South Vancouver, often viewed as a single section of Vancouver, actually encompasses three distinct neighbourhoods, each with unique demographics and needs.

A Community with Distinct Needs

Home to nearly 100,000 people, South Vancouver has the City of Vancouver’s highest proportion of racialized residents (80%) and immigrants (56%). The region is home to many young families and seniors living in multigenerational households, yet it has a limited number of social service hubs. These factors create a unique set of challenges for the children and families in South Vancouver, which the South Vancouver Neighbourhood House (SVNH) has been addressing through data-driven, community-informed approaches.

Identifying Gaps Through EDI Data

SVNH was an active member of the Vancouver Early Years Partnership (VEYP), a network that collaborated to promote early years programs and services and used Early Development Instrument (EDI) and other data sources to better understand and address children’s developmental needs. With the release of Wave 6 EDI data (collected 2013-2016), SVNH and its executive director at the time, Zahra Esmail, noted that while South Vancouver was often viewed as a single area of Vancouver, it encompassed three distinct neighbourhoods: Killarney, Victoria-Fraserview, and Sunset. Each neighbourhood had different concentrations of children, gaps in services, and areas with higher prevalence of developmental vulnerabilities. Recognizing these diverse needs across South Vancouver prompted the creation of more accessible programming to meet families where they were.

Meeting Families Where They Are: New Outreach Programs

One of the EDI data-informed initiatives SVNH established involved a series of early years outreach programs, taking place directly in local parks and community spaces across the three neighborhoods. These “pop-up” style programs made it easier for families to participate, reducing barriers such as transportation, while fostering a sense of community in accessible, familiar environments. Efforts were made to connect with community leaders and to increase visibility of neighbourhood languages and cultures.

The outreach programs also focused on social-emotional learning and connecting families to resources and support, addressing the vulnerabilities identified in the EDI data. As these programs grew in popularity, SVNH successfully secured funding for more early years programming – extending support across the community.

This foundational work set the stage for ongoing efforts under the current Executive Director leadership of Mimi Rennie, Esmail’s successor.

Advocating for Systemic Change

SVNH teamed up with the Community Research and Engagement (CoRE) Lab at the University of British Columbia, led by HELP faculty member Dr. Brenda Poon, to further explore the multiple influences on, and systems involved with supporting, children’s early social and emotional development. They are currently co-developing a community-based participatory action research program that emphasizes and promotes community strengths and engagement to connect marginalized families in the community to needed supports and services.

The Urban Studies Program and Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University supported SVNH and Marpole Neighbourhood House (MNH) to do a neighbourhood equity analysis. The findings, outlined in the South Vancouver and Marpole Neighbourhood Equity Report, highlight differences in funding opportunities, transportation availability, social and health infrastructure between South Vancouver and other areas of the city.

Building on the initial exploration of the early years context, SVNH also consulted Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) data and strengthened opportunities for youth engagement, participation and leadership in these processes. These efforts revealed that South Vancouver has a growing youth population with unique needs that aren’t being fully met. Unlike other parts of Vancouver, South Vancouver lacks a centralized youth hub, leaving young people with limited resources and programming options, and a sense of belonging in their neighbourhood. Drawing on the City of Vancouver’s Building Safer Communities Program, SVNH has used MDI data and community data to advocate for change at the municipal level.

Community members were invited to share their experiences at city council meetings, drawing attention to the systemic underfunding and lack of infrastructure in South Vancouver. These efforts have already prompted the City of Vancouver to respond around transportation issues and funding to continue relationship and community-building efforts between the City and South Vancouver communities.

A Broader Vision: Building Equity and Fostering Community Leadership

By documenting the challenges that children and families in South Vancouver face, EDI and MDI data helped SVNH make a compelling case for equitable investment in South Vancouver’s infrastructure and services. The ongoing collaboration between SVNH, and various academic partners exemplifies how data and research can drive community-led solutions, enabling families to thrive, and shaping policy and programs for lasting change. Through their extensive and ongoing community engagement and development efforts, SVNH is helping to build a more equitable future for South Vancouver’s families.

