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April 24, 2012
CanChild Today
Greetings!
 

CanChild Today features CanChild research and resources that address child health issues important to children and youth, their families and service providers. In this issue, we have highlighted recently published articles and new resources on the CanChild website (www.canchild.ca). 

 
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New Resources
on CanChild's website (www.canchild.ca)

Preschooler Focus: Canadian Guidelines for the Early Years
The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology and ParticipACTION have released the first Canadian Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for children ages 0 - 4 years.  This Preschooler Focus newsletter, written by McMaster's Child Health & Exercise Medicine Program, provides evidence-based information about how much activity young children should be getting, and some tips to help them meet the guidelines. Click here to view.


The Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY) - Recording of Webinar Now Available!
CanChild offered its first live webinar on April 13th, 2012. The presenters were investigators from the Participation and Environment Project (PEP) team, including Dr. Wendy Coster, Boston University, Dr. Mary Law, CanChild, Dr. Gary Bedell, Tufts University, Dr. Mary Khetani, Colorado State University, and Dr. Dana Anaby, McGill University. They introduced a newly developed reliable and valid tool - the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY) - which has been designed to examine participation and environment across home, school and community settings among children and youth with and without disabilities. The PEP team also addressed the development, validation, recent applications, implications and future directions of PEM-CY in this webinar.  If you would like to access this webinar recording, please click here for more information.

 

Recent CanChild Publications
Use of Medical Research Council Framework to develop a complex intervention in pediatric occupational therapy: Assessing feasibility
Partnering for Change (P4C) is an innovative intervention for children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) that was developed by an interdisciplinary team at CanChild who partnered with leaders in health care to come up with a new way of delivering occupational therapy services in school settings. The goals of P4C were to facilitate earlier identification, build capacity of educators and parents to manage DCD, and to improve children's participation in school and at home. This article, published in Research in Developmental Disabilities, describes the success of this approach and reports the results from the perspectives of parents, teachers and service providers. Authors: C Missiuna, N Pollock, WN Campbell, S Bennett, C Hecimovich, R Gaines, C DeCola, J Cairney, D Russell, E Molinaro. Abstract.

Quality of life domains affected in children with developmental coordination disorder: A systematic review
The primary aim of this article published recently in Child: Care, Health & Development was to present the current state of the evidence regarding the physical, psychological, and social quality of life (QOL) domains that can be affected in children with DCD. A systematic review of articles was conducted and the articles were critically reviewed. Most studies reported significantly poorer results in these domains, but only one study used a QOL measure as an outcome. Implications for clinicians and researchers are provided. Authors: JG Zwicker, SR Harris, AF Klassen. Abstract.

The health outcomes and physical activity in preschoolers (HOPP) study: Rationale and design
Published recently in BMC Public Health, the Health Outcomes and Physical Activity in Preschoolers (HOPP) study is described in this article. The HOPP study will show how the prevalence and patterns of physical activity in preschoolers are associated with indices of health. The physical activity of 400 3-5 year olds will be monitored using an accelerometer in this prospective cohort study. Authors: BW Timmons, NA Proudfoot, MJ MacDonald, SR Bray, J Cairney. Full access to article.

Transition to neonatal follow-up programs: Is attendance a problem?
The purpose of the study published in the Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing was to assess current patterns of neonatal follow-up (NFU) attendance and explore points in time when mothers and infants withdraw from NFU programs during the infant's first year of life. This study was conducted in three Canadian tertiary-level neonatal intensive care units. The investigators conclude that strategies should be implemented to address potential barriers to accessing NFU programs. Authors: M Ballantyne, B Stevens, A Guttmann, AR Willan, P Rosenbaum. Abstract.

Virtual Issue Collection: Evaluating Interventions in Cerebral Palsy
The Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology (DMCN) editors have selected several papers which evaluate some recently developed interventions in cerebral palsy, and contribute evidence to inform practice. A virtual issue has been created by DMCN that is freely available by clicking here! Included in this issue is "Context therapy: A new intervention approach for children with cerebral palsy" by J Darrah, MC Law, N Pollock, B Wilson, D Russell, SD Walter, P Rosenbaum, B Galuppi. (Vol 53 (7), 615-620, 2011) 
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