Tagged With "Protective Factors"
Blog Post
PHC6937: Creating a Trauma-Informed Obstetric Practice and Promoting Resilience among Pregnant Women
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with an increased risk of preterm birth. About half of all Florida residents have experienced at least one ACE and 21-30% of Alachua County residents have experienced 2 or more ACEs (Bright et al). In 2017 in Alachua County, 11.7% of live births were less than 37 weeks gestation (FLHealthCHARTS), which is higher than the overall rate in Florida. The aims of this intervention are to build resilience in pregnant women with a history of ACEs...
Blog Post
PHC6937: Elevating Black Male High School Students Towards Success Through Mentorship in Alachua County
According to data provided by the Florida Department of Education, the high school graduation rate among black students in Alachua county is 79.2%, the lowest amongst all other racial and ethnic groups. 1 Furthermore, black students from Alachua county fall below Florida’s graduation rate for their respective demographic group. 1 Further investigation into this disparity and what factors contribute towards it is critical as failing to graduate high school is associated with poorer health...
Blog Post
PHC6937: Primary Level Prevention of ACEs Through Group Prenatal Maternal and Child Health Trauma-Informed Community Classes
In my grant proposal, I am asking for funds to create and fuel a trauma-informed prenatal care community class for pregnant women in Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Putnam, and Union counties that focuses on primary level prevention of ACEs. In my proposal, I focus on the importance of incorporating the skills learned from implementing trauma-informed principles into every day life, and the importance of ensuring the baby arrives in a stable, safe, and nurturing environment. Enforcing primary...
Blog Post
Resilience for the Forgotten
Resilience for the forgotten is a rehabilitation program for the imprisoned. The Prisoner ACE Survey done in Wales in 2018, found that higher ACE scores are significantly more common in prisoners, particularly violent offenders when compared to the general population 1 . Additionally, this population with higher ACE scores are more likely to re-offend within three years of release, thereby contributing to recidivism rates, which are currently ranging from 22% to 58%, depending on the state...
Blog Post
"Turning big waves into small ripples" campaign
My “turn big waves into small ripples” campaign focuses on creating a supportive high school culture with norms and social constructs that encourage students to cope with stressors and positively expressing their emotions. By encouraging a trauma-informed community within the school setting, students will be better prepared to cope with traumas and stressors post-graduation. They will also be capable of passing on this information to their parents, siblings, peers, and future generations.
Blog Post
Upates, good news, recommendation and link to register for Making Meaningful Change: Addressing ACEs through Public Policy Webinar February 18
The World Health Organization has compiled a recent meta-analysis about how much ACEs cost us Millions of adults across Europe and north America live with a legacy of ACEs. Their findings suggest that a 10% reduction in ACE prevalence could equate to annual savings of $105 billion. Programs to prevent ACEs and moderate their effects are available. Rebalancing expenditure towards ensuring safe and nurturing childhoods would be economically beneficial and relieve pressures on health-care...
Blog Post
Meditation and Mindfulness in the Classroom
Meditation and Mindfulness in the Classroom Childhood development is one of the most important periods in a human beings life. It is during this time that individuals absorb the most amount of information and are shaped for the people they will become in future. Sadly, during this critical developmental time, millions of children are affected by Adverse Childhood Experiences. ACEs result in numerous health needs both acute and chronic that can plague individuals for a lifetime. However;...
Blog Post
Personal stories from witnesses, U.S. representatives provided an emotional wallop to House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on childhood trauma
Room erupts in applause for the grandmother of witness William Kellibrew during July 11 House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing. The power of personal stories from witnesses and committee members fueled the July 11 hearing on childhood trauma in the House Oversight and Reform Committee* throughout the nearly four hours of often emotional and searing testimony and member questions and statements (Click here for 3:47 hour video). The hearing was organized into a two panels—testimony from...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Addressing and Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences Through an Enriched Preschool Program
Adverse childhood experiences, also known as ACEs, are highly prevalent across the United States and especially within low-income communities [i] , [ii] , [iii] , [iv] . This is particularly important for Alachua County where 12% of families live below the poverty line and 6% of the population are currently unemployed [v] . Furthermore, recent research shows the Violent Crime Rate was 579.1per 100,000 while the Child Abuse Rate children aged 5-11 was 11.8 per 1,000 [vi] . My grant proposal...
