Focusing Attention on Children's Health
poll of Bay Area residents about children' health issues. Websites that offer comprehensive data on children's health. A report on the health and well being of preteens, capped by a public "Preteen Summit." A
briefing for ethnic media on children's health topics. A white paper on the
dental health of local children.
These were among the strategies employed by the Foundation's Information Program in 2006 to keep children's health in the limelight.
In the public opinion poll, published in April, the well being of children, along with education and the schools, outranked 11 other issues as chief concerns for Bay Area residents, regardless of their parental status, gender, income level or political affiliation.
The Preteen Report, released in January, painted a portrait of the health and well being of local preteens, and pointed out how little we know about children going through this important transitional stage.
The accompanying Preteen Summit brought together community members to discuss a range of topics with experts and with preteens themselves. To continue the dialog begun at the Summit, the Information Program also launched preteenalliance.org, an interactive website.
As part of its work of drawing attention to other important health issues, the Information Program published Children's Dental Health in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties: Overview of Current Needs and Activities.
To ensure that the Foundation's information reaches a broad audience, the program co-sponsored a press briefing with New America Media, the organization of ethnic media outlets.
The Information Program also joined forces with the Foundation's Grantmaking group to complement its grantee convening on cultural competency, producing a publication, Cultural Competency: What It Is and Why It Matters.
Several conferences, as well as radio shows and websites that promote children's health, also received Information Program support in 2006.
Two of the program's flagship websites, kidsdata.org and kidscal.org, grew substantially in 2006, and won silver and gold medals, respectively, from the national Council on Foundations. Kidsdata.org also was nominated for a Webby Award.
For information on other Information Program projects, see www.lpfch.org/informed/.