Engaging the Community to Improve Family and Child Health and Wellness

Children and families have complex care needs and it can be challenging to navigate through the health care system, as health care and social support organizations often operate separately. As the regional provider of maternal and child services, Trillium Health Partners (THP) is continuously seeking new ways to support and improve family and child health across Peel region and beyond. Led by Dr. Ian Zenlea (pediatrician and IBH Scientist), Dr. Sara Martel (IBH Science Associate) and Dianne Fierheller (IBH Investigator) and comprised of an interdisciplinary team at the Institute for Better Health, the Family Child Health Initiative (FCHI) is community-based participatory program which aims to understand the needs and priorities of families and children across the community and design solutions together to improve health and wellness across Peel region. In the first phase of a longer-term commitment, the FCHI team has engaged over 60 cross-sector organizations including social services, health care, education, community support and cultural organizations to understand current needs and existing services for families and children and explore opportunities to work together on shared goals. The FCHI team has published the findings and discussions from their engagements in the FCHI 2019 Community Engagement Report (PDF, 1332kb). Recently, the team held their first Community Networking Event and welcomed the participation of 45 community organizations from across sectors in Peel to translate and mobilize findings from the findings from the community engagement report. This program has received 1M in funding through a private donor in collaboration with Trillium Health Partners Foundation. With a better understanding of the priorities of the community, the FCHI team is co-designing novel solutions to improve health and wellness for families in the region with a focus on services for children and youth in the region. For more information, please visit the FCHI website.

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FCHI