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Welcome to the SPARK Newsletter!

Delivered twice monthly, the SPARK: News e-bulletin provides members and other subscribers with valuable information through the following sections:

Jump to: Top Stories | Upcoming Events | SPARK: Ideas

#CHILDHEALTHCAN23 is Heading to Vancouver in December!

Children’s Healthcare Canada is thrilled to be hosting our annual conference from December 3-5, 2023, at the beautiful Hyatt Regency in downtown Vancouver! For those unable to meet in Vancouver, a real time virtual option will also be available.

This event is being closely planned with our local co-host, the BC Children's Hospital. Our conference focus will be on right-sizing children's health systems for the future with a theme of Flip the Script: High Performing Health Systems for Kids!

The three-day conference convenes the child health community to share and learn from colleagues and thought leaders on issues of the day. In 2023, we will focus on the action we can take as individuals, organizations, and collectively, as a pan-Canadian Association to create high performing health systems to measurably improve children's health outcomes. Invited speakers will share through a series of keynote, panel, and workshop presentations. We look forward to bringing back our Poster Hall, concurrent sessions, and a formal gala and awards ceremony to recognize and honour the leadership of children's health champions.

Save the date and join us in December as we Flip the Script and focus on the best of child and youth health!

Look out for our Call for Abstracts, launching in March 2023.

Visit our website to learn more.

Interested in supporting the 2023 Children's Healthcare Canada Annual Conference? Please check the list of exciting opportunities in our 2023 Sponsorship Prospectus.

March SPARK Theme: Child Health in the Media

Webinar with
David Alexander from
Leading for Kids
March 15 at 11am ET

Keeping Kids on the Radar: Key Messages on Child Health Prioritization and Systems Transformation

Registration coming soon!

Podcast with
Carly Weeks from
the Globe and Mail
Launching March 27

Child Health in the Media: A Snapshot of the Media Representation of Child Health

More details coming soon!

Did you miss this webinar?

Improving Vaccine Uptake: Prioritizing Pain and Fear Management during the Immunization Experience

Learn about factors that are contributing to low vaccine coverage and low stimulus immunization clinics as a new, critically important model of care to support positive immunization experiences for children and their families.

The recording is now available!

YCRH 10th Anniversary Alumni Panel

We're celebrating 10 years and want to celebrate the impact the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health (YCRH) has had on former Executive Directors. Panelists include Alyssa Frampton, Umayangga Yogalingam and Andy Hall.

The panel will be held on March 15th at 7pm ET and you're invited!

Get your tickets online today.

The Canadian Pediatric Surveillance Program:

On February 1, 2023, the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program (CPSP) launched a 2-year surveillance study to help identify adverse events that may be related to paediatric virtual care.

The aim of this study is to capture any incidents of the following, occurring in children, that may be related to virtual care (i.e., health care provided by video, telephone, secure chat, etc.):

Incorrect, missed, or delayed diagnoses due to a lack of ability to conduct a physical exam
Clinical or social emergency situations where providers are not able to provide timely emergency care

Paediatricians and paediatric sub-specialists in Canada are eligible to participate. Every month, the CPSP sends email surveys to Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) members to ask whether they have encountered any situations as described above, and follows up with a questionnaire requesting more information if so. Non-members can also register to participate by visiting the link below.

We hope this study will provide evidence for safe, appropriate, and patient-centred virtual care for children and families in Canada. If you have any questions, please visit our website.

Research Participants Needed

Who Can Participate?

Youth (age 18-30 years) with any disability or mental health condition
Parents and caregivers of youth (age 0-30 years) with any disability or mental health condition
Individuals from non-profit and community organizations with experience with youth with disabilities

What is Involved?

Participation in a 90- minute focus group over Zoom to discuss how we can use lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to develop disability-inclusive policy moving forward.

Interested? Email dipocovidresearch@gmail.com to learn more!

This study has been approved by the University of Calgary Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board (REB22-0640).

Recognizing Deteriorating Patient Condition in Infants, Children and Adolescents

Recently several respiratory viruses, including a particularly virulent strain of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19, have been circulating broadly among babies, infants, children and adolescents. These and other medical complications can cause severe illnesses requiring urgent medical attention. Find out what you need to know about recognizing severe illness with the Severe Illness Getting Noticed Sooner (SIGNS)-for-Kids resource.

Learn more

Tubed medical devices and children

Health Canada has published safety information on tubed medical devices and children. Types of medical tubing include: enteral feeding devices, nasal cannulas and oxygenation devices, and intravenous devices. Tubing from medical devices can accidentally wrap around a child and may cause entanglement, strangulation or death.

For more information on these devices and how to manage the risks, please visit Health Canada’s tubed medical devices and children webpage.

New AboutKidsHealth resource about consent, capacity and confidentiality in health care

AboutKidsHealth has a new video for teens to help them learn about their health-care rights in Ontario. In just under 10 minutes, the video explains the concepts of consent, capacity and confidentiality and what these mean in the health-care setting. Also explained are terms related to confidentiality, such as “PHI”, “circle of care” and “lock box”—if a teen has capacity to make decisions about their own care, only their circle of care will have access to their personal health information, and a person may request that any portion of their PHI be placed in a lock box at any time. For more information about health-care rights, please see Your healthcare rights: Consent, capacity, confidentiality.

AboutKidsHealth is SickKids’ health-education website and features more than 3,500 articles on a range of health topics. For more videos on health-care rights and other health topics, visit our YouTube Channel

The International Symposium on Pediatric Pain 2023 (ISPP 2023)

1 – 4 October 2023
Halifax, Canada

ISPP 2023 is the premier interdisciplinary conference on pain in infants, children, and adolescents. Attendees will build capacity in the pediatric pain community by fostering partnerships and innovation through joint learning of the best international research featuring rigorous science, real-life stories, and knowledge sharing.

Submit a Poster Abstract (Deadline April 15, 2023)

Present your research to pediatric pain professionals and connect with key stakeholders in the field at ISPP 2023. Authors may also ask for their submission be considered for a rapid communication paper. Student poster submissions that are original and/or significant will be judged by the Scientific Program Committee for an award.

Learn more

Looking for a career in the healthcare community?

Do you know someone who may be a great fit for one of these roles? Please forward along the newsletter and help our friends and partners fill these roles.

Clinical Research Nurse Coordinator | SickKids, The Hospital For Sick Children

Vice President, Acute Care | Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO)

Nurse Practitioner, General Surgery Program | SickKids, The Hospital For Sick Children

Registered Nurse, Pediatric Intensive Care | BC Children's Hospital

Specialty Training/New Graduate Registered Nurse, Labour & Delivery (Birthing) Unit | BC Children's Hospital

Specialty Training/New Graduate Registered Nurse, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) | BC Children's Hospital

Check out the External Job Postings page on our Children's Healthcare Canada website.

SPARK Newsletter Member Content

Children's Healthcare Canada members are invited to submit content (300-word submission with a banner image and URL link). If you are interested in posting an article, resource, or news via SPARK: News, please contact us at spark@childrenshealthcarecanada.ca.

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