New research from the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) shows children are struggling to meet national recommendations for physical activity, sleep and screen time, but those who do report better mental health and well-being.

Only four per cent of youth in B.C. are meeting all of Canada’s recommendations for daily movement, according to new research from the University of B.C.

The survey of more than 26,000 Grade 6-8 children across the province examined how well they are adhering to Canada’s 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, which recommend at least one hour of physical activity, 8-10 hours of sleep and no more than two hours of recreational screen time per day.

The findings, published today in BMC Public Health, reveal that excessive recreational screen time is by far the biggest challenge. Only 14 per cent of children met the daily screen time recommendation, while 26 per cent met the guidelines for physical activity and 73 per cent for sleep.

“It’s quite concerning to see how few children are meeting all of the daily recommendations,” said lead researcher Dr. Eva Oberle, associate professor at UBC’s HELP within the school of population and public health. “But the biggest standout is screen time. It’s a hard recommendation for today’s kids to meet because many rely on their phones for communication, connecting with friends, gaming and entertainment.”

Movement linked to better mental health

Adopted in 2016, Canada’s 24-Hour Movement Guidelines were the world’s first to integrate guidelines for physical activity, sleep and limits to sedentary time, reflecting evidence of the important relationship between each of the three factors. The guidelines have since been adopted by the World Health Organization.

While previous research has linked the guidelines to better physical health, the new study went further to reveal their association with better mental well-being. Youth who met more of the movement guidelines reported higher optimism, greater life satisfaction and fewer depressive symptoms.

“We see significantly better mental health for youth who meet all, or even some, of the movement guidelines,” said Dr. Oberle. “Interestingly, sleep was the strongest factor associated with better mental well-being—highlighting the importance of young people getting a good night sleep. Of course, the movement behaviours are interconnected. If you are physically active, you sleep better, and long hours on screens can interfere with sleep.”

The study also found that girls appear to have the biggest gains in mental well-being when they meet the guidelines for sleep, sleep and screen time, or all three movement behaviours.

“There are some key differences between girls and boys, so we need to be considering specific interventions that would benefit each group,” said Dr. Oberle. “We know, for instance, that social media use among girls can have a greater negative impact on mental health, which could be why we’re seeing such notable well-being gains when girls meet the movement guidelines.”

Supporting youth to get moving

While the researchers say there is no one-size-fits-all solution to help young people meet the guidelines, encouraging any form of positive activity may be one simple, yet effective approach.

“As a parent myself, I know how challenging it can be to find balance, and every family is going to have their own strategies that work for them,” said Dr. Oberle. “But generally speaking, it’s much easier to promote positive activities than to restrict screen time. If kids are engaged in activities—whether it’s sports, music, crafts, outdoor play or even biking to school—they naturally spend less time online.”

Schools can also play a key role in promoting healthier movement behaviours. Ensuring that physical education is available year-round—rather than in semester blocks that leave students inactive for months—is one way to support daily activity. Offering both structured and unstructured play opportunities, such as after-school programs or lunchtime clubs, can also encourage movement.

“Movement doesn’t have to mean organized sports—it can be as simple as biking around the block, climbing a tree or playing outside,” said co-author Dr. Mariana Brussoni, director of UBC’s Human Early Learning Partnership, and a professor in the department of pediatrics and school of population and public health. “The goal is to create an environment where movement naturally fits into daily life, because that will be most sustainable in the long run.”

The researchers hope the findings will spark conversations among parents, educators and policymakers about how to better support youth in developing healthier daily routines.

*This story was originally written and published by UBC Faculty of Medicine as well as UBC News.

