As we have heard repeatedly from our first nations and Métis colleagues, healthy weights among aboriginal children cannot easily be separated from other aspects of health or from well-being in a more general sense.
An important point is that the physical health of children is deeply connected to the emotional and spiritual health of the children themselves, of their families, or of their communities. Aboriginal children living in urban areas are affected by policies and programs of a variety of agencies and institutions, including aboriginal-specific agencies, public health units, clinicians, schools, and mainstream social service agencies.
Some children and their families are also connected to first nations or other communities and may spend part of their lives served by institutions in those communities. We are convinced that this health and wellness system can be improved. Currently we are conducting a project funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada that is attempting to improve the way aboriginal children and families living in urban areas are served by those institutions.
Through consultation with community partners and interviews with parents and caregivers, we have found that communities may have considerable resources to provide programming and services to aboriginal children. However, these resources may not always be used to the best effect because of a fragmentation in the system. For example, clinicians and other mainstream health agencies that serve aboriginal children may not always have access to the cultural knowledge required to provide effective programming and may therefore have difficulties retaining aboriginal children and families in treatment or health promotion programs. On the other hand, aboriginal-specific service providers may not have the same access to long-term funding or to the various financial and physical resources that may be present in the community.
We are convinced that by addressing this fragmentation and lack of collaboration, we can improve child obesity outcomes. Our proposed population health intervention is to build a collaborative structure among various community organizations and stakeholders whose work affects health and wellness of aboriginal children either directly or indirectly. By collaborating, local aboriginal and non-aboriginal organizations can use existing resources more effectively and leverage additional ones to improve how they serve aboriginal children and families.
We have started this intervention in London, Ontario, and hope to spread this model to other communities. At this moment, our project includes more than 40 institutions in London and nearby first nations. By actively connecting those partners around the issue of promoting healthy weights, we have been able to create new collaborative programs that would not have existed otherwise.
Perhaps more importantly, the collaborative model that we propose will improve relationships between aboriginal peoples and Canadian institutions that are a fundamental part of the disparities in health. We believe this process will help address some of the factors affecting the relative health of aboriginal people in Canada that are furthest upstream from them.
In closing, we would like to acknowledge and thank all the partnering organizations and the members of our project team. Without them, this important work would not be done.
Again, we would like to thank the committee for inviting us here today. We would happy to answer any questions.