The Promise of the Early Years: How Long Should Children Wait?
In December, the Canadian Paediatric Society and the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry released a commentary on The promise of the early years: How long should children wait? In asking the question how can we find “…a way to build a foundation for lifelong health?” The commentary finds that…
“As physicians, we are uniquely positioned to support parents and positively influence child development. We can do this by observing parents and their babies to assess attachment, promote literacy, connecting parents with early childhood resources in their community, talking about child development and how to nurture it, screening for parental mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and substance abuse, and intervening early when we suspect problems. We can talk about the powerful effect of parents as role models and be alert to the family’s overall health.”
This description of working with children and their caregivers sounds very familiar. In fact, it mirrors the great work of CAPC, CPNP and AHS programs across the province. We reached out to the BC CAPC Society and received the following statement:
Many of BC CAPC Programs are able offer a variety of early childhood learning opportunities, enhance child development and offer supports for parents. These CAPC programs, for parents with children ages 0-6, demonstrate the same preventable and complementary health care approach.