The BC Aboriginal Child Care Society (BCCACS) hosted its Annual Provincial Training Conference from February 20-22, 2025. The year’s theme was “We Are One: Braiding Our Knowledge” with the aim of “weaving diverse perspectives, knowledge systems, and traditions into a collective whole.” Four members of the Aboriginal Steering Committee at HELP including Elder Duane Jackson, Lori Huston, Sheila Grieve, and Laranna Scott attended.

Sheila and Laranna both ran workshops on topics close to their hearts. On Day One, Sheila ran “Creating Tools and Art for Tactile Exploration” that led participants through the process of designing and creating tactile tools to foster creativity and accessibility within programming. On Day Two, Laranna led a workshop called “Expanding Our Circle: Family Support Institute of BC” with a panel consisting of the not-for-profit society Family Support Institute of BC.  Within the theme, the panel illustrated how the society is braiding knowledge together by expanding its circle and building its capacity to better support Indigenous children, youth, adults and families across BC.

As a keynote speaker, Lori presented Nurturing Indigenous Childhoods Through the Practices of Ceremony. As the Project Manager and Curriculum Developer for the “Nurturing Childhoods Through Indigenous Ways of Knowing” Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), and a PhD student under Dr. Hare’s guidance, together they have woven Indigenous teachings into the MOOC’s curriculum. The keynote inspires you to consider how the care of young Indigenous children can be viewed as a ceremony—one that mirrors the love and care Indigenous families and communities have for their children. By grounding early learning practices in relationality, land, reciprocity, and protocol, we believe educators can help foster thriving children who will contribute to stronger, healthier communities and relationships with each other, the land, and the world (Waters et al., 2024). Elder Duane reflected that the keynote on Lori and Jan’s work “speaks directly to the interdisciplinary approach to early childhood education and development, and the holistic approach to raising children from Indigenous cultures.”

As a whole, the conference was an invaluable space shared with those around the province working to incorporate diverse ways of knowing to improve the lives of Indigenous children, youth, and families.

Written by Dakota Anderberg
Dakota Anderberg is the Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator at HELP. She works with the Senior Manager of Indigenous Initiatives to develop, build, and maintain meaningful relationships with Indigenous communities and organizations.

Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (CHEQ) Reports for the 2024-2025 school year are now available to access via HELP’s Reports page!

Available reports include:

CHEQ BC Summary Report 2024-2025 — summarizes data from 21 participating school districts about children’s early experiences and contexts prior to starting school. Over 4800 parents/caregivers completed a CHEQ for their child at the start of kindergarten in spring and fall 2024. BC Summary Reports for past school years (dating back to 2019-20) can also be accessed.

CHEQ School District Reports 2024-2025 — summarize CHEQ data at the district level for students attending schools in participating districts. Scroll down the page to search by school district name. In participating school districts, CHEQ Neighbourhood Reports 2024-2025 are also available. Neighbourhood Reports are based on children’s postal codes, representing children that live in each neighbourhood of the school district (neighbourhood boundaries are the same across CHEQ, EDI and MDI reporting).

NOTE: Reports may be suppressed when coverage of the population is low or the population size of an area is very small.

HELP is grateful to all teachers, staff and school administrators that partner with us to make data collection possible, and to the parents/caregivers that took time to complete a CHEQ this year! Thank you for making this possible!

A new population-based study from UBC’s Human Early Learning Partnership reveals that transgender and gender-diverse (T&GD) youth experience significantly lower mental well-being compared to their cisgender peers, with school connectedness emerging as the most crucial factor for promoting their well-being.

The research, published in School Mental Health, analyzed data from more than 23,000 students in grades 6-8 across British Columbia who completed the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) survey during the 2022-23 school year.

“Our findings show concerning disparities in mental well-being between transgender and gender-diverse youth and their cisgender peers,” said first-author Maram Alkawaja, PhD Candidate at UBC’s Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) within the School of Population and Public Health. “But importantly, we identified modifiable factors that can promote better outcomes for these young people.”

