Rumors and misinformation undermine public health by creating barriers to protective practices and reducing trust in health responders. nWe developed an approach to real-time rumor tracking that leverages existing structures (like national hotlines) and local liaisons (such as community health workers) to submit rumors and misinformation to a central database. The rumors are rapidly coded using a standard form and visualized on custom dashboards.n During the 6-month pilot of this tool in Côte d'Ivoire, we received and coded 1,757 submissions and used the thematic findings to inform risk communication and community engagement activities.

Background Home-based interventions have potential for improving early child development (ECD) in low-resource settings. The design of locally acceptable strategies requires an in-depth understanding of the household context. In this formative research study, we aimed to characterize the home play and learning environments of children 6–23 months of age from low-income households in peri-urban Lima, Peru. Methods Drawing on the developmental niche framework, we used quantitative and qualitative methods to understand children’s physical and social settings, childcare practices, and caregiver perspectives. We conducted interviews, unstructured video-recorded observations, and spot-checks with 30 randomly selected caregiver-child dyads, 10 from each child age group of 6–11, 12–17, and 18–23 months of age, as well as key informant interviews with 12 daycare instructors. We analyzed the data for key trends and themes using Stata and ATLAS.ti and employed an adapted version of the Indicator of Parent-Child Interaction to evaluate the observations. Results Children’s social settings were characterized by multi-generational homes and the presence of siblings and cousins as play partners. Access to books and complex hand-eye coordination toys (e.g., puzzles, building blocks) in the home was limited (30.0 and 40.0%, respectively). Caregivers generally demonstrated low or inconsistent levels of interaction with their children; they rarely communicated using descriptive language or introduced novel, stimulating activities during play. Reading and telling stories to children were uncommon, yet 93.3% of caregivers reported singing to children daily. On average, caregivers ascribed a high learning value to reading books and playing with electronic toys (rated 9.7 and 9.1 out of 10, respectively), and perceived playing with everyday objects in the home as less beneficial (rated 6.8/10). Daycare instructors reinforced the problems posed by limited caregiver-child interaction and supported the use of songs for promoting ECD. Conclusions The features of the home learning environments highlighted here indicate several opportunities for intervention development to improve ECD. These include encouraging caregivers to communicate with children using full sentences and enhancing the use of everyday objects as toys. There is also great potential for leveraging song and music to encourage responsive caregiver-child interactions within the home setting.

Background During the first two years of life, children’s access to learning materials and opportunities for play, as mediated by the caregiver, are critical components of a developmentally supportive environment. While home-based interventions have potential for improving early child development (ECD) in low-resource settings, the design of locally acceptable strategies requires an understanding of the household context. In this exploratory study, we aimed to characterize the home learning environments of children 6–23 months of age in peri-urban Lima, Peru, with an emphasis on play and communication.Methods Drawing on the developmental niche framework, we used quantitative and qualitative methods to understand children’s physical and social settings, childcare practices, and caregiver perspectives. We conducted interviews, unstructured observations, and spot-checks with 30 randomly selected caregiver-child dyads, as well as key informant interviews with 12 daycare instructors. We analyzed data for key trends and themes using Stata and Atlas.ti, and employed an adapted version of the Indicator of Parent-Child Interaction to evaluate the video-recorded observations.Results Children’s social settings were characterized by multi-generational homes and the presence of siblings and cousins as play partners. Access to books and complex hand-eye coordination toys (e.g. puzzles, building blocks) in the home was limited. Caregivers generally demonstrated low or inconsistent levels of interaction with their children; they rarely communicated using descriptive language or introduced novel, stimulating activities while playing. While it was not common for caregiver to read or tell stories to children, singing to children was widely practiced and enjoyed. On average, caregivers ascribed a high learning value to electronic toys and “educational” TV programs, and perceived playing with everyday objects in the home as less beneficial.Conclusions The features of the home learning environment highlighted here indicate several opportunities for intervention development to improve ECD in peri-urban Peru. These include encouraging caregivers to communicate with children using full sentences in the context of their daily commitments and activities and enhancing the use of everyday objects as toys. In addition, there is great potential for a home-based intervention to leverage song and music to encourage positive caregiver-child interactions in this setting.

Systematic challenges in providing culturally responsive mental health and addictions services have produced widespread inequities for racialized service providers, clients, and communities. There is a pressing need for coordinated system-level change. In this article, we present findings from a cross-sectional mixed methods study examining current organizational practices in advancing racial equity in the child and youth mental health and addictions sector in Ontario. To understand current efforts and identify a path forward, we surveyed executive leaders from 102 agencies and conducted case studies with 10 agencies on their practices along five domains: organizational leadership, intersectoral partnerships, workforce diversity and development, client and community engagement, and continuous improvements. Leaders shared a strong desire to advance racial equity and had begun this work to varying degrees. Fifty-one percent of agencies had made a public commitment to racial equity; however, few had developed written plans to support these efforts. Over 60% of agencies had developed relationships with cross-sectoral and community partners to facilitate this work. Seventy-five percent of agencies had offered racial equity training to staff, and some had implemented targeted recruitment efforts for racialized staff. Over 69% of agencies provided translation services and referrals to other agencies, whereas only 39% provided clients the option to request service providers who reflected their cultural identity. Less than 29% of agencies collected and used race-based data routinely to inform their work. Our findings, in particular the domains examined and barriers and facilitators, can inform parallel efforts in related sectors across Canada and internationally.