Project Description
Challenge
Awareness about infant and early mental health among practitioners in health, social services and education in Canada is low compared to other developed jurisdictions. In addition, resources and information that respect and support the Indigenous communities in Canada are very limited. This initiative strives to fill both these gaps by creating a one-stop-shop for practitioners to access information and resources on infant and early mental health.
Project Summary
The HUB brings together learning from the implementation of an approach to support infant and early mental health among those children who may be at risk for poor developmental outcomes. While Nurturing the Seed was focused on Indigenous children, what was learned can be shared and applied to all children who may be at risk of poor development. The Infant and Early Mental Health Hub for Training, Resources, & Tools (IEHMF Hub) will provide access to the components used in the implementation of Nurturing the Seed and combine an Indigenous way of knowing, learning and being with western ways. The intervention and its various components include training, coaching, access to various tools and resources and regular access to new and cutting-edge practices specific to infant and early mental health.
Looking Towards Cycle III
The IEMH Hub is intended to broaden the perspectives for health care professionals and community caregivers. Previous iterations of the project have demonstrated how important it is for regular “doses” of infant and early mental health in the form of access to resources, new tools, new training, coaching, all of which will be part of the IEMH Hub. Nurturing the Seed has heavily influenced the creation of the HUB and the recognition of the support needed by individual practitioners, agencies and others working with young children. Nurturing the Seed was developed in consultation with First Nations communities across Canada, and it is currently being evaluated. These same communities, along with other Indigenous and Non- Indigenous communities, will be very involved in creating the HUB and what it offers to support the implementation of an infant mental health perspective into policy and practice of agencies and individuals.
Funding
Contributions Received to Date:
Kids Brain Health Network – $600,000.00
Atlantic Aboriginal Headstart On-Reserve – $200,000.00
Keepers of the Circle – $440,000.00
Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health – $245,000.00
Wisdom Keepers – $150,000.00
Additional Funding Partners
Queen’s University
Infant Mental Health Program (in-kind)
Team
James Reynolds, Queen’s University
Chaya Kulkarni, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Partners
District of Temiskaming Elders Council
Temiskaming Native Women’s Support Group
Orillia Native Women’s Group
Georgian Bay Native Women’s Association
Kids First La Ronge
Aamjiwnaang First Nation
Native Child and Family Services
Mikmaq Family Support Miramichi
Infant Mental Health Program
Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health
Indigenous communities Canada
Public Health Agency
