Canada’s current approach to promoting positive mental health and wellbeing fails to recognize Infant and Early Mental Health (IEMH) concerns and invest in early interventions before school age. Canadian practitioners receive little to no training on IEMH and access to professional development in this area is extremely limited. Also, with no clear direction on how to navigate the supports addressing IEMH, young children that require services may not be referred to the right resources or receive them at the right time.
As such, the main purpose of the Infant and Early Mental Health Care Pathways: Establishing Community Systems of Care (IEMH Care Pathways) Initiative is to work collaboratively with local organizations that serve families with children under the age of 6 to follow a 5-phased approach to create navigable systems of care pathways for IEMH in Canada that improves equitable access to the appropriate services in a timely manner.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the importance of IEMH and the role of IEMH Care Pathways in promoting optimal development.
- Learn about the development process and key components of IEMH Care Pathways.
- Explore the effectiveness of implementing IEMH Care Pathways in enhancing community capacity to support IEMH and respond to vulnerability in early childhood.
Presenters:
Hadir Ashry (Infant and Early Mental Health Promotion)
Hadir Ashry is the Project Manager for the Infant and Early Mental Health Care Pathways Initiative and works with different communities to ensure they have accessible pathways to support children from birth to six. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Minor in Computer Science and is a certified Project Management Professional. Prior to joining IEMHP at SickKids, she worked in various industries in leadership roles with over 10 years of project management experience. Ms. Ashry has worked on large scale projects with diverse multi-cultural and cross-functional teams in various industries, including health care, not-for-profit and for-profit organizations.
Chaya Kulkarni (Infant and Early Mental Health Promotion)
Dr. Chaya Kulkarni is the Director of Infant and Early Mental Health Promotion (IEMHP) at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). IEMHP is a national organization which improves outcomes across the lifespan through translating and promoting the science of early mental health into practice with families during pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood. Dr. Kulkarni has over 25 years of experience in a number of leadership roles including frontline service delivery, policy analysis, research, and curriculum and resource development. Dr. Kulkarni is an adviser to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and a member of the Board at Family Day Care Services.
Karys Peterson-Katz (Infant and Early Mental Health Promotion)
Dr. Karys Peterson-Katz is a post-doctoral research fellow with Infant and Early Mental Health Promotion, a program of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Dr. Peterson-Katz received her Honours Bachelor’s of Arts and Science from McGill University, and her doctorate in Neuroscience from Queen’s University. Her doctoral research focused on early childhood development in Canada and the implementation of developmental screening tools. Dr. Peterson-Katz currently leads the work on the first Canadian database of development from infancy to age six, as well as the evaluation of the Infant and Early Mental Health Care Pathways Initiative.
