ACEs are a major public health concern and are associated with an increased risk of poor health outcomes. Nearly 25% of children are exposed to a traumatic event and 1 in 6 adults reported that they experienced four or more types of ACEs (Adverse Childhood, 2020; Razza et al., 2019). This grant proposal is to implement a mindfulness education curriculum in schools to address this problem. In research studies conducted on trauma-exposed adults and children, mindfulness interventions have shown improved mental, behavioral, and physical outcomes (Ortiz & Sibinga, 2017). Therefore, exposing students to a mindfulness education curriculum in schools could only serve to address some of these ACE issues. This curriculum would be based on neuroscience, mindful practices, and social-emotional learning. Additionally, the program’s curriculum will be taught by schoolteachers and health educators who will encourage these students to participate in mindfulness-based practices. Lesson plans will include meditation “brain breaks”, mindful awareness techniques, and other group activities such as: neuroanatomy identification, movement yoga, and attitude and emotions workshops. If students have early access to mindful practices it may help to increase their skills and tools needed to achieve positive mental health and well-being (Razza et al., 2019; Helping Children Thrive in School, Work, and Life, 2020).
Research has indicated that underserved communities are more affected by ACEs and their outcomes. In Newark, New Jersey’s most populous, urban city, at least 28% of children have experienced multiple ACEs (NJ Funders ACEs Collaborative, 2019). Therefore, this program intervention is targeting students in an inner-city elementary school in Newark, New Jersey who may lack the skills and protective factors to help cope with these types of trauma. Effective mindfulness primary prevention for youth demonstrates enhancement of self-regulation, foster resiliency, improve school adaption, and act as a protective factor to remedy the stress and anxiety children are facing (Helping Children Thrive in School, Work, and Life, 2020; Ortiz & Sibinga, 2017).
This invention seeks to promote the health and wellness within the targeted students, help them heal through past traumatic experiences, and reduce the negative health outcomes associated with ACEs. To accomplish this, the proposed program will utilize the public health framework. The project will incorporate the three levels of prevention (primary, secondary, and tertiary) to create a multi-level program to reach the project’s goals. The program aligns with the primary stage of prevention, as it takes preventative measures to alter unhealthy or unsafe behaviors associated with ACEs by implementing a social emotional learning and neuroscience curriculum within the school. Additionally, a secondary level of prevention will be included given the program’s targeted audience may have already been exposed to ACEs and trauma and maybe be at-risk to engage in risky health behaviors and/or suffer from severe health outcomes. The curriculum strives to reduce the impact of trauma among the program’s population and offers a prompt treatment to cope with extreme stressful experiences through learned self-regulatory skills and mindful-based practices. Thirdly, the program incorporates the qualities of tertiary prevention by working with and establishing community partnerships to retrain, re-educate, and rehabilitate students who have already developed a health problem due to ACEs (Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia et al., 2016).
This intervention will primarily focus on the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional factors of the McLeroy’s socioecological model. The intrapersonal level will be addressed through the teaching of mindfulness-based practices aimed at helping students learn new skills and coping strategies to better respond to their triggers and develop social and emotional competencies. Interpersonal forces include the individual’s formal and informal social networks and support systems (Mcleroy,1988). In collaboration with the school, the project will promote healthy attachments between school staff and students and enable supportive adult-child relationships. The institutional level will be addressed through the school’s participation in the acknowledgement of the impact of trauma among this population. This organizational level will also be fulfilled as one of the program’s goal is to promote engagement between the school, students’ families, and community health organizations.
The SAMHSA’s six broad principles will also be incorporated into this program’s development to help create a trauma-informed care (TIC) approach. To successfully integrate TIC into program development and implementation, all school staff and teachers who will be participating in this intervention will be given trauma-informed training. The principle of safety will be incorporated into this project by ensuring that the settings (classrooms or other school rooms) where the project will take place are physically safe and welcoming. Program staff will provide school staff will all information relevant to the program and approach decisions with transparency to establish trustworthiness. Program staff will also take this approach with age-appropriate communication to include targeted students and their families for consent of child’s participation and understanding of the project’s goals. The cultural, historical, and gender issues principle will be addressed through culturally competent mindfulness-based education.
As stated before, children exposed to trauma within the home or community can be negatively affected neurologically and psychologically and research data demonstrates that the need is great in underserved community schools. Overall, this program aims to educate students about mindful practices and in return, it may reduce and prevent the negatives effects of stress and trauma.
References
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). (2020, April 03). Retrieved February 16, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/violencepr...cestudy%2Findex.html
Helping children thrive in school, work, and life! (2020, June 30). Retrieved February 16, 2021, from https://mindup.org/
Mcleroy, K. R., Bibeau, D., Steckler, A., & Glanz, K. (1988). An Ecological Perspective on Health Promotion Programs. Health Education Quarterly, 15(4), 351–377. doi: 10.1177/109019818801500401
NJ Funders ACEs Collaborative. (2019, July 30). Adverse Childhood Experiences - Opportunities to Prevent, Protect Against, and Heal from the Effects of ACEs in New Jersey. Retrieved March 02, 2021, from https://thenicholsonfoundation...unities%20Report.pdf
Ortiz, R., & Sibinga, E. (2017). The role of mindfulness in reducing the adverse effects of childhood stress and trauma. Children, 4(3), 16. doi:10.3390/children4030016
Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia, Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation, & United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. (2016). Trauma-informed philanthropy. Retrieved March 02, 2021, from https://www.scattergoodfoundat...formed-philanthropy/
Razza, R. A., Linsner, R. U., Bergen-Cico, D., Carlson, E., & Reid, S. (2019). The feasibility and effectiveness of mindful yoga for preschoolers exposed to high levels of trauma. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29(1), 82-93. doi:10.1007/s10826-019-01582-7
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