The MDI offers opportunities for engaging others and creating the context for shared responsibility for children’s health and well-being. Explore the numerous ways MDI data can be used to support partnerships and collaborations aimed toward broader community change.
Children’s well-being is not the responsibility of any individual institution or organization, it is a collective responsibility. MDI data can be a powerful tool to bring together schools, community organizations, government, health authorities, and other key stakeholders around a common cause and to catalyze action. By working collectively, we can build partnerships, share responsibility, leverage resources and coordinate change efforts.
“The MDI has sparked generative conversations, built bridges between community partners and helped to focus efforts towards action that makes a difference and can be measured. We have seen first-hand how groups that use the MDI begin to better understand their community.”
The active process of learning, making meaning, and action planning can uncover opportunities for making change in the practices of anyone who works with and for children, both inside and outside of schools. Taking the time to dig into the data with staff and/or partners can identify ways that the well-being of children is already being supported in your schools and communities, but also opportunities to go farther and amplify efforts.
MDI data provide a rich source of information on the well-being of children and the assets in their lives. By examining MDI data, collaborative teams can identify both areas of strength and of challenge—information which can inform community planning. For communities where MDI data are collected at regular intervals (for example, every year, or every two years), MDI data can be used to monitor progress towards these goals as part of a continuous quality improvement process.
MDI data can support efforts to increase equity for children in your schools and community. The neighborhood maps, which are included in the BC MDI School District and Community reports, provide a visual representation of how the assets present in children’s lives are distributed throughout neighbourhoods in your community. These maps, and the accompanying reports for each neighbourhood, can help illuminate inequities present in your community and provide a starting point for work to improve equity.
To support you in exploring the data and developing solutions with staff and partners, our team has designed a two-part, step-by-step workshop. You can follow as is, or adapt as needed.
A field guide to well-being in the middle years
A powerful tool to understand and support children’s well-being and positive development in the middle years
Faculty of Medicine
School of Population & Public Health
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