Grant: Project Grant - PA: Patient-Oriented Research: Early-Career Investigator

Living in poverty has a profound negative impact on parent and child health. When poverty occurs early in childhood and continues for a long time, the impact on child health can be lifelong. Child poverty is common, affecting about 20% of Canadian children. Many low income families may not be receiving all the social benefits for which they are eligible. There are calls for primary care providers to ask patients if they have difficulty making ends meet at the end of the month and to intervene if material hardship is identified, but it is not known if intervening can improve parent's and children's health. Our study will test whether a Community Support Worker who helps families with young children navigate the social service system by reviewing social needs (like food, housing or energy insecurity) and income supports can reduce parenting stress by increasing family income, and improve child development. The Community Support Worker will help parents complete income tax, apply for benefits and community supports for which they are eligible. We will also study the effect of this intervention on health care utilization. Our study will be conducted in Toronto and Kingston in primary care practices participating in the TARGet Kids! primary care research network. Results from this study will help health care providers and policy makers understand whether Community Support Workers are an effective way to integrate the health and social service systems to improve parent and child health.