children first

The Windsor-Essex Ontario Health Team is excited to share a report published in the Journal of Infant Mental Health. This article represents the involvement and collaboration of WEOHT partner Children First on the HEADS-ED under 6 screening tool project!

Children First participated in this project with the Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute in 2020, prior to and throughout the pandemic.  During this difficult time, Children First’s clinical and administrative staff embraced this new practice and procedure, implemented the tool to inform clinical practice, and provided a wealth of data to their partners which was able to inform this article. 

The HEADS-ED <6  has expanded its use beyond our community and province and this article assists with knowledge building in the early years sector. 

Within this article, there is a comparative analysis of how Children First’s use of the HEADS-ED under six corresponds with the InterRAI Early Years (EY).  This analysis highlights the congruence between their use of a screening tool and more in-depth assessment tool providing functionality together. This is exciting as both tools have been involved in piloting or validating and Children First has become one of the first to use them together. 

Please follow this link for the full article.  The HEADS‐ED under 6: Piloting a new communimetric mental health and developmental screening and triage tool for young children – Polihronis – Infant Mental Health Journal – Wiley Online Library