Primary Care Capacity Building Initiative:
- Healthy Infants
- Healthy Minds / Healthy Children
SACYHN’s Outreach Services Framework was developed in response to needs expressed by families for services that:
- are as close to home as possible
- are coordinated and seamless
- are consistent from region to region
Enhancing Child and Youth Health Outcomes is an initiative that expands the framework to build the capacity of primary health care providers in two areas: maternal risk factors (Healthy Infants) and children’s mental health (Healthy Minds / Healthy Children). This initiative is funded from Health Canada’s Primary Health Care Transition Fund through Alberta Health and Wellness.
Healthy Infants
Maternal risk factors such as smoking and alcohol/drug use can result in adverse birth outcomes. Alberta has the highest rate of low birth weight babies in Canada. Low birth weight is considered a system wide measure of the health of a population. The Healthy Infants initiative aims to work with primary care providers to expand knowledge and increase evidence-based decision making in the screening, intervention, and referral of women at risk for adverse birth outcomes.
A Healthy Infants working group, consisting of representation from Treaty 7 and each of the four southern Alberta health regions, has been established to provide direction to the project. The first activity was a think tank session to bring together physicians, nurses, social workers, nutritionists and other care providers interested in receiving information about current research in maternal risk factors and birth outcomes. Thirty-five professionals discussed target populations, risk factors, current practices and new directions.
Working Group members are currently arranging information sessions in their regions with primary care providers and the project manager. Each region and Treaty 7 is now in the process of identifying specific targets for this initiative.
Maternal Risk Think Tank Participant, October 2003
An efficient screening tool for pregnant women is needed as there is not enough time to do lengthy screenings in a physician’s office.
There needs to be better linkages as it is hard to know who does what.
A multidisciplinary approach to education and referrals is the best way to address women’s health issues.
Healthy Minds / Healthy Children
Children’s mental health practitioners have noted that the demand for services in recent years has been growing both in numbers and acuity. Estimates in the literature suggest that 20% or more of children and youth will have a mental health concern by the age of 18. However, most will not receive professional services, especially from specialists. Yet, many of them will visit their family doctors or pediatricians with presenting problems related to these mental health concerns. A significant number of these primary health care providers indicate in surveys that they do not feel they have received sufficient training to deal with these concerns, nor do they feel confident enough to intervene.
Healthy Minds / Healthy Children is a project designed to provide supports to these primary health care providers in dealing with the mental health concerns of their patients. The project is guided by representatives of Health Regions 1-4, Treaty 7 First Nations, psychiatry, family medicine, and other similar programs.
Through collaborative planning, the project will work with groups of physicians to identify their needs in providing mental health services to children and youth. The project will attempt to meet these needs through combinations of children’s mental health in-service presentations, consultation (including psychiatric), and support in accessing specialized services where needed.