ImmigrantChildren.ca Archive

Category: Maternal and Newborn Health

Issues related to prenatal and newborn health and health promotion.

  • Sick Kids Hospital receives settlement funding

    The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto has received over 9 million in settlement funding to establish an “immigrant support network“. 
    The network will provide translations of 45 “core patient health education” articles into languages spoken by newcomer patients and their families, including Chinese, French, Tamil, Spanish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Vietnamese and Arabic. Articles will be posted on sickkids.ca and aboutkidshealth.ca.

  • The early years study ~ 10 years later

    The landmark Early Years Study, subtitled The Real Brain Drain, was released on April 20, 1999.
    See also a “very brief history” of the Early Years Study posted on the Health Nexus Santé (formerly the Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse) blog in March 2005, including links to the follow-up report The Early Years Study: Three Years Later, recounting how the early years initiative was rolled out in Ontario via the Ontario Early Years Centres.
    Fraser Mustard and the Council on Early Child Development continue to work to raise awareness of and support for an early childhood learning and care program for all children and their families across Canada as the first tier to the formal school system.
    See the upcoming conference sponsored by the Council on Early Child Development May 13-15 in New Brunswick, Putting Science into Action: Equity from the Start Through Early Child Development.
    How responsive have the Ontario Early Years Centres been to immigrant and refugee families and young children?

  • Women's Refugee Commission May luncheon event, NYC

    The Women’s Refugee Commission (formerly the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children) is celebrating their 20th anniversary with a luncheon honouring two extraordinary women.

    Dr. Shamail Azimi, physician who returned to Afghanistan after the Taliban fell in 2001 and who lead a team of female physicians in providing maternal and child-health care services.
    Mariatu Kamara, a child refugee of Sierra Leone, now studying at the University of Toronto, who serves as the UNICEF Special Representative for Children. Mariatu is co-author of The Bite of the Mango, her memoir.

    The luncheon will be held Thursday May 7 at Gotham Hall, New York City. For more information, call 212.763.8590 or visit the Women’s Refugee Commission website and event page.

  • Diversity matters conference, BC

    Conference call. Diversity Matters: An Ongoing Conversation, sponsored by Providence Health Care, BC and Covenant Health, AB will be held November 2-3, 2009 at the Coast Plaza Hotel in Vancouver BC. From the conference brochure:

    Conference Description 

    Healthcare practitioners, educators, and community service providers face increasingly diverse populations in their professional work. This diversity includes an expanding range of unfamiliar patient beliefs, preferences and expectations about the “right” way to learn, maintain health, make treatment decisions, and communicate. These changes are also often accompanied by significant language and other symbolic barriers between providers and the people served. New or different inter-professional competencies and organizational approaches are therefore needed to ensure the provision of safe and ethical care. Presenters at this conference share their knowledge and practical experiences in transforming models of health care to better serve our culturally diverse patient populations. 

    Conference Objectives 

    1. Raise awareness of the implicit values and premises of health care delivery 
    2. Provide knowledge about diverse health models, beliefs, and practices encountered with multicultural and multi-religious patient populations 
    3. Learn culturally competent approaches for engaging with religious and culturally diverse patients, families, and communities 
    4. Understand the communication issues and skills needed to provide education to diverse patient and provider populations 
    5. Identify systemic barriers and solutions for serving limited or non-English speaking patients, residents, families, and communities.

  • Immigrant and refugee mothers and children's health, Toronto event

    CERIS – the Ontario Joint Centre of Excellence for Research in Immigration Studies – presents a pubic seminar on Immigrant and Refugee Mothers and Children’s Health Friday, March 6/09 from 12noon to 2pm. 
    Two sessions. First, Dr. Laura Simich, CERIS Domain Leader for Health and Well-being presents: 

    Meeting the Needs of Chinese Immigrant Families: The Case of ‘Satellite Babies’ with presenteres Dr. Yvonne Bohr, LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution, York University and Natasha Whitfield, York University. Discussant is Dr. Taryn Tang, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

    The second session, presented by Dr. Olive Wahoush, Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University:

    Preschoolers in Refugee and Asylum Seeking Families: What do Mothers do when their Child is Ill? with discussant Dr. Hayley Hamilton, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

    The event takes place at CERIS, 246 Bloor St. West, 5th floor, room 548, Toronto. Registration is free at ceris.reception@utoronto.ca or 416.946.3110.

  • Canadian refugee health conference

    The Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto presents the Canadian Refugee Health Conference from Nov 24-25, 2009 at the University of Toronto Conference Centre. 
    Conference objectives include:

    • closing clinical gaps in refugee health
    • capacity building in refugee health
    • networking and information exchange
    • educating health care providers
    • building partnerships with refugee stakeholders
    • building advocacy for refugee and uninsured populations.

    The conference, although clinical in nature, is open to everyone and the conference organizers hope to attract refugees, practitioners, advocates, academics and researchers to the event.
    For more information, visit the conference website.

  • Multi-language injury prevention resources

    Safe Kids Canada has launched an Ethno-Cultural Program, with the development of multi-language injury prevention resources, providing “culturally relevant safety messages for parents and partners to raise awareness and reduce child injuries within ethnic communities”.
    Currently, resource sheets and audio clips on the topic “Keep Your Child Safe at Home” are available in simplified Chinese, Punjabi and Portuguese.

  • Women's Refugee Commission

    News: The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children is changing their name to The Women’s Refugee Commission. 
    The Women’s Refugee Commission is a US-based advocacy organization that seeks to: “improve the lives and defend the rights of refugee women and children, including the internally displaced, returnees and asylum seekers” and works in:

    • Assessing and monitoring the situation of refugee women and children through research, field visits and consultation 
    • Identifying and documenting the widely overlooked problems and issues that affect refugee women and children
    • Developing and promoting policies and practices that will lead to real on-the-ground change by advocating to policy makers, key organizations, donors and the public to ensure their implementation.

    Source: Women’s Refugee Commission ‘About Us’.

  • Gender-based barriers to settlement and integration for live-in caregivers: A review of the literature

    The Ontario Metropolis Centre/the Joint Centre of Excellence for Research in Immigration Studies (CERIS) has released a literature review on barriers to integration and settlement for live-in caregivers.
    Authors Denise L. Spitzer and Sara Torres ask what is known about the women who migrate to Canada under the federal live-in caregiver program and the barriers they face in settling and integrating in a new community. The paper provides historical, economic and demographic information and concludes with several policy recommendations.

  • Baby wants to learn your language

    The Best Start Resource Centre, a program of Health Nexus Santé, has release a new informational brochure in PDF entitled “Baby Wants…” with colourful pictures and short descriptions addressing babies basic developmental needs. One of these is “Baby wants to learn your language”.

    “Baby wants … to learn your language.
    “Babies may begin to learn two languages right from birth. Learning two or more languages is not only a skill for later life, but can also help your baby to be connected to his family, his culture and other cultures. Toddlers who are starting to talk may mix up the two languages a little. This is normal. Over time, the children will learn to speak well in the languages they are exposed to. It is important to provide lots of opportunities in both languages.
    “Here are some suggestions that may help your child use two languages in daily life:

    • “Visit your local library and ask for books or tapes in the languages you speak in your home. Read these books to your child.
    • “Participate in community events and programs that celebrate your language and cultural heritage. Many Ontario Early Years Centres offer resources in many languages and opportunities to meet with others from your community that share your language.
    • “Join parent groups where your language is spoken or start your own group.

    “Remember, the best thing you can do to help your child learn two languages is to talk, sing and play in the language that comes most naturally to you. You will help your baby feel proud of your language and culture”.