Abstract
Supporting the first 2,000 days of a child’s life from pregnancy to five years is a national policy and research priority to ensure all Australian children flourish. Unfortunately, across Australia, up to one in three preschool-aged children from disadvantaged communities are ‘developmentally vulnerable’, making them at increased risk of poor long-term health, educational and social outcomes. Integrated Child and Family Hubs provide a ‘one stop shop’, where families can access a range of health, social and legal supports that improve child development as well as child and family health and wellbeing. While there is increasing policy and practice interest in Hubs there is confusion around what the term Hubs means, the core components of a Hub, and key factors required for their implementation and sustainability.
The Presenters: The National Child and Family Hubs Network (the Network) is a multidisciplinary group established in 2021 that brings together Australian universities, research centres, medical research institutes, non-government community-based organisations and state government departments. In this workshop members of the Network will present on three different Hub models to explore core and contextual components that are required for a Hub utilising the audience experience.
Audience: This workshop will be suitable for consumers, integrated health researchers, policy makers, funders and practitioners.
Session outline:
1.Introduce Child and Family Hubs, including what are the common core components. Present the National Child and Family Hubs Network. (Suzy Honisett - 8 min)
2.Presentation of 3 different Hub case studies discussing core components common across each:
a.The First 2000 Days Care Connect Hub (FDCC): Evaluate the impact, implementation, and cost benefit of the (FDCC) integrated hub model for pregnant migrant and refugee women and their infants, where health and social services are co-located, with shared referral pathways to ensure families are supported to engage with services (Sue Woolfenden - 13 min)
b.Centre of Research Excellence in Childhood Adversity and Mental Health Hubs for children aged 0-12 years and their families experiencing adversity. (Harriet Hiscock – 13 min)
c.Watch Me Grow E: – an innovative digital Hub aimed at reaching vulnerable families using opportunistic contacts with services that the families are linked with and trusts (e.g., vaccination and other routine health visits; early childhood education centres and multicultural play groups; community services such as Councils, NGOs, Aboriginal services etc.). The program engages parents in child developmental monitoring for early identification of developmental needs alongside ascertaining parental mental health and family social care needs. (Valsamma Eapen – 13 min)
3.Interactive roundtable discussions with the audience facilitated by the National Child and Family Hub Network team exploring the learnings from the case studies related to core components of Hubs and the audience’s own experience of what is important for Hub implementation and evaluation. Participants will also engage in debate and consensus around barriers and enablers to the implementation, and scalability of Hubs, and recommendations for sustaining Hubs. (30 min)
4.Group feedback and summation of take-home messages from group discussions. (10 min)
5.Wrap up. (3 mins)