The First Nations Health Council provides policy direction, leadership and coordination in the areas of Vision, Hearing and Dental Screening. This work includes action on the First Nations Health Plans’ recommendation that Aboriginal children under the age of six (on and off-reserve) will receive hearing, dental and vision screening.
Vision Screening:Vision screening for kindergarten children has or is currently taking place in all Health Authorities in the public school system. The FNHC has purchased 10 Vision Screeners for our First Nations communities and we are in the process of developing training curriculum with the National Collaborating Centre on Aboriginal Health for members of communities to work with the equipment. FNHC are hoping that this initiative will augment the provincial initiative to ensure that all our children receive vision screening before they turn six. We are also actively pursuing the development of information and promotional materials for this provincial program to distribute to Aboriginal communities. Vision screening training for First Nations community representatives will be taking place June 19th at the Coast Plaza Hotel in Vancouver.
Hearing Screening: Currently work is under way with the BC Early Hearing Program (BCEHP) to screen all newborn babies shortly after birth. This program builds on existing hearing screening programs and services. This program fills the gap for very early detection of hearing loss and support for babies and their families. The FNHC hold a seat on the Provincial Steering Committee for this program and are actively working toward building this partnership with the province and federal government to ensure that Aboriginal newborns also receive the benefits of this program. Development of BCEHP information pamphlets and a DVD is currently underway for our First Nations communities.
In addition, the FNHC presented to a gathering of BCEHP Interventionists during their training sessions on Feb. 11th. At this meeting FNHC provided an overview of work to date in this area, and in addition, shared information and approaches to foster understanding, respect and cultural awareness when working in Aboriginal communities and with Aboriginal people.
Dental Screening:At this time dental screening is the under an assessment review. The FNHC will collaborate on the dental survey that will be taking place in 2008/09. As with the other two screenings we will be working towards the development and production of educational materials in relation to dental screening.
Child Death Review Unit
The Child Death Review Unit (CDRU) of the BC Coroners Service reviews the deaths of all children age 18 and under in B.C. The intent of these reviews is to better understand how and why children die, and to use those findings to prevent other deaths and improve the health, safety and well-being of all children in British Columbia.
The First Nations Health Plan recommends that “all levels of government, educators, parents and Aboriginal leader and their communities forge new relationships led by Aboriginal people to address the results of this report that clearly illustrate that Aboriginal children are dying at disproportionately higher rates.”
Through the review of all child deaths, the CDRU gathers data that can show trends in child deaths. In some cases, deaths will be further reviewed by way of a cluster review or though the multi-disciplinary review process. Information arising from these various reviews is analyzed and shared with agencies and organizations to influence and develop programs to deter or prevent child deaths. By understanding the risks, the CDRU can be guided in determining the most significant opportunities for prevention.
The 2007 annual report data was released in June 2008 by the Child Death Review Unit (CDRU) of the BC Coroners Service. A full copy can be obtained at http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/coroners/child-death-review/docs/CDRU-2007annualreport.pdf
Specific initiatives undertaken in the past year include: making the BC Coroners Service Child Death Review Report (2006) easily available to communities by mail, internet, email and fax. A hard copy report was sent to all communities. It was also sent electronically in January and June 2008, with a joint message from the First Nations Health Council and CDRU, to all communities, Health Directors, Social Development Mangers and Tribal Councils.
We continue to build our partnership with the Child Death Review Unit in order to collaborate on meaningful, culturally-relevant and sustainable prevention strategies for our communities. In the future we will develop an appropriate and culturally relevant communication strategy for the CDRU in order to ensure that effective communication occurs between the Coroner and families and communities. We will also be looking at developing issue prevention material for our communities.