2013 Resident Advocacy Day Report

November 20, 2013: End Child Poverty Now!

National Resident Advocacy Day is an initiative of the Residents Section of the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) and is supported by the Healthy Generations Foundation. This initiative aims to give residents hands-on experience in the CanMEDS role of health advocate and to raise awareness about critical children and youth health issues. Paediatric residency programs across Canada participate by organizing resident education and community awareness activities. The theme for the 2013 National Resident Advocacy Day was child poverty in Canada. The objectives of the day were to:

raise awareness about the prevalence of childhood poverty in Canada,

clarify the impact of childhood poverty on health and life experience,

highlight the impact of childhood poverty on health care costs and chronic illness

educate residents about this relationship help families with information about supportive resources in

their community

The following report contains a summary of activities that took place on November 20, 2013 at participating paediatric residency programs across Canada. Reports are provided in the language of the submitter.

The success of National Resident Advocacy Day depends on the work of extraordinary local leaders, who represent CPS initiatives to each paediatric program across the country. The Residents Section Executive wishes to thank the CPS program representatives for all their hard work and unique contributions to making this day a truly national success.

Dalhousie University Local representatives: Erin MacDonald and Laura Swaney Paediatric residents got involved and raised awareness! Program representatives created an eye-catching poster display in the foyer of the IWK Health Centre, and spent the day chatting with patients, families and co-workers about childhood poverty. University of Alberta Local representative: Hannah Weinstangel Residents attended a lecture prepared by their advocacy committee on the general effects of child poverty, the state of child poverty in Canada, and how it relates to health. Localized efforts to fight child poverty in Edmonton were

discussed. The group considered practical ways to address poverty and related health issues by supporting families in the community and at the hospital. They have a better understanding of how to help and advocate for families who are struggling financially, in their community, nationally and internationally. Residents are wearing their white ribbons with pride, and will share their knowledge with others. Memorial University Local representatives: Kate Fathi and Alison Lopez Paediatric residents spent a wonderful CPS National Resident Advocacy Day. Dr. Mark Zaretsky, a program resident, gave a presentation to colleagues and staff on poverty experienced in childhood, which sparked engaging debate. Residents also created a poster board on childhood poverty in Canada, in the world, and what can be done to combat it. The poster was displayed in the main atrium of the Janeway Children's Health and Rehabilitation Centre for the public to view and ask questions about. In addition, residents distributed educational materials throughout the hospital. The day was a great success and marked a real step forward in raising awareness about child poverty.

Western University Local representative: Beth Ellen Brown

The annual CPS National Resident Advocacy Day was a great success this year! With the assistance of allied health professionals, residents compiled an abundance of information, pamphlets, posters and various other resources. These were displayed in the main lobby of the London Children’s Hospital for hospital visitors and staff. The information was well appreciated and used. Residents also organized a drive for the London Food Bank, which was a great success.

To reinforce the themes raised on Resident Advocacy Day, a representative from Neighborhood Legal Services delivered a seminar to Western residents in January 2014 on the impact of child poverty in Canada, local supportive services in London, and how we can get involved in our community and make a difference.

McMaster University Local representative: Hana Mijovic Compared to the Ontario average, Hamilton is known to have a high rate of childhood poverty. Residents decided to focus their Advocacy Day efforts on raising awareness about poverty in local neighbourhoods.

The program hosted two community speakers at our academic half day. Teri Pecoskie from the Hamilton Spectator spoke to us about interviews and research she has conducted for the recent "Born" series, which focuses on the connections among teenage pregnancies, low birth weight babies, and poverty. Tom Cooper, from the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, spoke about advocacy initiatives currently underway in Hamilton.

To support ongoing advocacy and awareness around the social determinants of health, McMaster’s residency program launched a rotation in social paediatrics in 2013. The rotation integrates second year paediatric residents into the Hamilton community, with the aim of building better appreciation of the local environments where our patients live, learn and grow. Université Laval Représentant local : Isabelle Ouellet Dans le cadre de la Journée Nationale des Résidents pour la Défense des Droits des Enfants, les résidents de l’Université Laval ont tenu un kiosque d’information lors du congrès Entretiens de Pédiatrie. Ils ont pu discuter avec les participants et les sensibiliser au phénomène de la pauvreté chez les enfants. Les résidents ont également créé et distribué des dépliants sur le sujet aux 200 médecins présents. Cette journée a été couronnée de succès et a permis de rejoindre de nombreux spécialistes médicaux impliqués au quotidien dans la santé des enfants!

University of British Columbia Local representatives: Kamal Abdulwahab and Stephany Quinn Residents really threw themselves into this year’s Advocacy Day, which actually turned into a week’s worth of activities to launch a local ‘end child poverty’ campaign! The organizing team displayed educational materials and posters on child poverty in the resident lounge and distributed fact sheets and stickers to personal mailboxes. A new resident website was launched, hosting a special CPS National Resident Advocacy Day web page. An online, interactive quiz featuring information from the fact sheets and letters was created, along with a contest to test newly acquired knowledge.