Transgender and gender-diverse youth experience lower well-being

The study found that 3.7% of adolescents identified as T&GD. The most common terms youth used to label their gender identity were non-binary (39.6%), gender fluid (20.4%), demi-girl (5.4%), and transgender (3.4%). The researchers wanted to understand mental well-being among T&GD and cisgender youth, so they looked at two indicators: satisfaction with life and depressive symptoms. They found that T&GD youth reported significantly lower satisfaction with life and higher levels of depressive symptoms compared to cisgender boys and girls.

School connectedness matters

The research team also explored how connectedness to peers, adults, and school were related to mental health and well-being, finding that all three were linked to higher levels of well-being for adolescents. School connectedness—the experience of feeling welcomed, supported, and included at school—emerged as the most influential factor for T&GD youth.

“What’s striking is that for cisgender youth, connection to adults at home explained the largest portion of variance in life satisfaction,” said senior author and project lead Dr. Eva Oberle, Associate Professor at HELP. “But for transgender and gender-diverse youth, school connectedness was consistently the most important factor for both life satisfaction and lower depressive symptoms.” These findings align with other research which indicates that stressful environments featuring bias, prejudice, and discrimination can contribute to mental health disparities for minority groups, but that schools can play a critical role in buffering the impact of these stressors by prioritizing connectedness and inclusivity.

Creating supportive school environments

The study’s findings have important implications for public health and educational programming in schools. While ideally T&GD adolescents would experience support from family, peers, and school, factors at the school level can be more easily modified in a systemic way to ensure their safety and well-being. Some recommended approaches include:

• Ensuring schools are safe, caring and inclusive
• Implementing sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI)-inclusive education
• Establishing firm codes of conduct with zero tolerance for discrimination
• Creating well-articulated procedures for reporting bullying and victimization
• Supporting the use of chosen names and pronouns
• Implementing stigma-reducing initiatives like gender-neutral bathrooms
• Allowing students to join sports teams based on their preferred gender identity
• Providing schoolwide social and emotional learning programs
• Training staff to respond to family inquiries respectfully
• Ensuring curricular and library materials contain inclusive language and content

“Creating safe and inclusive school environments may be key for supporting transgender and gender-diverse students who might not experience support in other environments such as at home,” said co-author Dr. Tonje Molyneux, researcher with Wellstream in UBC’s School of Nursing. “Our findings suggest school connectedness operates as a critical factor in promoting their overall well-being.”

The researchers suggest future studies should explore additional modifiable factors at the school level and examine potential differences in mental well-being outcomes based on levels of support and inclusivity.

The study was published in March 2025 in the journal School Mental Health and was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

*This story was originally written and published by UBC School of Population and Public Health.

The Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) is thrilled to announce the addition of two distinguished faculty members, Dr. Angie Ip and Dr. Trevor Goodyear. Both bring a wealth of experience and a shared commitment to equity and interdisciplinary research, enhancing HELP’s mission to support the health and well-being of children through interdisciplinary research and mobilizing knowledge.

Dr. Angie IP

HELP welcomes back Dr. Angie Ip, who previously joined the research centre as a PhD student studying developmental profiles of children with complex neurodevelopmental disorders. Now a developmental pediatrician, clinician investigator, and associate clinical professor in the Division of Developmental Pediatrics at UBC, Ip also serves as medical director of the BC Autism Assessment Network at BC Children’s Hospital.

“I am truly honored to be joining HELP as a faculty member,” says Ip. “The dedicated and community-minded HELP team has had a profound impact on my journey, from PhD student to clinician investigator. I’m excited for the opportunity to contribute, collaborate, and continue learning from this inspiring community.”

Ip’s work aims to transform care for neurodiverse families by fostering knowledge translation and implementing sustainable systems and frameworks for high-quality, neurodiversity affirming care for all children and youth and their families, regardless of geography or background. Her research program focuses on addressing critical gaps and reducing inequities in autism care through innovative educational initiatives, capacity-building for community clinicians, and patient-family partnerships.

