Research summary
In Canada today, one in five children will face poverty and one in eight will develop a mental health problem. Children born into family disadvantage are more likely to experience poor health and face barriers to accessing much-needed programs and services. They are then unfairly labelled “hard-to-reach” and excluded from the development of policies and programs that could benefit them.
Dr. Nicole Catherine, Canada Research Chair in Child Health Equity and Policy, is generating new evidence about the needs of children born into disadvantage and translating it into effective policy and program responses. She and her research team are also investigating new interventions, such as digital health approaches, and identifying policies that better include disadvantaged children. Their work will help policy-makers, practitioners and child advocates to implement effective programs and options to reduce child health inequities.