Dr R Grunau/M Rogers Letter of Support IDP Advisor Office

October 6, 2009

Premier Gordon Campbell < premier@gov.bc.ca>
Honorable Mary Polack, Minister Children and Family Development Minister.MCF@gov.bc.ca
Lesley Du Toit, Deputy Minister, Children and Family Development MCF.DeputyMinisterOffice@gov.bc.ca

Dear Premier Campbell, Honorable Minister and Deputy Minister,

We are shocked at the decision to close the office of the provincial Advisor of the Infant Development Program of BC. In our extensive experience at BC Children’s Hospital (Grunau since 1979; Rogers since 1982), as allied health professionals working with the children at the highest risk for neurodevelopmental problems in BC, we have found the Provincial Advisor’s Office provides an essential key role in service delivery and quality assurance for the Infant Development Program province-wide.

The office of the IDP Provincial Advisor provides indispensible leadership to ensure consistency and continuity throughout the widely diverse province of BC:

- Training for IDP Consultants in the use of the standardized test tools and resources;
- Continuing Education in new developments in assessment and early intervention;
- Establishes the Standards of Practice: the IDP manual for standards of assessment and intervention for Infant Development Consultants, that is updated regularly to reflect the latest evidence;
- Quality assurance: including regular provincial inservices; ensures consistent high standards of care in remote and rural areas of BC, where often the IDP Consultant is the only early intervention service provider available, as well as small towns, larger centres, and the urban metro Vancouver region.

Given the diversity of the communities in BC, the Office of the Provincial Advisor is essential to provide the leadership to develop and maintain the exceptional level of service delivered by the IDP Consultants throughout the province. For example many families phone the provincial Office not knowing where to go and what to do for their high-risk infant, and the Office directs them as to where to go in their community, for not only IDP services, but also for child development services.

Currently there are continuous knowledge advancements in the rapidly expanding field of developmental neurosciences. These advancements compel frequent evaluation and revision of ways to assess infants and young children, as well interventions. For example, my (Grunau) research program in neurodevelopment of infants born very preterm is revealing the importance of stress systems in self-regulation of these vulnerable children. Such information is disseminated through the ongoing efforts of the Provincial Advisor.

There are currently approximately 75 new IDP Consultants province-wide who require extensive training in administration of standardized tests and intervention techniques this fall 2009. It is hugely cost-effective to provide consistent province-wide training and continuing education centrally. The Office of the Provincial Advisor designs and sets-up crucial inservice activities. Based on in depth knowledge of requirements in each region, the office identifies and arranges for the wide range of expertise required in a given year (e.g. Physiotherapy, Speech Pathology, Psychology, Occupational Therapy) to provide high level state-of-the-art academic knowledge. As a Pediatric Physiotherapy Consultant (Rogers), as part of this program of inservice, I have conducted training sessions for IDP Consultants in neurodevelopment of high-risk infants. The Provincial Advisor’s Office has created and maintains a structure for training at various levels for new and existing IDP Consultants.

The provincial Advisor’s Office has provided a consistent model of service delivery across and within the wide variation in the IDP contracts held in each community. If the Provincial Advisor’s office is disbanded we expect major deterioration of the current high standards, given there will be no province-wide structure to provide and maintain training and quality assurance.

In our experience, the Provincial Advisor’s Office provides an essential key role in service delivery and quality assurance for the Infant Development Program province-wide.

Sincerely



Ruth E Grunau, PhD, RPsych
Professor, Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia
Distinguished Scholar, Developmental Neurosciences & Child Health, Child & Family Research Institute
Senior Scholar, Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP)
Psychologist, Neonatal Follow-Up Programme, Children’s & Women’s Health Centre of BC
F6, 4480 Oak St, Vancouver V6H 3V4
Tel: 604-875-2447; Fax: 604-875-3569
email: rgrunau@cw.bc.ca



Marilyn J. Rogers B.S.R. PT/OT MCPA
Pediatric Physical Therapy Consultant
Physiotherapy Consultant to Vancouver Coastal Regional IDP Advisor
Physiotherapist, Neonatal Follow-Up Programme, Children’s and Women’s Health Center of BC
K-3-183, 4480 Vancouver V6H 3V4
Tel: 604 – 875 2345 ext. 7507; Fax: 604- 875 2483
e-mail: lrogers@cw.bc.ca