HealthFluency.com

Our team is dedicated to making an impact on the Hamilton community, through innovative solutions to local problems. Our team is comprised of students who have varying levels of experience who are able to contribute different and creative ideas. Our goal is to learn more about the improvements that needs to be made in our community, and how we can create healthier and safer cities.

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought on a great number of global public health challenge. One of the more overlooked challenges, is the mental health impacts that public health measures (specifically quarantining and lockdown measures) have had on the population, specifically on children. According to recent studies, stressors, such as prolonged duration of isolation; fears of infection; frustration and boredom; inadequate information; lack of in-person contact with classmates, friends, and teachers; lack of personal space at home; and family financial loss can have problematic and lasting effects on young children and adolescents (Guido et al., 2020). Furthermore, children who experience high levels of isolation during childhood are 60% more likely to experience long-term effects of isolation include drinking and substance abuse problems, depression, hypertension and elevated cholesterol levels (Lacey, et al., 2014). Additionally, after the first community webinar, we noted the lack of accessibility that parents and teachers have to quality mental health resources. This lack of accessibility has made it much more challenging for teachers to address the mental health needs of their students and has made parents feel unable to provide a safe space for their children. As a result, in order to address the effects that isolaion has on children, by tackling the inaccessibility of mental health resources that parents and teachers currently undergo. Our solution, HealthFluency.com, is a one-stop-shop for mental health resources. It will provide reliable mental health resources, for parents and teachers, all in one, accessible website.

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in the government’s imposing mass lockdowns in order to curb the spread of the disease. These lockdowns have contributed to the growing issue of mental health in children. In fact, research has shown that high levels of isolation will have long-term physical and mental effects on children. Additionally, lockdowns have caused children to be less physically active, lack of socialization with other children, and have much less favourable diets. We conducted research with stakeholders, finding elementary school teachers and parents who have taught or raised children during the pandemic. This showed a light on the lack of resources teachers and parents have in order to deal with the declining mental health of children as a result of increased isolation. The lack of existing initiatives, online or otherwise, to assist stakeholders with this issue can have detrimental effects on the long-term well-being of kids.

• For teachers and parents:
  • List FAQs and protocols targeting various situations.
  • Virtual tutorials about communicating with children.
  • Recorded videos and links to helpful videos online (such as from YouTube).
  • Central hub for everything related to school and the corresponding resources.
• For children:
  • Live chat for social workers to support them (Anonymous).
  • Virtual anonymous group like AA meetings, instead of alcoholics, it’s for kids who need social support

• Package delivered to the students/parents house, and contains various resources to help combat isolation and help give direct resources to their doorstep.
• Package would contain things such as stress balls/toys, colouring books, set of activities that can be done outside and inside, and also instructions/resources for parents.

• Students/kids fill out survey and are matched with someone from their school in a meeting.
• Maybe icebreakers to pass time, as well as other interactive activities within the platform. Active during the meeting.
• Helps to get to know other students while stuck at home due to isolation/quarantine.
• Gives students time to socialize live and mimics in person interactions.

Through various online analytical tools, we will be able to measure the traffic and engagement our website generates. This is a great measure of success, as the more people use and interact with our website, the more accessible the website is. Thus, solving our initial problem of the lack of accessibility to mental health resources.

Our solution, HealthFluency.com, provides quality mental health resources for parents and teachers, all in one accessible online website. This will include protocols on dealing with various mental health situations, as well as tutorials, and FAQs​. Additionally, various resources will be available based on the school board where the children attend school, as well as opportunities with parents and teachers to connect with mental health social workers.