1. Huron Perth CALLING ALL 3 YEAR OLDS Healthy Babies, Healthy Children Best Start Conference January 16, 2006 Mary Anne Lealess, RN, BScN

2. HBHC Early Identification Policy Statement “Screening must occur early for successful interventions and should emphasize empowering parents in assessment of HCD. Boards of Health are required to implement a developmental screen tool; support collaboration and partnership with community members and assist with the transition to school.” Source: Consolidated Guidelines for HBHC, 2003

3. RESEARCH SHOWS Identification of delayed development and early intervention prior to Kindergarten can improve development and social outcomes for children with impacts that extend into adulthood.

4. RESEARCH SHOWS cont’d Only 20-30% of approximately 16% of children with developmental disabilities are detected prior to school.

5. Calling All 3 Year Olds pilot was Planned and implemented by Huron Perth Health Units, Boards of Education, OEYC’s and other providers Designed to offer universal developmental screening to 3 year olds Linked to preschool registration in the year prior to school entry

6. OBJECTIVES Identify 3 year olds at risk for developmental delays Link at risk children to services as early as possible Increase parent knowledge about child health and development

7. OBJECTIVES cont’d Increase child readiness for school Inform parents about ECD programs and services.

8. IMPLEMENTATION Half day events in 5 schools selected on basis of EDI findings Activities included - Nipissing developmental screen - registration for school - ECD activity centres for parents and children - displays re: child health, safety, development - registration package with age appropriate child development information

9. OUTCOMES: EARLY IDENTIFICATION 108 Screening (Nipissing) 20 (19%) Screen Positive 88 (81%) Screen Negative 11 (10%)9 (9%) Newly IdentifiedPreviously Identified

10. OUTCOMES: EARLY IDENTIFICATION Cont’d Children most often screened positive in speech/language (71%) and social/emotional (53%) development

11. OUTCOMES: REFERRAL FOLLOW UP 71% of parents reached had either followed up with referral recommendations or expressed intent to do so 29% expressed intention not to follow up

12. OUTCOMES: (PARENT FEED BACK) INCREASED KNOWLEDGE 56% of parents learned something new about ECD and local services 40% of parents learned importance of vision checks 20% learned about good dental health

13. OUTCOMES: (PARENT FEED BACK) INCREASED KNOWLEDGE 20% learned about child safety in the car 18% learned about preventing infections through handwashing

14. OUTCOMES: (PARENT FEEDBACK) BEHAVIOUR CHANGE 50% of parents indicated plans for child vision check 26% planned to visit EYC 21% planned to visit local library with their child

15. OUTCOMES: (PARENT FEEDBACK) BEHAVIOUR CHANGE 19% planned to improve child’s tooth brushing habits 11% planned to encourage regular handwashing Parents liked to network with other parents and get ideas

16. UNINTENDED OUTCOMES: POSITIVE Parents networking and sharing ideas Helpful for school planning due to earlier enrolment data Relationship building among CATYO partners

17. UNINTENDED OUTCOMES: NEGATIVE Parental discomfort with screening if child not meeting milestones Parents of children with obvious or global delays may have felt uncomfortable

18. RECOMMENDATIONS 1.Universally implement a flexible model that is tailored to different needs across Huron and Perth schools. 2.Continue to identify and capitalize on opportunities to screen children earlier than 3 years. 3.Target and promote to all 3 year olds regardless of intent to attend Junior Kindergarten. Continued

19. RECOMMENDATIONS cont’d 4.Continue to offer CATYO in the year prior to school entry to allow for intervention for identified children. 5.Educate parents about the purpose and value of developmental screening. 6.Continue to promote and provide links to ECD services. Continued

20. RECOMMENDATIONS cont’d 7.Review referral and follow up mechanisms to increase the proportion of screen positive children who link to services. 8.Develop a mechanism to share information between the school and health units, which allows informed consent. 9.Continue to build the partnership to maximize efficiency of resources to promote healthy child development and identify at risk children.

21. For more information contact: Mary Anne Lealess Perth District Health Unit 653 West Gore St. Stratford, ON N5A 1L4 519-271-7600 ext. 241 mlealess@pdhu.on.ca For a copy of the report see: http://www.pdhu.on.ca/pdf/callin~1.pdf