The Human Early Learning Partnership is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children through interdisciplinary research and mobilizing knowledge.
News and Events
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Events
Well-being & Healthy Habits of Early Adolescents: MDI Data Trends
Join Dr. Eva Oberle on June 13 for a webinar about the latest MDI data collected this school year (2023-24) from children in grades 4 through 8 across BC. Hear about children’s well-being over the last 5 years and other topics of interest including sleep, screen time and social media use, active transportation habits, and more.
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Research
Creating Change via the Child Development Monitoring System: Research in Action
Child Development Monitoring System data are woven into the fabric of BC, used across sectors to inform initiatives that aim to improve outcomes for children and their families. Research in Action is the latest brief from HELP, showcasing examples of research findings using Monitoring System data.
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News
Dr. Kimberly Thomson Returns to HELP as Affiliate Faculty Member
Having previously completed her PhD with HELP and UBC’s School of Population and Public Health, this appointment will mark Dr. Kimberly Thomson’s return to the research centre, after recently joining the Children’s Health Policy Centre within the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University (SFU) as Assistant Professor.
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Events
Poverty, Childhood Experiences & Well-Being in BC
Join long-time collaborators, First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society and UBC’s Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), on April 18 as they host an online presentation and discussion about the newly released 2023 BC Child Poverty Report Card and the relationship between income inequality and children’s daily experiences, development, and well-being.
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News
Now Available: 2023 CHEQ Reports
Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (CHEQ) Reports for the 2023-24 school year are now available to access!
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News
Supporting the Early Years: Insights from Pre-Conference Day at UBC’s Early Years Conference
On February 1, HELP hosted the Pre-Conference at UBC’s 2024 Early Years Conference, welcoming nearly 300 early years professionals from BC, across Canada and beyond.
HELP's unique approach
Relationships
Reciprocity, accountability and respect are at the foundation of HELP’s longstanding relationships with communities, organizations, institutions and governments across BC and Canada. These relationships, along with guidance from an Aboriginal Steering Committee (ASC), contribute to our research, data and knowledge mobilization initiatives. Learn more about the Aboriginal Steering Committee.
Data
The Child Development Monitoring System safely and reliably gathers population-level data about the developmental health and well-being of children and adolescents at multiple times between infancy and 18 years of age. It is the foundation for much of the leading-edge research and knowledge mobilization undertaken at HELP. Learn more about the Child Development Monitoring System.
Expertise
Faculty, researchers and affiliates at HELP hold scientific expertise across a wide range of disciplines, contributing to a unique and diverse program of research that situates HELP research at the forefront of important health and equity issues. Learn more about HELP research.
Impact
HELP leads collaborative and inclusive processes that transform data and research into action. Across both practice and policy, HELP is focused on supporting evidence-informed change across systems, institutions and in communities. Learn more about HELP’s knowledge mobilization and research impact.
Publications
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Outdoor Play
‘There’s not a lot of places for them to go’: rural and remote family perspectives on children’s independent mobility
Children’s Geographies
Pelletier, C., Cornish, K., & Sanders, C.To promote children’s independent mobility (CIM) in rural and remote areas, efforts should focus on providing education on wildlife encounters, creating safe and interesting destinations for play, and consider children’s safety and connectivity in road design.
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Outdoor Play
Supporting Greater Vancouver secondary school students’ mental health through time outdoors : a qualitative investigation
University of British Columbia
Hussaina, H.The purpose of this study is to understand the experiences of youth located in the Greater Vancouver Metropolitan District (GVMD), of British Columbia, Canada, who engage in or would like to engage in outdoor time at secondary schools as a mental health promotion strategy.
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Outdoor Play
Frequency and duration measurements of children’s outdoor free play: a scoping review.
Journal of Childhood, Education & Society
Ramsden, R., O’Kane, M., Oberle, E., & Brussoni, M.Outdoor free play encompasses unstructured, self-directed play in the outdoors and has been shown to support children’s health and development. Accurate and reliable measures are required to conduct research on children’s outdoor free play and examine cross-sectional and longitudinal variation. This study systematically reviews and evaluates measurement approaches for children’s outdoor free play used in existing literature.
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Socio-Economic
Out-of-school time use in Pakistan: a qualitative study featuring youth’s voices.
Journal of Research on Adolescence
Kerai, S., Ibrahim, M., Molyneux, T. M., Hussain, U., Gadermann, A., Kassam, R., Pardhan, A., & Oberle, E.The current study addresses the lack of out-of-school time (OST) research in low- and middle-income countries by exploring OST use in the context of Pakistan and incorporating youth’s voices.
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Socio-Economic
Childhood poverty and school readiness: differences by poverty type and immigration background.
SSM – Population Health
Randip Gill, Mohammad Ehsanul Karim, Joseph H. Puyat, et al.This study reinforces the importance of economic policies to support low-income families, which have been associated with a reduction in negative health outcomes for children.
Indigenous Initiatives at HELP