We’re grateful for volunteers who choose to collaborate with us and support Northern Health (NH). Volunteers are invaluable in the health care system, lending their time to promote health and provide services to Northerners. This spirit of collaboration is evident in our recent winter campaign to raise awareness about the Period of PURPLE Crying Program (PURPLE). Read on to learn more about this program and the role volunteers played to make it possible.
PURPLE crying and CLICK for babies™
PURPLE provides parents and caregivers with important health promotion and injury prevention information about inconsolable infant crying. This type of crying is called PURPLE, which peaks at around two months of age. Health care providers educate families year-round about soothing and coping strategies, as this can be a frustrating experience. To further raise community-wide awareness in Northern BC about PURPLE, NH rebooted a winter campaign called CLICK for babies.
Supporting new parents
The campaign kicked off on New Year’s Day. Between January 1 and February 28, 2025, new parents and caregivers of newborn babies and two-month-old infants in NH received a handmade purple cap. Along with PURPLE standard education and resources, the caps were distributed by maternity and NICU staff, midwives, and primary care teams prior to hospital discharge or at child health clinics. NH received over 1,250 purple caps from Prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome BC (PSBSBC), at BC Children’s Hospital.
Project co-lead Randi Leanne Parsons, NH Regional Nursing Lead for Maternal Infant Health said, “We’re excited to re-boot CLICK in NH. Families need support from their communities, and this is a warm-hearted way to talk about a difficult topic.”
Role of volunteers
To prepare for this campaign, NH hosted a work bee in Prince George last November with volunteers, families, and health care providers. Together, they made sure the caps were safe for babies and packaged them with information packages.
One of those volunteers was Kacie, who is planning a career in health care. “Nothing is more important than your health,” she said. “While volunteering for this campaign, I could picture who would receive the information, and it was very emotional because we could see how serious it is. We can help parents see the warning signs, so they get support. That can be life changing.”
NH’s Population and Public Health team plans to continue this crucial initiative, with community help. “The initial supply of caps was provided by BC Children’s Hospital, and we’re hoping that Northern knitters will get involved to keep the momentum going,” added Parsons. “We’re also planning more volunteer work bees later this year to prepare and distribute the supply of caps.”
Reflecting on the experience, Kacie added, “I learned so much from this opportunity and it affirmed that I’m making the right career choice to go into psychology. Life is hard, and I want to help people cope.”
Support PURPLE in the North
If you’d like to be more involved:
- Read more about the Period of PURPLE Crying – Northern Health
- Sign up to be a volunteer at a future work bee
- Email HealthyStart@northernhealth.ca to express interest in knitting and donating purple caps (planning for the winter 2025/26 campaign will begin in spring 2025)
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