Our Activities
Now that you’ve visited our About Us page and know why SKIP is working to improve children’s pain management, learn what we’re doing to make a difference!

Identifying & Filling Gaps
SKIP connects with patients, caregivers, health professionals, administrators, and policy makers to understand pre-existing and pandemic-related needs, including vaccine pain and fear, and key issues around acute and chronic pain.
SKIP conducted a study to identify the shared and unique needs and barriers for children’s pain across three stakeholder groups: patient partners (patients, caregivers, and family members), knowledge users (i.e., health professionals, administrators, policymakers, educators), and researchers (including trainees). Our findings were shared at national and international pain conferences.
SKIP responded quickly to emerging need for support navigating vaccination for children by organizing an up-to-date, bilingual resource sheet that provided information and links to more than 15 key evidence-based tools for managing needle pain and anxiety.
SKIP’s Central Hub met with Emergency Physician Leaders of Ontario and helped create a repository of resources tailored to the specific needs of emergency room doctors managing acute pain.
SKIP takes a user-informed approach to knowledge mobilization. A Needs Assessment Survey was launched to confirm the needs of knowledge users (including patients, caregivers, health professionals, administrators, and policy makers) and to organize current resources and evidence. SKIP ensures that the tools and resources we develop and promote are informed by stakeholders that will use this evidence.
A Patient Partner is someone with lived experience of pain, including patients, caregivers, family, and friends. SKIP has a network of more than ninety patient partners, including patients and caregivers, and is always looking to connect with new partners to match network activities and opportunities.

Producing and Promoting Valuable Tools
In 2021-22 we produced 131 knowledge mobilization tools with a wide variety of focuses, that reached nearly 680,000 people! SKIP coordinated with many partners to get evidence into the hands of knowledge users.
We collaborated to co-produce and promote Indigenous-led, culturally relevant resources to help Indigenous children and families feel safe when receiving a vaccine. These resources included illustrated vaccination stories like Little Reah, that were even featured on the Moment of Truth podcast.
SKIP’s partnership with The Rounds has provided a platform to share evidence-based resources to physicians and health professionals across Canada and around the world. During the “Ask Me Anything” events, pediatric pain experts share their knowledge and answer questions from members of The Rounds community about pediatric pain. This partnership ensures evidence-based tools and resources about children’s pain are put into practice.
SKIP has partnered with the Health Standards Organization (HSO) to improve the quality and safety of care for all children through the creation of a Pediatric Pain Management Standard. This standard facilitates institutional change in children’s pain management by supporting efforts to access, adopt, and implement evidence. The person-centered philosophy of the HSO is consistent with SKIP’s Patients Included approach.
SKIP partnered with Pediatric & Neonatal Pain, a new multidisciplinary journal, for two open-access special issues showcasing innovative knowledge mobilization in pediatric and neonatal pain management from around the world. Special issues focused on neonatal pain and pediatric pain.
SKIP has co-hosted seven Children’s Healthcare Canada Spark: Live webinars, attracting approximately 1200 registrants. These webinars offer the chance to share evidence and promote its use in practice and policy with the Canadian children’s health community. Topics have included COVID-19 and its impact on families, mobilizing virtual care, patient engagement, and diagnostic uncertainty in pediatric chronic pain.

