November 2017

Many mistakenly believe that resilience is about grit - "toughing it out" or "persevering through hardship." Fortunately, a new paradigm supported by research is emerging. Resilience is about more than the power of the mind to overcome. Resilience is about the body's stress response and its ability to remain in a healthy range of arousal and settling without getting stuck in an over or under activated state. In this unique, one of kind workshop, participants will become "re-embodied" to...

It’s no secret that Alaska struggles with high rates of sexual assault and abuse, neglect, and other crimes against children. Alaska consistently has one of the five highest child abuse rates in the country, according to the Child Welfare League of America. The state Office of Children’s Services told Alaska Dispatch News this summer that in 2017 it has averaged more than 50 reports of abuse and neglect per day. What's less well known is that these kinds of traumatic experiences, along with...

The largest study to compare the mortality outcomes of different types of exercise found people who did strength-based exercise had a 23 percent reduction in risk of premature death by any means, and a 31 percent reduction in cancer-related death. Lead author Associate Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis from the School of Public Health and the Charles Perkins Centre said while strength training has been given some attention for functional benefits as we age, little research has looked at its...

On a recent research visit to the Emily Dickinson museum and archives in Amherst, I chanced upon a most improbable discovery of forgotten, pioneering work by another titan of culture. When thirty-one-year-old W.E.B. Du Bois (February 23, 1868–August 27, 1963) heard that the World’s Fair to be held in Paris in 1900 would include a special exhibition on the subject of sociology, he saw in it an opportunity to open the world’s eyes to what had been occupying him for nearly a decade — “the...

The brain adapts and responds to the environments and conditions in which a person lives. When we speak of addiction as a chronic disorder of the brain, it thus includes an understanding that some individuals are more susceptible to drug use and addiction than others, not only because of genetic factors but also because of stress and a host of other environmental and social factors in their lives that have made them more vulnerable. Opioid addiction is often described as an “equal...

In “ The Lost Children of Tuam ,” the New York Times tells the tragic story of “mother and baby” homes in Ireland, facilities for unmarried mothers where infants died by the hundreds. Those who survived were forcibly separated from their mothers and routinely abused. The mother and baby homes were closely related to and preceded by Ireland’s infamous Magdalene Laundries, Catholic institutions that enslaved thousands of “fallen” women during the 19th and 20th centuries. What the Times article...

At a doctor’s visit, on a college-admissions application, or even in a consumer-marketing survey, Americans are regularly asked to classify themselves by race. Some protest this request by “declining to answer,” as forms often allow. After all, racial categories are social constructs . They don’t connote biological or genetic difference. As an African American, I have never had difficulty knowing which box I am meant to check. Whether I do so depends on my understanding of why the...

The number of reported cases of child neglect in the United States increased as a result of the spike in unemployment following the financial crisis of 2007-08, according to a new study from Oxford University in England. In fact, the researchers found a 20 percent increase in cases of reported neglect for every one percentage point increase in unemployment. The findings suggest that unemployment can lead to an increase in child neglect because parents have more limited access to the...

Scott Web, an ACEsConnection member who works at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, sends out this list of links every couple of weeks. Most of the links are from posts on ACEsConnection, and, as you can see, they're organized by category. Some of you have asked if the summaries and links we post can be put into categories. Thanks so much, Scott, for sharing this with the ACEsConnection community! ACEs, Adversity's Impact Responding to children and adolescents who have been...

Authored by Keesha Corbin, Partnering for Excellence Project Coordinator Walking through the doors of the Renaissance Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina, there was a bustle of excitement. Everyone came to life during the first presentation by Mary Lynn Barrett as we sung together as an audience. Next came the presentation that everyone had been waiting for, Dr. Felitti, the researcher that gave a new meaning to the work of so many in the audience. Looking around the audience, I saw many...

Chronic inflammation in middle age may be associated with an increased risk for brain shrinkage and Alzheimer’s disease later in life. A new study, published in Neurology, looked at 1,633 people whose average age was 53 in 1987-89, measuring white blood cell count and various blood proteins that indicate inflammation. They followed the participants for 24 years. In 2011-13, when the subjects’ average age was 77, the scientists measured their brain volume using M.R.I. and tested their mental...

Everyone from medical professionals to strangers tell pregnant people what they should and shouldn’t be doing with their bodies. Throughout my two pregnancies, OB-GYNs, nurses, family, and friends often used phrases like “you can’t,” “you’re not allowed to,” and “we’ll let you” when discussing my body. Unfortunately, this is standard practice in U.S. medicine, which supports a disease-based, doctor-centered, patriarchal model of care (as opposed to patient-based care, which emphasizes...