“We are delighted to announce the addition of Dr. Angie Ip to our esteemed faculty,” says HELP’s director, Dr. Mariana Brussoni. “By welcoming her back in this new capacity, Angie will deepen our links with the Sunny Hill Health Centre and greatly contribute to HELP’s mission and commitment to equity for all children.”

Dr. Trevor Goodyear

Also joining HELP as a faculty member, Dr. Trevor Goodyear is a registered nurse and Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at UBC. Goodyear’s clinical background includes work in inpatient adult medicine, community health, and child and adolescent mental health — this informs his current program of community-based youth mental health and substance use research, which emphasizes work with equity-owed youth.

“I am very happy to join HELP as a faculty member,” says Goodyear. “It is a real privilege to get to work alongside other equity-minded child and youth health researchers, and I look forward to new and continued collaborations with the HELP team. I’m especially excited about the interdisciplinary and action-oriented work being done at HELP, which aligns well with how I approach my research in youth mental health and substance use.”

Goodyear’s research takes a social approach to the study of youth substance use, mental health, and related health and healthcare experiences, with the aim of developing more nuanced understandings of these issues and the social and structural contexts in which they are experienced.

“All of us at HELP are excited to welcome Dr. Trevor Goodyear as an affiliate faculty member,” says Brussoni. “His insightful research on substance use, mental health, and healthcare experiences brings a valuable perspective to our team. His dedication to equity and interdisciplinary approaches will not only enhance HELP’s program of research, but also our vision of all children thriving in healthy societies.”

HELP looks forward to the valuable contributions and collaborations of Dr. Angie Ip and Dr. Trevor Goodyear, both within HELP and beyond.

We are pleased to announce the latest spring funding awards received by esteemed faculty members of the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP).

SSHRC Partnership Development Grant

Dr. Martin Guhn has been awarded a Partnership Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for a new project, Advancing community partnerships to integrate monitoring system data and support decision making for the well-being of children, youth, and families.

The Partnership Development project seeks to work with four BC communities to integrate data from HELP’s Child Development Monitoring System with knowledge and expertise from community service providers and professionals, government decision-makers, advocacy groups, and researchers. This cross-sector engagement may lead to meaningful synergies across community-based action, research, advocacy, and policy-making processes and ultimately more coordinated efforts to enhance child and youth well-being in BC.  

Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters

Additionally, Dr. Guhn and Dr. Matt Carwana have both received Research Excellence Clusters funded through the 2025/26 Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters at UBC.

Dr. Martin Guhn’s new cluster, Roots for Indigenous Partnered Research, aims to strengthen collaborations between researchers and Indigenous communities, collectives, and organizations (ICCOs). This cluster integrates Indigenous values, methodologies, and ways of knowing into academic health research, fostering community and highlighting Indigenous-led health research and partnership opportunities.

Dr. Matt Carwana’s renewed cluster focuses on overdose prevention, uniting an interdisciplinary team of experts working towards their mission of ending youth overdose deaths. Guided by community trust and meaningful engagement, this cluster collaborates closely with Youth and Family Advisory Councils, Indigenous Elders, and Cultural Facilitators.

Please join us in celebrating these impactful initiatives!

From its grassroots community action origins in the 1970’s, RayCam Co-operative Centre has long been a cornerstone for local residents, children, families and seniors in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) and Strathcona neighbourhoods.

RayCam provides family programs, licensed full-day child care and after-school care, community and recreation programming. Recently, the Centre’s board members and community partners were interested in gathering information about the experiences of families with young children in the neighbourhood to inform program development and contribute to the RayCam Renewal project currently in process in partnership with the City of Vancouver.