University of Saskatchewan

Local representative: Stefan Slomp

The university community got involved in National Resident Advocacy Day, with two important goals: demonstrating the impacts of child poverty in Canada and providing a helping hand to a number of families in Saskatoon. A team of residents made T-shirts and wore them on Resident Advocacy Day, while hosting a booth at the Royal University Hospital. Shirts were also distributed to staff and donations encouraged. Residents produced a number of posters and provided stickers and information throughout the day. They exchanged

information with people in the public health program, who proved eager to further the cause. Residents raised over $600 in donations. This amount was converted into grocery cards, which will be used to support families who frequent the Student Wellness Initiative (SWITCH) clinic in downtown Saskatoon. Many of our clients are struggling particularly hard during this harsh winter season. University of Manitoba Local representative: Rachael Gardner On Advocacy Day, paediatric residents of the University of Manitoba rallied around the many issues of child poverty. Materials were disseminated and residents all made an individual effort to identify potential ways to advocate for their patients that day. An article was published on the paediatrics department website concerning issues of child poverty in Manitoba. Time was dedicated during half-day teaching to allow the residents to discuss issues around First Nations health and poverty and to share their experiences in patient advocacy. University of Ottawa Local representatives: Megan Sample and Bindu Suresh Resident program representatives at the University of Ottawa gave a 30-minute presentation during half-day teaching for National Resident Advocacy Day. Residents also watched a short video produced by CHEO about the health effects of poverty (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX61pfC2p0A) and disseminated resources for further information.

University of Toronto Local representative: Ryan Smith Many educational activities were planned for this year’s Resident Advocacy Day. The day began with an invited speaker at Grand Rounds: Dr. Arvin Garg, a social paediatrician and the author of a recent JAMA viewpoint on the social determinants of health. His research in the area of primary care paediatrics set the stage for the remainder of the day. Using Dr. Garg’s talk as a catalyst, residents met to discuss “difficult social cases from the ward” with Dr. Ford-Jones and Dr. Levin, along with social workers and members of the resident advocacy committee. Residents also organized a lunch hour talk for residents and fellows, with another invited speaker: Dr. Paul Caulford, founder of the Scarborough Clinic for uninsured and refugee patients. The title of his talk was "Children and Youth New to Canada: Health status ‘poverty’ when access to care and status rights are denied". He drew on 14 years of experience providing community-based care, and shared vivid case examples of the challenges to providing care for these populations, and what the future may hold. Finally, a “mental health think tank” discussed various projects in development, usually to aid families facing economic and social challenges in at-risk neighbourhoods. It was a fantastic day overall, thanks to excellent resident and faculty participation!

Université de Montréal Représentant local : Brigitte Parisien Les résidents en pédiatrie du CHU Ste-Justine s'impliquent pour la défense et la santé des enfants et ont été actifs lors de la Journée nationale de défense d'intérêts organisées par la Société Canadienne de Pédiatrie. Cette année, ils ont profité des moyens de communication qu'offre l'hôpital pour sensibiliser leurs collègues à l'impact de la pauvreté des enfants sur leur santé. En effet, de courts textes sont apparus sur les écrans des cafétérias et dans le petit journal affiché quotidiennement dans les ascenseurs de l'hôpital. Les résidents ont arborés fièrement leur auto-collant aux couleurs de la journée de défense des intérêts et ont partagés avec familles et personnel hospitalier l'importance des programmes sociaux et des organismes qui soutiennent les familles les plus démunies pour la santé des enfants. Un groupe de résident est aussi passé sur les étages de pédiatrie générale pour amasser des fonds pour un organisme choisie pour sa mission envers les mères enceintes dans le besoin. De cette façon, 100$ ont été remis au Dispensaire diététique de Montréal qui reçoit des résidents en stage de pédiatrie sociale et qui offre "un départ en santé pour chaque bébé" en fournissant aux femmes un soutien nutritionnel et moral durant leur grossesse. Cette philosophie est tout à fait en accord avec les valeurs des médecins résidents en pédiatrie de Ste-Justine qui croient qu'un avenir en santé ça se bâtit tôt!"

Northern Ontario School of Medicine Local representative: Jenna Ashkanase This year’s Resident Advocacy Day was hosted at Health Sciences North, in Sudbury. The event provided a fantastic opportunity to meet with community members, health care professionals and medical students. Information was presented using a poster display and handouts, while stickers and white ribbons were distributed to promote awareness of child poverty. Educational materials were also made available at two of the program’s other Northern sites, Thunder Bay and North Bay. An advocacy letter recommending better federal funding for child benefits, as well as for affordable housing and child care, was sent to MP’s for Thunder Bay, North Bay and Sudbury. These advocacy efforts met with real enthusiasm from the communities, and residents look forward to participating again next year.