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California PACEs Action

One year after release of PI framework, communities use it to address community trauma, promote resilience (PreventionInstitute.org)

 

In San Diego, a group is using the ACE|R framework as part of PI’sMaking Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing among Men and Boys initiative, funded by the Movember Foundation.  Jama Mohamed, Program Coordinator for the San Diego initiative, describes how community environments can produce and exacerbate trauma among refugees: “When you look at a community that has actually experienced trauma, and you put them in an environment like this, it’s not for us to question their behaviors,” he said. “[The refugees] got away from dying [in their home countries] to come to an environment where they have to survive again. We are creating … opportunities for parents, young men and women to find solutions that are culturally competent.” 

Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Men and Boys in the U.S. Report

This landscape report developed by PI for the Movember Foundation details the current state of mental health for American men and boys, and discusses societal challenges and opportunities for healing. Specifically, the report emphasizes community-level strategies that underscore the importance of mental health and its link with community wellbeing and resilience. Across the interviews and the reports reviewed, consistent themes, trends, and challenges to men and boys emerged, including that:

  • American society produces anxiety and is full of risk and stressors.
  • Disconnection and isolation-from community, peers, family, children and culture-are major factors that undermine men's mental health.
  • Trauma and its associated symptoms of mental and psychological illness are more prevalent in the U.S. than in most other countries around the world.
  • Boys and men of color are disproportionately impacted by trauma in the U.S., and this has far-reaching implications.
  • Military service members, veterans, and their families experience trauma and its effects at a disproportionate rate.
  • Resilience is a critical protective factor for mental well-being.

The report concluded that while current prevention programs are effective, they are not at scale; many population-level prevention strategies are not well developed. Indigenous and lay-people approaches are emerging that support healing and mental wellbeing, and these should be elevated and bolstered.

At the center of the Making Connections initiative is the community of practice among sites and initiative partners. Our multi-site learning community shares technical assistance, employs individual and collective evaluation, and openly shares challenges, results, and outcomes. Together, the organizations participating in this initiative will strengthen and evaluate ways to enact positive change in communities−beginning with men and boys. Prevention Institute provides ongoing guidance, strategy development and management of the community of grantees, philanthropic, and organizational partners committed to using community-level strategies to promote resilience and improve mental health across generations of boys and men.

To read Prevention Institute's article, visit: https://www.preventioninstitut...g-among-men-and-boys

The Making Connections Executive Summary report is attached below.

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