Understanding the Challenges, Using Data for Planning and Action

With 1 in 3 (32.9%) children in BC arriving in kindergarten vulnerable in one or more areas of development measured by the Early Development Instrument (EDI Wave 8, 2019-2022), it is clear that more needs to be done to support children and families in the province — a particularly pressing concern in Strathcona and the DTES. In the most recent available data, over 60% of kindergarten children in the area were vulnerable on one or more scales of the EDI (Wave 7, 2016-2019). Strathcona is one of a handful of neighbourhoods in the province that have experienced EDI vulnerability rates above 40% across all Waves of EDI data collection over the last 20 years.

As RayCam’s Child Care Analyst Rabia Mir noted, “When the attention about the DTES is all about homelessness, opioid crisis, and street chaos, people can forget that there are children and families living here.”

While EDI data has highlighted concerning trends, there have been calls from the community to focus on strengths rather than vulnerability for solutions. Additionally, common data sources may underrepresent the experiences of children and families from some communities for a variety of reasons such as language, time and technology barriers, and distrust of data and research processes, among others. These issues led to the interest in developing a community-specific survey to better understand local strengths and needs, and a collaboration with the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) to conduct a needs assessment.

Building Relationships and Sharing Data

Lisa Ritland, a RayCam volunteer (and PhD candidate researching child care from an equity lens at HELP), was approached and hired to support Child Care Analyst Rabia Mir and Executive Director Kate Hodgson to conduct a community needs assessment process. During this period, RayCam hosted an in-person Health After 2020 research dialogue, bringing researchers and community members together to discuss equity in early childhood post-COVID-19. This event exemplified the reciprocal learning opportunities that arise from strong community-research partnerships.

Developing the Strathcona Early Childhood Needs Assessment

Hodgson, Mir and Ritland engaged HELP faculty and staff in discussions about what information and survey tools might be most useful and appropriate for their assessment process. A decision was made to adapt the Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (CHEQ) to their community context. Ritland worked alongside RayCam staff on this project, engaging parents and caregivers to fill out the survey, analyzing the findings, and sharing the results with community families and partners.

With five decades of experience as a “centre of community”, RayCam’s strong neighourhood relationships were crucial in gathering input from families with young children. Outreach strategies included posters, flyers, information booths, and door-knocking. The survey was available in English, Spanish, and Arabic to accommodate community demographics. Trusting relationships between staff and families facilitated participation, and compensation was provided for their time and knowledge.

Key Findings and Actions

The needs assessment collected 100 survey responses from neighborhood parents and caregivers of children aged 2.5 to five years. The results highlighted the urgent need for investment to address early health inequalities in the community. RayCam has used the findings to develop new programs, inform the RayCam Renewal project, and advocate for increased neighbourhood investment in the early years. Ongoing actions include:

• Increasing access to licensed child care, family literacy programs, and speech therapy
• Enhancing safe outdoor play spaces
• Implementing food supports in child and family programs
• Providing child-centered counseling and play therapy

Recommendations for Government Investment

Alongside local actions, the Summary Report: Strathcona Early Childhood Needs Assessment 2023-24 outlines key recommendations for government investment:

• Inter-sectoral collaboration and action on early childhood development to address the social determinants of health
• A hub funding and service delivery model for families with young children to access information, resources, and supports in one stop from trusted providers.
• Place-based family supports that are designed based on the collective needs and strengths of families living in the Strathcona and DTES neighbourhoods.
• A whole-child approach that understands children’s health and education outcomes as a result of their access to nurturing early environments and experiences

RayCam’s dedication to listening, relationship-building, collaboration and advocacy has been instrumental in supporting children and families in Strathcona and DTES over many decades. By leveraging strong community ties and gathering comprehensive data with the support of HELP, RayCam is, yet again, raising up community voices to highlight gaps and offer solutions to better meet the needs of community children and families.

For more details, read the full report.

MDI School District Reports 2024-25 are now available to access on the HELP website. These reports provide a comprehensive overview of Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) results for the 35 school districts in BC that participated in MDI data collection the 2024-25 school year, with more than 40,000 children in grades 4 through 8 completing a questionnaire.

New MDI Resources for Educators! 

