From Research: Measuring what matters To Impact: Making measures matter

June April 2011 October January 2011 The Atkinson Charitable Foundation convened a group of index experts to answer question: “What would it take to create a tool that truly measured Canadian wellbeing?” CPRN 1 conducted nationwide consultation on quality of life resulting in prototype of quality of life national indicators; establishment of a network of individuals (CRAG) committed to develop the CIW Since 2005, the CIW has been supported by a Funders’ Alliance; three rounds of cross- Canada consultations as index developed Eight domain reports released in stages CIW moved to permanent home at University of Waterloo October 2011 First CIW composite index released October 2012 CIW composite index refreshed 1 Canadian Policy Research Network

Building relationships with Canadian and international organisations

to conduct rigorous research related to and regularly and publicly report on the quality of life of Canadians to encourage policy shapers and government leaders to make decisions based on solid evidence to empower Canadians to advocate for change that responds to their needs and values

The presence of the highest possible quality of life in its full breadth of expression, focused on but not necessarily exclusive to: good living standards, robust health, a sustainable environment, vital communities, an educated populace, balanced time use, high levels of democratic engagement, and access to and participation in leisure and culture. Definition of wellbeing adopted by the CIW

What is the CIW Framework?

8 Domains CIW Composite Index 64 indicators consolidated into a single CIW average 8 Indicators in each domain

 The ultimate bell weather marker of any society is the status of its most vulnerable people, including children.  Trends from the Canadian Index of Wellbeing  Time Use  Education  Healthy Populations  Community Vitality  Democratic Engagement  Environment  Leisure and Culture  Living Standards

Indicators  Self rated health  Health-adjusted life expectancy  Diabetes  Depression  Life Expectancy at Birth  Infant Mortality  Smoking  Patient Satisfaction with Health Services  Population with a regular family doctor  Influenza immunization among Age 65+

Indicators (age specific) Children & Adolescents  exceeding recommended screen time  participating in organized activities  parent pre-schooler reading activities  adolescents eating meals with parents at home Working Adults  working non standard hours i.e. shift work  working longer hours  reporting higher levels of stress  providing unpaid care to seniors

 Children & adolescents who participated at least weekly in organized extracurricular activity was relatively stable from  Adolescents who exceeded the maximum recommended 2 hours a day of TV and video games rose from 27.2% in 2003 to 31.7% in 2007/2008. When all screen time (TV, computer use, video games) was included, this jumped from 54.5% to 63.7% with about 70% boys and 57% of girls.  On a typical day in 1992, 63.7% of teenagers aged had a meal with their parents. This dropped to 50.5% in 1998 and 34.8% in 2005.

Indicators  Early childhood education and care  Transition to school: developmental health in kindergarten  Student to teacher ratio in public schools  Social and emotional competencies in middle childhood  Basic educational knowledge and skills of youth  Equality in education: the socio economic gradient  High school completion  Post secondary education

 The percentage of children aged 0-5 with a childcare space rose steadily from 1995 to  High school completion rates (reported by year olds) have gone up from 1994 to  Percentage of 20 to 24 years old that reported attending university during a given year has gone up from 20% in 1994 to 25% in  Children in kindergarten who did well on developmental health scores in the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth.

 Social and emotional competency scores among children declined from 3.25 in 1996 to 3.13 in  Canadian Basic Education scores were above the international average on an index of tests taken between 1995 and But scores progressively declined from a high of 533 in 1999 to 522 in 2006.

 Public Health Ontario (PHO) completed a review in April 2013, which may be useful to determine which local indicators are available to public health for children and youth: “Measuring the Health of Infants, Children and Youth for Public Health in Ontario: Indicators, Gaps and Recommendations for Moving Forward”

 Potentially work together with the Coalition on a child and youth report that uses one, some, or all of the domains of the CIW as a template.