| 4 Parenthése |

La voix des parents de Colombie-Britannique

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caté Programming
To Include Health Services and Resources

In an activity presented at
2 the Centre d’appui a la fa-
mille et a l’'enfance (CAFE, family and
childhood centre), a dietician shares
with Julie, Alex, and other parents
some practical strategies for provid-
ing healthy, balanced diets for their
young children. Along with a group
of new mothers, and with the help of
a massage therapist, Nadia is learning
massage techniques that could help
to calm her baby during bouts of colic
or teething. Once a week, Jim and An-
nick participate in a parents’ support
group, sharing their experiences with
other parents in their community, while
their two young daughters play at the
free daycare service.

These scenarios, played out in French,
could soon expand _ province-wide,
thanks to a new feature that was ada-
ed recently to CAFE programming.
Indeed, the scope of CAFE programs
is growing to encompass a range of
health-related services and resources
for the parents of young children, ages
0 to 5 years. The goal of this initiative is
to support parents and equip them to
take charge of their family's well-being.

Potential activities could include,
for example:

* a program designed to familiarize
parents with the stages of childhood
development, knowledge that
could help identify specific needs;

¢ avariety of free courses and work-
shops on language development,
nutrition, parenting skills, and other
topics of interest fo the parents of
young children;

¢ information sessions with health
care professionals in various fields
of concern to parents, such as a
nurse, dental hygienist, eye special-
ist, etc., depending upon the needs
expressed by the community.

The launch of this new initiative will
soon be celebrated at the first two
CAFE, one in Vancouver and the other
in Penticton. The programs will graad-
ually expand fo other family and child-
hood centres; and some may be avail-
able in cooperation with preschool
and daycares, to better serve franco-
phone families in various regions of the
province.

What is CAFE?

CAFE family and childhood cen-
tres are designed fo bring together
existing programs and services
at the local level, and to di-
versify these through the
creation of new resources
and activities designed to
satisfy the needs of young
families. Keeping in mind the
realities of each community,
the centres encourage social
interaction among parents and help to
foster the francophone identity of both
parents and children.

The new CAFE health programming
initiative strives to promote health and
improve access fo French-language
early childhood services. The project,
supported by Health Canada's Of-
ficial Languages Health Contribution
Program, operates in partnership with
the CSF (British Columbia Francophone
School Authority) and the Provincial
Language Service of the Provincial
Health Services Authority, in cooper-
ation with RésoSanté Colombie-Britan-
nique and other partners.

We invite French-speaking health
care professionals interested in getting
involved in CAFE activities to contact
Josée Martel at the FPFCB, tel. 604-736-
5056 or 1-800-905-5056 or email (jmar-
tel@fpfcb.bc.ca).

For more information and to find out
what’s happening at your local CAFE, =
visit our website, www.fpfcb.be.ca, and
click on the coffee cup logo! aS

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