Facilitating Institutional Change
SKIP is committed to helping Canadian healthcare institutions put evidence into practice to improve care for kids in pain. We’re working with a wide range of partners to connect with institutions across the country and facilitate the adoption of best practices.
“Connecting with SKIP has been an incredibly valuable experience on multiple levels. From the beginning, I’ve felt respected, appreciated and like I was entering a mutually beneficial collaboration. SKIP’s team is warm, friendly, and enjoyable to collaborate with. Above all, SKIP’s team members are passionate about what they’re doing, and that shines through. There is an authenticity to this organization, their mission, and work that is very unique.” - Melissa, International collaborator
ChildKind certification is a global standard of institutional commitment to pediatric pain management. SKIP works in partnership with ChildKind International to assist children’s healthcare institutions in moving towards ChildKind certification. To date, SKIP has helped four Canadian children’s hospitals move closer to certification.
SKIP hosted a two-day knowledge mobilization workshop in Toronto, facilitated by Dr. Melanie Barwick from The Hospital for Sick Children, that provided formal training to 21 provincial, national, and international stakeholders. Participants learned new approaches to better support knowledge mobilization initiatives around pediatric pain management in their organizations. SKIP has also continued to utilize the tools from this workshop to build capacity and excellence in knowledge mobilization with researchers through our Jump in With SKIP program.
The SKIP Affiliate designation was created for institutions that demonstrate leadership and a commitment to mobilizing evidence to improve children’s pain management, and want to become official members of SKIP’s national network. To learn more about how your institution can benefit from the Affiliate designation, click here.

Raising Awareness and Kickstarting Conversation
SKIP is increasing awareness and fostering a sense of urgency among the general public about children’s pain. We’re hosting and participating in events and media activities and generating engagement and dialogue across our digital platforms.
This past spring, all proceeds from Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation’s Molly Appeal campaign went to SKIP! SKIP’s Communications and Engagement Coordinator Mylène Pinet, a person with lived pain experience, spoke to CBC Radio, The Times & Transcript, and SaltWire about pain in children and how donations to the Molly Appeal helped SKIP’s mission to improve the lives of patients and their families.
SKIP held four high-profile events in Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa, and Edmonton to launch our network. Hundreds of participants across the country attended these live events. Virtually, SKIP reached over eight million views on livestreams and the social media event hashtag #ItDoesntHaveToHurt trended locally, nationally, and internationally.
SKIP hosted a “Day on the Hill” to connect SKIP with various parliamentarians, and the SKIP team was welcomed and acknowledged in Senate in a speech made by Senator Colin Deacon. The event concluded with a reception in Senate that provided informal opportunities to engage around the topic of pain in children.
Health Canada and the Canadian Pain Task Force (CPTF) hosted the Atlantic Regional Workshop, a one-day knowledge exchange event with pain stakeholders from across Atlantic Canada to address the needs of Canadians with chronic pain. SKIP’s goal was to gain regional insights on best, promising, and emerging practices related to access to care, and to determine regional needs and existing gaps and barriers for successful development, implementation and evaluation of best practices.
November 3, 2020
SKIP partnered with the SickKids Pain Centre for Conquering the Hurt: Pain Care for All - Risk and Resilience, a Patients Included virtual conference with over 300 attendees from across the world and more than 30 highly-renowned speakers from North America including the SickKids President and CEO, Dr. Ronni Cohn. Four key emerging themes were addressed: equity, diversity and inclusion; pain in vulnerable populations; mental health and pain during COVID; and innovative strategies for predicting recovery and resilience.
January 29, 2020
SKIP collaborated with Federal (Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Health Canada) and Provincial (Research Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Health Authority, IWK Health Centre) partners to bring the Best Brains Exchange (BBE) event to Nova Scotia. The event, titled “Towards a Provincial Pain Strategy for Nova Scotia”, brought together over 60 provincial stakeholders, including CEOs from provincial health authorities and Nova Scotia's Chief Medical Officer of Health. Click here to learn more.
SKIP has a following of more approximately 5000 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Our hashtag #ItDoesntHavetoHurt has a reach of more than one million per month. Our newsletter, In the Loop, goes out to a subscriber list of over 2500 each month. Follow @kidsinpain to keep up with SKIP and to get access to new and exciting pediatric pain tools and resources, and click here to subscribe to In the Loop.
SKIP has partnered with The Conversation Canada to co-produce and disseminate pediatric pain-related articles. The Conversation Canada is an independent source of news and views from the academic and research community, delivered directly to the public.
6 tips to prepare your child for easy COVID-19 testing
Fear of Needles: 5 simple ways to ease vaccination pan for your child and yourself
The power of parents: 3 ways you can reduce your baby’s pain during medical procedures
Anyone can be a champion for kids in pain!
Want to find out how? Get in touch.