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Children and teens need greater attention

Single parent families a particular concern, according to health officer One in five children in Sea to Sky country is being raised in poverty and, in single-parent families, one in two kids is living below the poverty line.

Single parent families a particular concern, according to health officer

One in five children in Sea to Sky country is being raised in poverty and, in single-parent families, one in two kids is living below the poverty line.

"We have significant hardship and significant concerns about single parent families in Sea to Sky and their ability to provide for their kids," said Coast Garibaldi Medical Health Officer, Dr. Paul Martiquet.

"I think it is important for the community to know this."

Martiquet was quoting figures from the Provincial Health Officer’s latest report on the health of British Columbians.

The report, which is compiled annually, was first released late last year and is based on 1999 data. Martiquet is now taking the information on the road in this health region.

He recently made a presentation to Whistler council and he will be talking to the Pemberton and Squamish councils and to the Howe Sound School Board.

The report rates all the health regions in the province using 93 health indicators. Martiquet said, in relation to the rest of the province, the Coast Garibaldi region – which also includes the Sunshine Coast and Powell River areas – ranks better than average. "But only just."

Although this health region is doing okay with 42 indicators of health, there remains much work to be done, noted Martiquet.

He said the key areas that need attention relate to children and teens and establishing "connectedness" with youth in both family and school environments.

He said, particularly in Whistler, there has been an upward trend in heavy drinking and binge drinking in adolescents, combined with an increase in other "risk-taking" behaviour which includes smoking, marijuana use, early sex and unprotected sex.

This in turn leads to other problems, including a high rate of teen pregnancy and abortions. The suicide rate for this health region is also on the high end. "And the majority of cases are of youth, which is even sadder," noted Martiquet.

"I think essentially what we are seeing is a failure of communication between youth and adults."

Martiquet said recent studies have shown that this type of adolescent risk-taking behaviour correlates directly with how connected young people feel with their families and in their school environments. The more connected, the less the risky activity.

To feel connected, said Martiquet, youth need to feel respected by their parents. They need to feel nurtured and safe at home and be able to talk to parents. Students who feel connected at school feel respected. And those who have teachers they see as role models also indulge less in risk-taking behaviours.

"The key is we need to increase our family connectednes," said Martiquet. "Families, parents have to talk to their teens. They need to open those communication lines and they have to listen to what their kids are telling them."

Already, a Next Step workshop has been held and stakeholders listened to what the region’s youth had to say. "They want a more direct voice to the decision makers and we are encouraging that," noted Martiquet. "We are basically helping them to set up on-going committees that will essentially inform the school board and school staff about what the issues are and what students feel they need to increase that family and school connectedness."

This may work in theory but many Sea to Sky parents themselves are stressed trying to earn a living and the cycle is a viscous one – one that not only alienates adolescents but that is leading to a disturbing rate of child abuse and neglect. A total of 150 children were taken from their homes and into state care in this region in 1999.

"This is the flip side of the issue," noted Martiquet. "You will find that those kids who are more likely to be indulging in risk-taking behaviours and having lower family connectdeness happen to be in the lower socio-economic classes."

Canada does not have an official "poverty line" but Statistics Canada has come up with a low income cut-off (LICO) line for selected age groups and family structures. Health and social service organizations often refer to this LICO rate as the "poverty rate".

The LICO lines are set depending on family size and degree of urbanization. Families who spend more than 20 percentage points of their total income on essentials – like food, clothing and shelter – above what is determined to be average for other families in the same region, are determined to fall below the LICO line.

In the Coast Garibaldi health region, 52.3 per cent of single-mom families fall below this line. In stark contrast, only 9 per cent of the population over the age of 65 in this region falls below that line – the best rate for retirees in the province.

"These numbers don’t paint a pretty picture and one of the things I told Whistler council is that we see an increased need to spend energy and time and resources at the early childhood ages," Martiquet said. "Instead of abusing them and neglecting these children, they need to be nurtured and stimulated. We know that kids who are placed in environments like that really are given the pre-requisites in life to become better functioning and more community related."

Martiquet said the Coast Garibaldi health region is also working to encourage more licensed family daycare facilities.

Looking at some of the other health indicators, Martiquet said the Coast Garibaldi region also has to work on its rate of "preventable admissions" to hospital. This region has a rate of 5.4 preventable admissions per 1,000 people, compared to the provincial best of 2.

"We need to make the best use of our hospital beds," said Martiquet. "They are expensive and we know that some of the admissions that go into hospital could have been prevented in the illness stage or the preventive period. We have also seen a move in the wrong direction in terms of what is called alternate level of care. For example, there are people at the Squamish hospital who are sitting in beds who shouldn’t be there. They basically should be cared for in the community. We still have a problem with people who should be cared for in the community taking up expensive hospital beds. These are issues we are working with the community health council to address."

The Coast Garibaldi region has the lowest rate of respiratory disease in the province but cancer, whooping cough, mental health problems and cardiovascular disease still rate fairly high in relation to other health regions.

Some of the problems are attributed to high rates of smoking and alcohol consumption but Martiquet said it is difficult to get a handle on the alcohol problem in this region because of the tourist nature of Whistler. "It skews all alcohol consumption data."

Martiquet said, however, there are some things we are getting right.

Youth are volunteering more in their communities and generally opting to have sex later. Other than marijuana, there is less use of drugs like cocaine. "And I was impressed to see the level of connectivity with the community and Whistler students," noted Martiquet.

"We have also seen increasing rates of exercise in the adolescent group. We are getting that right. In terms of the general population, I would think we are getting the message out about how to live a healthier lifestyle and that is being reflected in some of the data. I just think we have a further ways to go."

The North Shore has the best ranking in the province in the report and Richmond rates number two. The northern regions of the province have the poorest health but the gap has been narrowing.

In all, the provincial health officer’s report recommends four priority actions. One is to protect social programs and tax policies that serve to mitigate against growing inequalities in income. Another is to make high quality child care and other early childhood supports and services accessible to all children, without financial barriers, and to provide targeted programs for children living in disadvantaged families and neighbourhoods.

The third priority is to reform the way in which primary health care services are provided. The fourth is to pay more attention to addictions and mental health as major public health problems. "A ‘burden of illness’ approach reveals the otherwise hidden burden caused by mental illnesses and substance abuse," states the report.

"These health goals provide a focus for the province – a focus not just for the government or for the Ministry of Health, but for all people who live and work in British Columbia."