h.+Resources

2012 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth





The Community Action Initiative (CAI) supports communities that identify and seek to address mental health and substance use concerns. [|CAI Website]

CAI was created to help address some of the most complex health issues facing families and communities in British Columbia, supporting community-led projects which recognize the community sector as an essential ally in the Province’s efforts to address these issues through its plan: // Healthy Minds, Healthy People: A Ten Year Plan to Address Mental Health and Substance Use in British Columbia. // Download the plan here

// Healthy Minds, Healthy People // is a pivotal commitment by government to transform our existing approach to addressing mental health and substance use concerns in BC. In addition to affirming government’s responsibilities in achieving set goals and milestones, it recognizes the value of collaborative action across sectors, including involvement from community-based non-profit organizations and the broader community. With one year down and nine to go, these are exciting times to bear witness to broader systems change in the mental health and substance use sector.

CAI held a Knowledge Exchange event with the 17 projects that have been funded. Down the load the report here:

The McCreary Centre Society is a non-government not-for-profit organization committed to improving the health of BC youth through research, education and community-based projects. Founded in 1977, the Society sponsors and promotes a wide range of activities and research to identify and address the health needs of young people in the province. They have done a series of 4 health surveys of British Columbia’s adolescents. The surveys reaffirm how important it is to have timely and accurate data and information on the health, behaviours, knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of our young people. Policy making and program design are at their best when they are informed by a body of fact. The McCreary Centre Society Adolescent Health Surveys are designed to give decision makers, elected officials, program designers and deliverers just that. A rich source of information from which patterns and trends, and important associations can be drawn. Below are downloads of the 2009 Provincial Survey Results and the 2003 and 2009 Kootenay Boundary specific results as well as there Evidence For Healthy Child and Youth Development Report.



For more information check their website at [|www.mcs.bc.ca/]

Since its creation in 1990, Search Institute’s framework of Developmental Assets has become the most widely used approach to positive youth development in the United States.
 * Background**—Grounded in extensive research in youth development, resiliency, and prevention, the Developmental Assets represent the relationships, opportunities, and personal qualities that young people need to avoid risks and to thrive.
 * The Power of Assets**—Studies of more than 2.2 million young people in the United States consistently show that the more assets young people have, the less likely they are to engage in a wide range of high-risk behaviors (see table below) and the more likely they are to thrive. Assets have power for all young people, regardless of their gender, economic status, family, or race/ethnicity. Furthermore, levels of assets are better predictors of high-risk involvement and thriving than poverty or being from a single-parent family. Below are their 40 Developmental Assets Lists for youth and adolescents as well as their Whats Working? Mentorship Program Evaluation Kit.

For more information check their website at[| www.search-institute.org/]

Many children and youth with mental health challenges face unique obstacles to healthy living due to such things as the symptoms of their illness, the medication they are on, or the stigma they may face. To address these obstacles that children, youth, and their families face, two healthy living toolkits were created - one for families, and one for health professionals. These toolkits contain information, resources, and tools to help children and youth with mental health challenges develop healthy living habits.
 * Healthy Living Toolkits**

‍Toolkit for Health Professionals
The //// provides information and resources for health professionals across B.C. to discuss healthy living specific to child and youth mental health. The toolkit contains information on the unique obstacles children and youth with mental health challenges may face to healthy living, assessment tools, key messages for families, and handouts that can be easily photocopied and given to children and youth within a visit.

‍Toolkit for Families
The toolkit for families was developed with The F.O.R.C.E. Society for Kids' Mental Health. The toolkit includes information on healthy living for families who have a child or youth with mental health challenges, worksheets and tools, and tips from families across B.C.

What research tells us about effective youth mentoring programs by Stephen A Small, University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension