BACKGROUND

In follow up to this previous work, the Children Count LDCP Team, with a renewal grant from Public Health Ontario (PHO), embarked upon The Children Count Pilot Study Project. The Children Count Pilot Study began in December 2017 with the goal to explore the feasibility of coordinated monitoring and assessment of child and youth health, utilizing the SCS, to address local health data gaps. This provincial project included six school board and public health unit pairings who developed and piloted a Healthy Living Module (HLM) as part of the school board's SCS. The HLM covered the topics previously prioritized of mental health, healthy eating, and physical activity.

The objectives of the Pilot Study were:

1. To work collaboratively to develop a HLM for the SCS;

2. To pilot test and evaluate the applicability and feasibility of the partnership between public health units and school boards in coordinated monitoring and assessment utilizing the SCS; and

3. To develop a toolkit for implementation of coordinated monitoring and assessment for health service planning using the SCS for child and youth health in Ontario.

Using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) model, the steering committee (comprised of school board and public health leadership), worked together to build the HLM. The HLM was successfully integrated into the SCS led by participating school boards. Collaboratively school boards and local public health units analyzed and interpreted the results for knowledge sharing and planning.

The HLM enriched each school boards' SCS and identified areas for further work to support student health and wellbeing. The process of piloting the HLM with multiple and diverse school boards using different methods demonstrated that the overall process of coordinating a HLM into the SCS is feasible and adaptable to suit local needs while still enabling consistency in data across regions. The Children Count Pilot Project captured the process and lessons learned in their final report (December 2019) as well as developed the Children Count Pilot Study Project: Healthy Living Module Toolkit as a guide for school boards and health units across the province.

PROPOSED MOTION

Whereas, boards of health are required under the Ontario Public Health Standards (OPHS) to collect and analyze health data for children and youth to monitor trends over time, and

Whereas, boards of health require local population health data for planning evidence-informed, culturally and locally appropriate health services and programs, and

Whereas, addressing child and youth health and well-being is a priority across multiple sectors, including education and health, and

Whereas, Ontario lacks a single coordinated system for the monitoring and assessment of child and youth health and well-being, and

Whereas, there is insufficient data on child and youth health and well-being at the local, regional and provincial level, and

Whereas, the Children Count Pilot Study Project, Healthy Living Module is a feasible approach to fulfill local, regional and provincial population health data gaps for children and youth, and

Now therefore be it resolved that the Windsor-Essex County Board of Health receives and endorses the Healthy Living Module, and