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children's health leaders fear the 'pandemic after the pandemic'
ongoing isolation and long waits for care as a result o...
jul 7 2020
3 minute read
file: a child wears a surgical mask.
yevhenii orlov
/
getty images/istockphoto
ongoing isolation and long waits for care as a result of the covid-19 pandemic are contributing to a looming health crisis for canadian children, ottawa’s alex munter and other children’s health leaders are warning.
munter, who is president and ceo of cheo, said there must be more focus on the well-being of children when it comes to the post-pandemic recovery.
“if seniors have been the ones most infected by covid-19, children have been the ones most affected by covid-19 measures,” he said. those include the closing of schools, not seeing friends, relatives or having usual activities.
“all of that is detrimental to kids’ well-being and development.”
children have, generally, been less affected by covid-19 than adults, especially older adults. but the pandemic means children, who were already waiting too long for health services prior to the pandemic, will face longer wait times for months to come.
at cheo, munter said, it will take until 2021, maybe even the end of that year, before the backlog of surgeries and appointments is gone. that means children will face the same wait times they were in january, before the pandemic. munter said those wait times were already too long.
“every day matters in the life of a child and these kinds of delays for specialist care, developmental therapies or needed surgery will have huge impacts on kids’ well-being and development.”
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between mid-march and mid-may, cheo did one-third the volume of surgeries as it did during the same period last year. during the same period, the number of children waiting too long for surgery — according to treatment guidelines — increased by 25 per cent.
between march and mid-june, the number of visits to cheo’s emergency department for mental health concerns dropped by 60 per cent.
there are signs there will be a surge in children in need of mental health support, said munter, partly because of the impact of the pandemic.
when it comes to mental health treatments, he said, the pandemic has contributed to a surge in demand for services that were stretched too thin to begin with, he said.
“we simply are not equipped for a pandemic after the pandemic of mental health issues.”
munter was one of three children’s hospital heads voicing concerns monday about the effect of health care delays and ongoing isolation on children’s health.
the head of halifax’s iwk health centre, dr. krista jangaard, said the impact of covid-19 on children has been underestimated.
in addition to the impact of isolation on mental wellness and development, she said there should be focus on the negative impact longer waits for surgery and other health services are having on children’s physical health.
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dr. ronald cohn of sickkids in toronto said the pandemic’s potential negative impacts on children are numerous.
“heightened anxiety, lack of social supports, loss of routines, social isolation: these are just a few of the indirect adverse effects of covid-19 impacting the mental, developmental and physical health of children and youth.”
he noted that fear of covid-19 has caused some families to delay seeking necessary, sometimes urgent, health treatments for children, “which can have serious consequences.”
the organization children first canada is pushing for more support for children as part of the pandemic recovery.
the organization says growing difficulty accessing health care, and delays in a full return to school and daycare for some are violating children’s rights.
munter said a full-time return to school and daycare should be a priority for the well-being of children and their families.
“our goal should be to make the return to school safe and start with five days a week of school and child care and ramp that down if and when necessary as opposed to starting with two or three days a week of school. it is difficult to understand how that will actually work for families.”
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epayne@postmedia.com
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