Delegates aim to build effective partnerships to innovate in research areas such as healthy pregnancies, early brain development, child and youth mental health and injury prevention
OTTAWA, Nov. 17, 2014 /CNW/ - Eve Adams, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and Member of Parliament (Mississauga–Brampton South), today welcomed delegates to the 2014 Innovating Child and Family Health Conference, on behalf of the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Health. She was joined by Dr. Alain Beaudet, President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Dr. Shoo K. Lee, Scientific Director at CIHR, and Frances Bloomberg, Honorary Patron of the conference.
The main objective of the conference is to ensure that kids' health research results are transformed into products and services to help families from across the country. The meeting will provide a unique opportunity for delegates to identify partnership and collaboration opportunities that will produce positive results for the benefit of children and their families. These will build on existing Government of Canada initiatives being carried hand-in-hand with partners to increase physical activity, promote healthy pregnancies, prevent injuries, enhance nutrition and support research.
Parliamentary Secretary Adams also presented the recipient of the 2014 CIHR Knowledge Translation award. Dr. Bonnie Stevens from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto was recognized by her colleagues for her outstanding work to improve the assessment and management of pain in infants and children. The annual CIHR Knowledge Translation Award honours health researchers that make an outstanding contribution to the health of Canadians or to the health system by transforming research into tangible tools, products or services.
Quick Facts
- The Conference is organized by the Government of Canada through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and its Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health, in collaboration with child and family foundations and organizations from across the country. The event is made possible with support from the SickKids Foundation, the BC Children's Hospital Foundation and CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation.
- The Conference aims to raise the profile of promising and innovative maternal, child and family health research in Canada and foster the development of partnerships with stakeholders to fast track the transformation of those innovative research ideas into real life products or services.
- CIHR is the Government of Canada's health research investment agency. It supports more 13,000 researchers and trainees across Canada.
- CIHR, through its Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health, promotes and supports research that improves the health of children and families in Canada.
- Between 2006 and 2013, the Government of Canada has invested over $842 million through CIHR to support Canadian researchers working on reproductive, maternal, child and youth health challenges.
Quotes
"Over the last fifty years, we have made remarkable progress in furthering our understanding of healthy child development, and we are committed to continuing the trend. This conference comes at a very opportune time, as we prepare to celebrate National Child Day, it will provide an important opportunity to discuss how we can support the health of young Canadians and their families."
– Rona Ambrose, Minister of Health
"On behalf of the Government of Canada, I want to extend my congratulations to the winner of this year's Canadian Institutes of Health Research Knowledge Translation Award, Dr. Bonnie Stevens. Her work speaks to the excellence of our research community in bringing solutions to today's health care issues that will translate into healthier, happier Canadians tomorrow. This conference provides an important opportunity to discuss how we can support the health of young Canadians and their families.
– Eve Adams, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and Member of Parliament (Mississauga-Brampton South)
"Through research and innovation, we can improve the lives of Canadians. But in order to be truly innovative – and transformative – we need to reach out to patients, partners and stakeholders. We need to find new ways to collaborate and share expertise so that promising health research results and findings are transformed into real life products and services."
– Dr. Alain Beaudet, President, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
"Canada has the potential to be a world leader in terms of child and family health outcomes. Today's event is a profound opportunity for key stakeholders to come together and make child and family health a priority, and by doing so advance the health and well-being of Canada's future generations. It is a testament to Canada's commitment to children and their families."
– Dr. Shoo K. Lee, Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health
"I feel honoured to participate in this exciting partnership between government and private sector health care leadership. Women's and infants' health and research is something that I know Canadians care deeply about, and I am confident that this gathering of innovative and dedicated leaders will allow for new opportunities and better outcomes."
– Frances Bloomberg, Honorary Patron of the conference
Related Products
- 2014 Innovating Child and Family Health Conference web page, including program-at-a-glance: www.cihr.gc.ca/e/48281.html
- Background about the 2014 CIHR Knowledge Translation Award recipient, Dr. Bonnie Stevens
Associated Links
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- SickKids Foundation
- BC Children's Hospital Foundation
- CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's health research investment agency. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened health care system for Canadians. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 13,200 health researchers and trainees across Canada.
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2014 CIHR Knowledge Translation Award
Dr. Bonnie Stevens
Health professionals receive surprisingly limited training when it comes to managing pain in children. As a result, pain is an all-too-common experience for hospitalized children undergoing painful procedures for diagnosis and treatment.
Nurse, educator, mentor and researcher Dr. Bonnie Stevens is working to change this. She has been a driving force behind important advancements in child health in Canada. In recognition of her leadership and outstanding work, she is receiving the 2014 CIHR Knowledge Translation Award.
Through her research, Dr. Bonnie Stevens has done much to improve the way that we assess and treat pain in children. As the Principal Investigator of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Team in Children's Pain, she has worked to transform the way that health professionals think about pediatric pain. The focus of her research is to help health care professionals in hospitals put research evidence into practice to prevent and manage child pain. Her team, which consists of clinicians, researchers and knowledge translation specialists at eight pediatric health centres across the country, has worked to better educate doctors and nurses about pain and to change their behaviours. These efforts have led to improved assessment and management practices and a significant reduction in severe pain amongst young patients at the participating hospitals. Dr. Stevens is now working on knowledge translation toolkits to share the team's approach with more health centres, both within Canada and around the globe.
Dr. Stevens holds the Signy Hildur Eaton Chair in Pediatric Nursing, and she is a Senior Scientist and Associate Chief of Nursing, Research at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) Research Institute. She is also the Director of the University of Toronto Centre for the Study of Pain and Co-Director of the SickKids Pain Centre. She is the Nominated Principal Investigator on the CIHR Strategic Training and Health Research program for Pain in Child Health, and she is a professor who actively engages in teaching about pain and knowledge translation at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing.
The CIHR Knowledge Translation Award honours and supports the exemplary knowledge translation efforts and activities of an exceptional individual, team or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to increasing the application of research findings, improving the health of Canadians, health services and products, or strengthening the health care system.
SOURCE: Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Contacts: Media Relations, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 613-941-4563, [email protected]
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