan Jack presented intimate partner violence as a significant public health issue – one that has serious health consequences for women, infants and children. This interactive session provided participants with an introduction to the prevalence and health consequences of intimate partner violence and discussed workforce education strategies to facilitate identification and appropriate responses to women who experience violence. The session concluded with a discussion of resource support and supervision of public health nurses and paraprofessionals.

Addressing Smoking with Women and their Families

Marie Brisson, Bilingual Health Promotion Consultant, Best Start Resource Centre
Janet Nevala, Nevala Consulting

This interactive workshop was designed for service providers who have the opportunity to discuss the health effects of smoking and offer smoking cessation support to women and/or their family members in the clients’ home or community. It included counselling tips and tools to help increase service provider confidence in providing tailored interventions with a women-centred approach. The workshop was based on the new Best Start Resource Centre resource, Addressing Smoking with Women and Their Families.  All participants received a free copy of this resource.

PC3 – La résilience et l’autorégulation chez les jeunes enfants

Cette journée a déroulé entièrement en français et était d’intérêt pour tous les intervenants francophones travaillant dans les domaines de la petite enfance de l’Ontario. L’atelier a présenté deux sessions qui ont traité la résilience et l’autorégulation chez les jeunes enfants.

Le développement de l’enfant : Comprendre ses comportements d’autorégulation dans un environnement scolaire axé sur l’apprentissage par le jeu

Dr. Stéphane Beaulne, Consultant/Chercheur, Troubles du spectre autistique et Problèmes d’autorégulation

Dans cette session demi-journée, Dr. Stéphane Beaulne a discuté un des plus urgents défis des professionnels en milieu scolaire : les habiletés autorégulatrices à plusieurs élèves. Cette présentation a mis en exergue les profils des enfants ayant des problèmes d’autorégulation et, plus spécifiquement les conséquences des problèmes comportementaux liés à l’autorégulation sur les différents domaines développementaux (l’attention, les fonctions exécutives, le langage, ainsi que la mémoire et les performances cognitives non verbales).

 À la fin de cette présentation, les participants étaient capables:

1. De définir l’autorégulation dans une perspective développementale.
2. D’identifier des comportements cibles liés à l’autorégulation.
3. De faire les liens entre l’autorégulation et le sentiment d’auto-efficacité chez les enfants et les adultes.

Bâtir la résilience de nos enfants

Carl Brisson, BScSoc, Valoris Prescott-Russell

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Cette formation de 3h s’est adressée à tous les intervenants francophones travaillant dans le domaine de la santé et du développement de la petite enfance. Cet atelier interactif a fourni aux intervenants des conseils pratiques pour bâtir la résilience de leurs enfants, de la naissance à 6 ans.

Objectifs d’apprentissage :

• Acquérir des connaissances sur les moyens de renforcer la résilience chez les jeunes enfants et son importance pour le développement de l'enfant.
• Avoir une meilleure compréhension de l’importance de l’engagement des parents pour soutenir et développer la résilience chez les enfants.
• Connaître des moyens pratiques permettant d’encourager ou maintenir l’engagement parental favorisant de renforcer la résilience chez les jeunes enfants.
• Avoir une meilleure connaissance des outils pratiques pour aider les parents avec le concept de résilience.

Cet atelier interactif était basé sur une des ressources du Centre de ressources Meilleur départ : Bâtir la résilience chez les jeunes enfants.

PC4 – Infant Mental Health

The Origins and Development of Early Mental Health: Why Recognizing and Responding to Early Mental Health Vulnerabilities Needs to be the New Normal

Dr. Chaya Kulkarni, Director, Infant Mental Health Promotion (IMHP), The Hospital for Sick Children

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In this full-day session, Dr. Chaya Kulkarni emphasized that, while few understand how to recognize when infant mental health may be at risk and if so, how to intervene, the quality of mental health experienced by a baby or toddler can have lifelong consequences. The session discussed how many adverse outcomes can be prevented when caregivers are provided with the support and information that enables them to be optimally responsive to their infants and young children. Dr. Kulkarni highlighted how well planned early intervention can promote positive outcomes, even in the face of diverse cumulative risk factors.

• The session addressed how early detection and rapid response can influence a child’s trajectory throughout life.
• The session identified and reviewed the knowledge that practitioners need to have when working with this vulnerable population focusing on the impact of trauma.
• Furthermore, the session explored how the stress that accompanies trauma is associated with a very critical time in early brain development.

Overall, the workshop highlighted how experiences in the early years of a child’s life have a direct relation to mental health and development in a child’s later life. This presentation linked directly to parents and families, nurses, other child and youth mental health agencies, child welfare agencies, early childhood programs and more.