Recently we have begun having discussions with ACEs Connection community members as part of a national movement to prevent trauma and promote resiliency—the National Collaborative on Adversity and Resilience (NCAR). In a series of blog posts, I will summarize the comments and recommendations that ACEs Connection members had in our “virtual NCAR summit”.
The first question, posted by Jane Stevens, and modeled after a question that posed at NCAR, asked us: “How can you convince the average person to care about adverse childhood experiences?”. This topic struck a cord with members and received 134 replies!
Seeking Movement Leaders
Many members emphasized the necessity of communicating the ACEs message to people with influence at the community and national levels. These include medical professionals (doctors, nurses, medical students), community leaders, educators, politicians, and celebrities. These people are likely to have the ear of the average person either because they are well-known (e.g., celebrities) or considered knowledgeable and trustworthy (e.g., doctors).
Although many people pointed out resistance from doctors to educating their patients about ACES and implementing ACEs screenings (read the discussion for more on this interesting topic), everyone agreed that there needs to be a shift in how the medical community thinks about ACEs that makes it a priority to consider the psychosocial environment and to communicate information about ACEs and trauma to patients. Other people suggested recruiting doctors to the cause early in their careers by teaching them more about ACEs in medical school. Nurses may also be great individuals to share information about ACES, as they may spend more time developing in-depth relationships with patients.
Engaging faith leaders was also a suggested strategy to spread the message of ACEs to the average person. These individuals often have large numbers of parishioners who respect their perspective and they often have weekly platforms to discuss issues that are important to them. Some religious institutions also have money set aside for providing social services, which may be particularly helpful in communities where the local government is either uninterested in ACEs or does not have the financial resources to address them.
Members also emphasized the importance of getting politicians to care about ACEs (does anyone know Hillary Clinton?). This can serve to both spread the message and change legislation that can ultimately affect many people. In the discussion, members suggested that people write to legislators where ACEs legislation is being considered, such as Vermont, to encourage them to continue to pursue passing these bills. (We also encourage you to write your federal and state representatives about the importance of ACEs, even when there is not relevant legislation in the works.)
By engaging with these groups of individuals, we may ultimately be more successful at spreading awareness of ACEs.
Community Awareness
However, messages about ACEs by no means need to come only from the groups discussed above. There were many suggestions of how ACEs members can share information with their communities. Writing op-eds for local news was recommended, as was sharing information on social media. Members suggested that ACEs screening tables be set up in various locations, including downtowns, malls, and conferences (make sure you check the location’s rules and ordinances before you do this). If you are in a profession with conferences, give talks or present posters about ACEs. (Does anyone want to do a TED talk?) Cities such as Tarpon Springs, FL, embrace open community meetings about ACEs, which spread awareness. People especially want to reach parents, to break generational cycles of ACEs. There were some very creative suggestions to reach new audiences. Ruth Freeman offers lunchtime webinars through corporate wellness programs about parenting and toxic stress. Dr. Vincent Felitti suggests that a television series that exposes viewers to the consequences of different parenting behaviors would reach many individuals unaware of ACEs.
These ways of reaching out through out communities and the media, have the potential to introduce many individuals to ACEs and their consequences.
Starting a Conversation about ACEs
ACEs Connection members are also looking for information about how they can talk to individuals about ACEs. Robin Saenger suggested that “it doesn't take much for the average person to realize how common adverse childhood experiences are.” However, people still don’t always know the best way to broach the subject. Members had some great tips for doing this to share with one another. One idea is to have a short and captivating “elevator speech” to share with people you meet. You want to tell them about ACEs in a succinct waythat makes them want to know more. If you know something about the person, you can even tailor the speech to their interests. For example, if they are a teacher, maybe your pitch will include a mention of how ACEs affect educational goals. It was also suggested that current events be used to introduce ACEs. For example, when everyone is talking about a crime in your neighborhood, you may wonder aloud with your neighbors what events in the person’s life precipitated the crime.
Other members had the idea to hook people in without saying a word! Buttons, shirts, and bumper stickers that say “Ask me about ACEs” allow people to begin the ACE conversation with you. In fact, since this discussion, the ACEs Connection designer, Val Krist, has begun to design “Ask Me About ACEs” buttons. Members also suggested lapel ribbons in a color representing ACEs, possibly for doctors to wear on their white coats. Marc Deprey recommended buttons that hooked people in using another topic they care about; for example, “Reduce healthcare costs by 85%—Ask me!”. Christopher Hardwick discussed the possibility of getting ACEs discussions started using “affective art,” where the visual arts are used to show what trauma feels like. Messages like this reach both people affected by trauma and people who feel empathy after viewing the art.
A Message of Hope
Members also discussed the message they wished to convey to the average person. People want the ACEs message to seem relevant to everyone, even if they have not experienced trauma. They want them to know that ACEs are affecting their lives and their communities in ways they do not realize. It may affect their neighbors, it may explain neighborhood crime, it may help them better understand disruptive students in their child’s class at school.
Members also hope to change the narrative about adversity and resilience. ACEs should not be seen as experiences that you simply overcome and that make you stronger. Adversity needs to be seen as an experience that can happen in a supportive or unsupportive environment that can result in experiencing either resiliency or toxic stress.. This requires a reframing of outcomes not as individual failings, but rather as consequences of one’s environment.
Finally, members wanted to make sure that the message is one of hope. We want people to know that ACEs and their consequences are not inevitable and that things can be done to help people who have experienced ACEs and to prevent future ACEs from occurring. We want to demonstrate the successes of trauma-informed work in places like Tarpon Springs, Florida and Walla Walla, Washington.
This conversation as a whole, outlined a comprehensive plan of ACEs outreach. ACEs Connection members hope to reach out to “movers and shakers,” their communities, and individuals—spreading a message that both pulls at people’s heart-strings by relating ACEs to their lives and suggests that there is work to be done that can change the status quo. If all ACEs Connection members picked a few or even a single of the above ideas to implement, the ACEs message would begin to spread vey quickly.
Thank you to all the members who participated in this discussion. Please feel free to continue the discussion in the comments below.
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