BCIRPU 2024 in review
Happy holidays from all of us at the BCIRPU! We hope you have a healthy and joy-filled holiday season, and feel rejuvenated going into the new year.
Please note that BCIRPU offices will be closed starting Wednesday, December 25, 2024, and will reopen on Thursday, January 2, 2025.
Here are five things we’d like to highlight from 2024. Happy holidays!
1. New leadership
BCIRPU welcomed a new leader in March: Dr. Shelina Babul became Director of the BCIRPU, as Dr. Ian Pike stepped down from the role after 20 years.
Dr. Babul brings with her a distinguished career at BCIRPU as the Associate Director, demonstrating commitment to improving the health and well-being of children and youth, their families and communities through injury prevention initiatives. Her expertise in injury prevention, coupled with her extensive work in the field, positions her to lead BCIRPU as an authority in the quest to mitigate the impact of preventable injuries on individuals and families.
Dr. Pike will continue to be an investigator with the BCIRPU and UBC Department of Pediatrics.
2. Ian Pike receives Japan fellowship
Dr. Ian Pike received funding to continue his work to develop and implement a social marketing campaign to increase the use of child booster seats in Japan. In the Spring of 2025, Dr. Pike will travel to Japan and collaborate with colleagues at the National Research Institute for Police Science and the Japan Automobile Association. Funding comes from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). Dr. Pike travelled to Japan in 2019 and 2023 to work on this project.
3. Welcoming Allison Ezzat
We’d like to welcome Dr. Allison Ezzat, BCIRPU’s new Implementation Scientist. A Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at UBC, Dr. Ezzat is a trained physiotherapist and completed her PhD in School of Population and Public Health, UBC in 2019, followed by postdoctoral training at UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research and La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. She received a Health Professional-Investigator Award from Michael Smith Health Research BC.
4. Firefighter cancer study
New research published by BCIRPU in March 2024 found that on average, firefighters are almost twice as likely to develop cancer than the general population. Cancer is the leading cause of death for firefighters at 84.6%, with traumatic injury the second leading cause of death (6.5%).
The study used workers’ compensations claims to describe injury and death among firefighters in Canada.
Learn more about this study:
5. New BC Clinical Practice Guideline for concussion
The Guidelines and Protocol Advisory Committee (GPAC) released a new BC clinical practice guideline for concussion and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in November 2024. Dr. Shelina Babul served on the advisory committee that assisted in the creation of the guideline.
The Concussion Awareness Training Tool (CATT) e-learning courses and resources are recommended for use throughout the guideline. CATT launched its new online platform at the end of June, informed by evidence-based research and international concussion experts. All of the CATT materials have been updated to reflect current recommendations from the 2023 International Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport, as well as other evidence-based resources (e.g., guidelines, position statements).
Access the guideline on BCGuidelines.ca.
- distress when a child was in pain and when a family was grieving; and
- sadness in the event they were not able to save a child in their care.
- concern for the injured child and the child’s family;
Particularly traumatic events, such as those involving vivid sights and sounds (e.g., families holding each other and having extreme reactions), stuck with the practitioners, having long-lasting impressions on them and causing them to re-live these events in the years following their exposure.
Even after their shift was over, practitioners said that they changed how they approached parenting and how they perceived safety during play as a result of witnessing these traumatic events. They reported having more knowledge of the causes and consequences of severe injuries, such as those that require hospitalization or emergency care. For example, practitioners were more likely to enforce boundaries around where their children could play, such as by forbidding their child to play near busy streets. They also were more likely to tell their child about safe play environments and equipment, and put this equipment on their child before play, such as explaining the benefits of using helmets while riding bikes.
Practitioners were more likely to enforce boundaries around where their children could play, and use safety equipment, such as bike helmets.
Practitioners also described being concerned about their children’s play near open windows, around large bodies of water unsupervised, and in environments where firearms were present. They also expressed worry about their children’s play on trampolines and on motorized vehicles, such as ATVs. Findings related to trampoline play safety concerns were published in the journal Injury Prevention.
Observing family grief due to child injury or death affected the mental well-being of health care practitioners, drawing attention to the need for mental health supports for those involved in caring for severely injured and dying patients.
"Raise more resilient children through play...watch and see how your child handles challenging tasks without intervening right away." —Dr. Michelle Bauer
Building resilience through play
How can parents help their children build resilience? By letting them play!
The experiences that practitioners witnessed encouraged them to support their children in building resilience through play; specifically, by supporting children in learning to cope with failure, overcome fear, build self-confidence, develop distress tolerance, and regulate negative emotions. Findings related to building resilience through play were published in the journal Child: Care, Health, and Development.
Parents fostered resilience in their kids by:
- helping their kids get back on bikes after they fell off and wanted to try again;
- sitting on their hands so they did not instinctively reach for their children when their children fell down; and
- encouraging participation in challenging and thrilling activities in forests and water while safety equipment was used.
"There are a few ways that parents can raise more resilient children through play that are supported by literature and our study findings," said Dr. Bauer. "One: watch and see how your child handles challenging tasks without intervening right away."
"Two: Ask your child how they want you to help—let them tell you what makes them feel safe and happy during play. Let them lead. And three: make play both safe and exciting by encouraging risk-taking, teaching them how to avoid hazards, and using safety equipment.”
This research was supported through Drs. Bauer’s and Gilley’s receipt of a clinical and translational research seed grant from the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR), Dr. Bauer’s BCCHR postdoctoral fellowship award, and additional training provided to Dr. Bauer through her participation in the Programs and Institutions Looking to Launch Academic Researchers (PILLAR) program through ENRICH, a national organization training perinatal and child health researchers.
Learn more about the study through two infographic posters:
Graphics and posters by Milica Radosavljevic