HELP is also excited to be releasing a new MDI Lesson Series designed to provide educators with a collection of lessons they can use to introduce the MDI to their students and help them integrate the survey and their school or district results into their classroom curriculum in meaningful and relevant ways that also align with the British Columbia Curriculum and Core Competencies.  

The lessons can be used individually or together to enrich and enhance BC middle grades students’ educational experience. Designed to be short and easy to implement, the lessons require few materials or resources. Implementation guidance is provided to help educators determine the best way to adapt and deliver the learning experiences in their context. 

Lesson Series Topics 

The MDI Lesson Series is divided into three main topics: 

• Lesson Series 1: Getting to Know the MDI — featuring three short lessons that introduce students to the survey including its dimensions and how results are reported. Available now
• Lesson Series 2: Using MDI Data — featuring several short lessons that integrate MDI data into academic subject areas such as math and social studies. Coming soon
• Lesson Series 3: Taking Action with Your MDI Results — supports the design and implementation of service-learning projects that students can create to take action based on their MDI results. Coming soon

Win a Pizza Party for your class!

Interested in trying out these new resources with your class? We want your feedback! Try out Lesson Series 1: Getting to Know the MDI. Complete the brief online feedback survey (below) and submit your name, school and school district information for the chance to win a pizza party for your class! Winners will be chosen by June 16, 2025.

Dr. Randip Gill’s research aims to uncover strategies that support healthier outcomes for vulnerable populations.

Intersecting Personal and Academic Experiences

Gill’s journey into early childhood development research is deeply rooted in both academic curiosity and personal experience. His academic path, enriched by diverse coursework and research opportunities, coupled with his family’s experiences in British Columbia (BC), shaped his dedication to understanding the intricate connections between poverty, immigration backgrounds, and children’s developmental outcomes in his PhD research. This personal and academic intersection has also driven Gill to delve deeper into how early experiences and risk factors can biologically embed themselves, influencing children’s future health and development.

Collaborative Opportunities and a New Role

Previously a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), Gill has recently been promoted to a new role within the research centre, this time as Research Associate Methodologist. “The collaborative environment at HELP and UBC has provided me with invaluable opportunities to learn from and work with faculty, staff, and students from diverse backgrounds and expertise,” says Gill. “This new role is an opportunity to engage more closely with various HELP teams, developing community and government engagement activities, and I am excited to continue with research projects that I’m passionate about, including new projects that will utilize the Early Development Instrument (EDI) and the Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (CHEQ).”

Additionally, Gill finds immense fulfillment in working alongside passionate co-workers and mentors who share his commitment to this vital field, noting “I am proud that I have the opportunity to contribute, in whatever small way that I can, to improving the health and developmental outcomes for children in BC and elsewhere — particularly for those who experience socioeconomic disadvantage.”

Future Directions and Policy Implications

Gill’s research aims to uncover how early risk factors impact children’s future education, development, and health outcomes, as well as the potential avenues through which to support these children and families. “My research includes examining how early childhood experiences such as socioeconomic disadvantage associates with children’s developmental vulnerability and mental health, and how early risk factors may biologically embed through mechanisms such as epigenetic modification,” he explains. By identifying these critical factors, Gill hopes to develop strategies that can mitigate negative outcomes and promote healthier developmental trajectories for children.

Looking ahead, Gill envisions a future “where steps are taken to reduce inequality and create conditions where every child and family has the opportunity to thrive.” He adds, “this would involve policy changes and supports that empower individuals to foster positive health, development, and educational outcomes, regardless of the circumstances that they might be starting from.”

Gill notes that he is keen to further explore the impact of economic policies on the health and development of children in BC and across Canada. “Especially given the recent pressures on the cost of living, I believe that understanding the effects of economic policies, both broad and targeted, on children’s health and development is crucial,” he argues. “This research could provide critical insights for informing future policy and interventions, ultimately benefiting society as a whole.”