Brain Research and Public Policy: The Odd Couple?

Brain Research and Public Policy: The Odd Couple?
by Kathleen Flanagan-Rochon

Some things in life go together naturally – birthday cakes and candles, singing and dancing, thunder and lightning, wine and roses. As we near the end of the twentieth century, we can easily recognize emerging newer associations – World Wide Web and search engine, call waiting and call display, Y2K and the new millennium. However, a recent unscientific survey of friends and colleagues queried the relationship between "brain research" and "public policy" and was met with reactions that ranged from puzzled looks to outright laughter.

What is public policy anyway? In very simple terms, public policy is a statement, direction and/or position taken by a public agency (including government) on any number of issues. For example, policy may be presented for employment initiatives, for environmental issues or for children and families. Good research is the bridge to good policy – for public policy must be relevant, realistic and able to stand the test of time. In today’s world, public policy must also be collaborative in scope, built on partnerships and responsible to the community it serves.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise to us to find that new research on brain development presents enormous implications for policy development. New technologies have provided us with hard evidence to support what many people have known through life experience – that the early years have a profound impact on later development. The current findings, however, have documented that this is true beyond our wildest dreams, and have provided the strongest and most dramatic basis for new directions in child policy that we have seen in many years. Brain research findings have certainly provided policy development with relevant information.

While the technology that supports brain research is advanced and the brain itself is a complex organ, the key lessons that we can learn from this research are fundamental and basic. We know that a child is born with a tremendous number of brain cells, determined by heredity and prenatal conditions. We also know that how these brain cells become wired together will depend on early experiences and have a lifelong effect. We have learned that experiences in the first three years of life will influence a child’s success in school, the development of future relationships and, in large part, will help to shape what kind of citizen that child will become.

It is the long-lasting impact of early brain development that has caught the attention of sectors outside the traditional health and social service domains. Brain research findings have actually encouraged the building of new partnerships for the development of public policy in this area. Business is realizing that early investments in child development can have a dramatic impact on the economic development of our communities, provinces and country. Lawmakers must understand the impact that early brain development research can have on their efforts to promote safe environments.

During the early 1990s, public policy was driven by a renewed interest in the benefits of early intervention and prevention, coupled with an awareness of the importance of the determinants of health in contributing to overall well-being of the population. This served as a fertile ground for new brain research findings. For the first time, research on child development was given widespread public attention through broad coverage in popular literature and media broadcasts. Television documentaries and newsmagazines devoted interviews and articles as well as special feature issues to the topic. Brain research findings were discussed not only in academic circles but also over coffee, at dinner and in community meetings.

Governments were no exception in preparing a response to these fascinating and important findings. In an innovative partnership endeavour, all levels of governments in Canada began the work of developing a National Children’s Agenda. Provincial and territorial governments started creating individual action plans, each with a focus on early investments for children.

In Prince Edward Island, learnings from brain research have formed the basis for a public policy framework for children. The framework focuses on four key lessons which influence the well-being of children from the prenatal period through to early school years. In this province, brain research findings present specific policy implications. The first key lesson or point of the framework involves the promotion of caring and secure relationships. In the Health and Social Service sector, there are policy implications for parent education, early childhood care and education, and respite services for families with children who have special needs. Also implied is the need to address treatment for maternal depression; for the development and management of addiction programs for women; for family violence legislation, initiatives and support services; and for foster care and child welfare programs and services.

The key lessons have not only formed the basis for a public policy framework, but have also encouraged multisectoral partnership in addressing the needs of children. Within the PEI provincial government, an Inter-Departmental Committee on Healthy Child Development has been established, with representation from the Departments of Health and Social Services, Education, Community Services and Attorney General, and Development.

Naturally, the policy implications of the first key lesson affect programs and services that fall under the mandate of the partnering departments. In the Department of Education, consideration must be given to curriculum content in family living classes. As well, strategies to support teen mothers in completion of their education must address ways to optimize the mother’s relationship to her young child. The Department of Community Services and Attorney General is responsible for programs for young offenders, some of whom are parents; work is currently underway to develop a court-based parent education program. Consideration must be given to the needs of parents in prison and their relationship to their children. Family law policies and practices must place a priority on maintaining a secure relationship between parent and child. The first key lesson also has policy implications for the Department of Development, in that employment strategies and programs must place a priority on encouraging and maintaining a positive, secure relationship between parent and child. Employment strategies must consider the needs of children and support parents in this endeavour.

The second key point of the framework is to minimize known risks. Since the focus of the PEI initiative is to promote healthy child development during the prenatal period through early school years, there are broad implications. A number of policy decisions have supported initiatives to work toward this objective, including the PEI Tobacco Reduction Strategy, the Premier’s Action Council on Family Violence, Teen Parents Program, Reproductive Care, and community based partnerships such as the Community Action Program for Children, Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program and Best Start. The second key point also has policy implications for other areas of concern, such as farming and agricultural practices, including the use and control of pesticides.

The technology that has allowed brain researchers to actually see areas of brain activity has contributed to the third key point of the PEI framework, which is to capitalize on critical periods for learning. This lesson has major policy implications for Prince Edward Island, since a PEI Kindergarten Curriculum is currently being piloted in early childhood education programs. Since the issue of access to kindergarten has not yet been resolved in PEI, consideration of critical periods for learning will also help to inform this discussion. Other policy-related issues include family literacy, parent education, access to comprehensive early childhood care and education programs, primary curriculum, and readiness-to-learn tools and strategies.

The documented successes of programs, such as the Perry Preschool Project, Hawaii Healthy Start, and the Community Action Program for Children, lend support to the fourth key point of the public policy framework: to promote and support early intervention. Brain research findings indicate that intervention can have an impact on brain development, but in many instances, timing is critical. This lesson has policy implications for early intervention services, for maintenance of supports for special needs child care, and for early and ongoing child assessments. PEI has already responded by supporting an intensive Autism Program and a Special Education Review.

In order to bring life to the policy framework, the Inter-Departmental Committee has developed partnerships outside government to begin to develop a multi-year strategy on healthy child development. The strategy will build on existing initiatives, programs and services, and be developed in partnership with communities, businesses and other public service agencies. Consultations on the PEI strategy will be integrated with broader consultations on the National Children’s Agenda.

The development of a public policy response to key lessons from brain research has its own implication – that of ensuring that we develop the means to demonstrate that what we do is actually making a difference. And so a strategic response to these learnings requires the development and maintenance of data systems to allow us to develop realistic outcomes for our children and to measure our progress. This obligation has implications for all levels of government. We need the continued support of programs, such as Child Care Visions and the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, to ensure accountability.

Development of public policy based on findings from brain research also presents us with the challenge of ensuring that we maintain a balance in our approach toward the allocation of resources for children, youth and families. The exciting findings that emphasize the long-lasting impact of early experiences need to be balanced with the reality of the ongoing needs of vulnerable youth.

The findings from brain research present us with solid, concrete evidence of the importance of investing in the early years and, as well, underline the exciting potential of making a difference for children. The findings, however, also present us with the responsibility of acting on the evidence that we now have at-hand. Public policy must begin to close the gap between what we know and what we do. Odd couple? Certainly not!

Kathleen Flanagan-Rochon is coordinator community services, Child, Family and Community Services Division, Department of Health and Social Services, Prince Edward Island.