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Group of people sitting around tables in a conference room. Dr. Daniel Shaw is standing, speaking at the front of the room, in front of a screen.
The two-day International Family Check-Up retreat brought together health care experts from around the world to share research and collaboration opportunities to improve outcomes for youth with complex needs, developmental issues, and behavioural challenges, and their families. Pictured: Daniel Shaw speaking to the crowd
September 5, 2024

MCH leads international conference about Family Check-Up® program

International experts gather to expand knowledge on Family Check-Up® supports for children with complex health care needs

Holly Augerman

Holly Augerman, director of Child & Youth Mental Health

“There’s so much opportunity and we’re excited to see what’s ahead,” says Holly Augerman, director of Child & Youth Mental Health at Hamilton Health Sciences’ (HHS) McMaster Children’s Hospital (MCH), as she helped kick off the two-day International Family Check-Up® Retreat on Thursday, August 22, 2024.

Through the partnership between MCH, McMaster University and the Offord Centre for Child Studies, the event brought together 100 international experts and clinicians from across Canada, the US, Sweden, the Netherlands, and other countries to discuss the innovative Family Check-Up program.

The Family Check-Up program is an evidence-based and family-centered intervention designed to support parents, siblings, caregivers, and loved ones of children and youth with complex needs, developmental issues, and behavioural challenges. Clinicians work with these families to develop coping skills, help identify personal strengths, and find community networks available to support them.

“MCH is a strong believer that the health of children cannot be separated from their family, community and environmental context.”

The two-day conference served as a platform for sharing cutting-edge research and fostering idea generation and collaboration among health-care professionals, researchers and advocates, highlighting the program’s effectiveness in improving outcomes for the entire family.

Following MCH’s Dr. Paulo Pires and Dr. Terry Bennett’s introduction as co-hosts, keynote speakers Dr. Daniel Shaw and Dr. Beth Stormshak set the tone for the discussions. Sessions covered key themes such as the extensive research to date, the role of community, social policy, the impact of accessibility and early intervention, addressing service delivery for newcomer and multicultural populations, and new areas of exploration for the future.

A leader in Canada’s Family Check-Up® program

Speaker at podium in conference room

From left to right: Dr. Paulo Pires, Dr. Terry Bennett, Dr. Stelios Georgiades

MCH was the first hospital in Canada to integrate the Family Check-Up model, which was developed in the US, into the hospital’s programming and research. It has become a core service in some pediatric clinics, including child and youth mental health, autism, extensive needs, and development and rehabilitation.

“At our hospital, we are very proud and excited by our leadership in expanding the use of Family Check-Up to support families in our own region and across Canada,” says Augerman. “MCH is a strong believer that the health of children cannot be separated from their family, community and environmental context, and we have used this to frame everything we do and how we do it.”

From a research perspective, MCH’s leadership through the Offord Centre for Child Studies, CanChild and the McMaster Autism Research Team helped produce important knowledge and data that is influencing child and family health around the world.

“We are very proud and excited by our leadership in expanding the use of Family Check-Up to support families in our own region and across Canada.”

Holistic care for families with complex needs

Speaker standing at table with microphone in conference roomAs more clinics implement the program at MCH and the Ron Joyce Children’s Health Centre (RJCHC), more patients and families are getting access to these support services to meet their individual needs.

The outcomes of this program have been significant. Over 400 children, youth and families have been provided strength-based, family-centered care through this model as part of community outreach research projects and service delivery across the Child and Youth Mental Health program, Autism program and Extensive Needs Service.  More than 25 clinicians, supervisors and clinical trainees have been trained in this evidence-based model at MCH.

Elevating the program with research and partnerships

MCH’s child and youth mental health clinicians focused on early targeted prevention of childhood mental health challenges in a randomized controlled trial, “Making the Race Fair.” In this trial, they provided the Family Check-Up to half of the 207 caregivers of toddlers and preschoolers facing early signs of emotional challenges and/or high levels of early childhood adversity. Bennett and team found that children whose parents participated in the program demonstrated fewer behavioural challenges and had improved emotional self-regulation.

The next step for this team is to bring Family Check-Up as a prevention program into the “real world.”  This includes integrating clinicians into an early childcare setting in RJCHC’s community of partners. In addition, funding provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada will strengthen wraparound services and streamline access to critical resources for families. This will ultimately help foster healthier and more resilient communities.

“Dr. Shine has helped me be a better parent, be a better person and really take care of myself.”

Women standing at a table and speaking into a microphone at the Family Check Up retreat.MCH’s Autism Service is in a clinical and research partnership with the Offord Centre for Child Studies and the McMaster Autism Research Team (MacART). Eighty-two families are receiving the Family Check-Up for the first time as an innovation aimed at filling gaps in strength-based, collaborative and family-centered care within the Ontario Autism Program. This study will generate learnings about how to effectively tailor the Family Check-Up for families of children across a spectrum of profiles and help understand facilitators and barriers to its scale-up within autism services.

Finally, the Extensive Needs Service is a program for children and families with complex behavioral, developmental and mental health needs and is only offered at MCH, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and Holland Bloorview Kids’ Rehabilitation Hospital. As part of their program, MCH is piloting Family Check-Up as a strength-based, tailored and supportive “welcome assessment” that identifies the unique needs of families during their first visit.

Helping families navigate complex needs

Christine, whose son Matthew enrolled in MCH’s Extensive Needs Service after waiting years for a program to support his complex needs, believes the Family Check-Up program has been very beneficial for improving her own well-being and mental health as a parent trying to access the right care in a complex system.

“Dr. Shine has helped me be a better parent, be a better person and really take care of myself.”