December 2008 - Program Updates

Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment (CPCHE) Local Champion’s Making a Big Difference!

Radio talk shows, newsletters, seminar discussions, key note addresses, workshops, lunch and learns are just a few of the tools local champions are using very effectively…
by Beth-Anne Currrie, Environmental Health Consultant, Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment Partnership

In 2007, CPCHE (with OPHA as the lead organization) received Ontario Trillium Foundation funding to begin work on a Local Champion’s on Children’s Environmental Health Project. Today there are 45 newly-minted Local Champions from five sectors and six regions across Ontario who have received intensive CPCHE training, support, and resources on children’s environmental health (CEH) issues.

All Local Champions have contributed significantly to building knowledge and capacity in their communities on CEH issues. Local Champions have provided information for radio talk shows, newsletters, seminar discussions, key note addresses, workshops, lunch and learns, and many other unique initiatives.

It would be best to discuss all Local Champions activities, however, two will be profiled in this article. The first is Lyne Soramaki, Public Health Nurse, Thunder Bay District Health Unit. Lyne participated in a CPCHE-led workshop on children’s environmental health in 2007 and was quick to sign on to become a Local Champion in 2008. Lyne returned to Thunder Bay and became a driving force in the creation of a Public Health Unit–based Children’s Environmental Health Working Group, made up of cross-departmental professionals. Lyne capitalized on opportunities to train health unit peers, develop and test CEH health promotion pieces and influence community discussions and displays with CEH at every turn. Lyne was instrumental in motivating the Thunder Bay Children’s Charter Coalition — a partnership of the Municipality of Thunder Bay, Norwest Community Health Centres, and the Thunder Bay District Health Unit — to direct this year’s UN-based Children’s Charter document towards informing community members on strategies to reducing the risks of early contaminant exposure in children. Lyne helped to coordinate a terrific media event and a launch to kick off this year’s Children’s Charter and will be following up with a Charter Challenge to see how much the community is reducing their risks. Great job, Lyne!

Another Local Champion, Nancy Brown, is a professor at Seneca College in the Early Childhood Education. Nancy turned her CEH passion toward mobilizing peers, faculty, students, and administrators at Seneca College to host and convene a two-day conference in September entitled: Growing Up Health and Green; A Dialogue – Environmental Health and Green Practice in Child Care. This well orchestrated conference positioned CEH issues squarely in the minds of key professionals including; municipal day care supervisors, policy makers, child care practitioners from early years centres and day care organizations, faculty and students from other settings, and allied health professionals like health promoters and public health nurses . With over 300 attendees over two days, Nancy will be well-remembered for this herculean effort in bringing CEH to the forefront in the child care sector. Nancy continues to inculcate CEH into daily lectures, curriculum, and learning lab instruction at Seneca. Her students are richly blessed. Great job, Nancy!

For more information on how to become a Local Champion or access CPCHE resources, please contact Beth Anne Currie c/o OPHA.