Leading reform 2018 presentation :: Giving Queenslanders the best start in life, Dr Elisabeth Hoehn

Presentation by Dr Elisabeth Hoehn of the Queensland Centre for Perinatal and Infant Mental Health at the Leading Reform Summit in November 2018.

The first years in a child’s life from conception to age three years are a critical period of rapid development and enhanced susceptibility to environmental influences, laying the foundations for health, wellbeing, learning and productivity throughout life and into the next generation.

Adverse childhood experiences significantly impact on this early development and can have lifelong consequences, at significant personal and societal cost.

It is therefore essential to create an enabling environment of policies, settings, programs and interventions, that provide families and caregivers with the knowledge, resources, services and spaces that they require to nurture and grow young children to be healthy and productive adults.