Blog Post
THURSDAY!! Cracked Up, The Evolving Conversation: Generational Trauma - Breaking the Cycle [crackedupmovie.com]
CRACKED UP THE EVOLVING CONVERSATION Episode 4: Generational Trauma - Breaking the Cycle with Darrell Hammond, Comedian, actor, SNL Legend Michelle Esrick, Filmmaker, activist Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Author of The Body Keeps the Score Jane Stevens, Founder of ACES Connection and special guest Jane Fonda Academy Award-winning actor, producer, author and activist Thursday June 25th at 1pm PDT / 2p MT / 3p CT / 4pm EDT Hosted by ACEs Connection THE PRICE OF THIS LIVE EVENT IS $12.50 We have...
Blog Post
Help Navigating the Road to Community Resiliency
The first time I ever heard the words trauma-informed care and the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study was in the summer of 2014. At the time, I was working for the local Police Department as the Director of a grant-funded Crime Reduction Project aimed at reducing drug-related and violent crime. Of the many program goals, one was to develop a rehabilitative corrections program for felony offenders with addictions in order to reduce recidivism. Though I’ve lived in this region for...
Blog Post
Do safe, stable, and nurturing relationships work? New research has important findings for responding to ACEs
While we know that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can cause risk behaviors, research has told us that the presence of protective factors can help mitigate the effects of ACEs. Common risk behaviors such as smoking tobacco and alcohol misuse can be a result from the trauma of childhood disadvantage. In responding to ACEs, public health research proposes that protective factors such as safe, stable, nurturing relationships (SSNRs) with a caring adult can mitigate the long-term effects of...
Blog Post
Fuerza en la Familia: A Resilience-Building Campaign for Latinx Migrant Farmworker Children
This public health communication campaign proposal is one that aims to build resilient children of Latinx Migrant Farmworkers (LMFW) through the family unit. The target population of the communication is the children's adult caregivers. They will be presented with information on the basics and long-term impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), the risks specific to migrant farmworker children, and most importantly they will be education on how to bring resilience-building techniques...
Blog Post
New ACEs initiatives learn about strategic plan development from from New Hanover (NC) Resiliency Task Force executive director Mebane Boyd
The desire to see other ACEs initiatives grow and flourish was evident at a recent meeting of the Resilient Columbus County (North Carolina) ACEs initiative when Mebane Boyd, executive director of the New Hanover Resiliency Task Force (also in North Carolina), shared with the Columbus County and neighboring Pender County groups how New Hanover created and works on its strategic plan. In the spirit of sharing, Boyd agreed to let ACEs Connection post the strategic plan and the video of the...
Blog Post
Opportunity to sign on to “A Trauma-Informed Agenda for the First 100 Days of the Biden-Harris Administration”—Deadline Dec. 8th
The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice ( CTIPP ) is inviting individuals and organizations to express their support for a set of executive actions for the Biden-Harris Administration to take “to address trauma and build resilience throughout the country.” Most of these actions could be taken early in the Administration and would not require congressional action with the exception of some recommendations that could be included in a new stimulus package. The recommendations are...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Using a Trauma-Informed Approach for Obesity Prevention and Reduction
Excess weight has been known to be a risk factor for several top leading causes of death, including heart disease, various types of cancer, type 2 diabetes, and stroke (Centers for Disease Control, 2018). Several studies have documented that adverse experiences during childhood, including exposure to sexual and physical abuse and witnessing violence, are associated with the development of obesity (Isohookana et al., 2016) and puts individuals at an increased risk of serious diseases and...
Blog Post
PHC6534 : Addressing the Impact of Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Through A Mindful-Based Approach
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...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Obesity prevention in high risk individuals using a trauma-informed approach
Obesity is a complex health problem that results from a combination of factors including genetics, physical inactivity, dietary patterns, and use of medications, among others (CDC, n.d.). It is a growing epidemic and has been recognized as a serious public health concern worldwide. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, worldwide obesity almost tripled between 1975 and 2016 (WHO, 2020). More specifically, more than 1.9 billion adults were overweight in 2016 and, of these, 650...
Blog Post
PHC 6534: Identifying, Addressing & Supporting Middle School Students with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): A Grant Proposal
Trauma-Informed Principles This program will ensure training for all clinical and non-clinical staff on SAMHSA’s trauma-informed principles (SAMHSA, 2014). These will also be included in the policies and procedures manual, to set the expectation for employee/staff behaviors. An unsafe environment can cause feelings of distress and potentially instigate re-traumatization; therefore, a safe environment will be prioritized at the mentorship workshops to ensure both students and mentors feel...
Blog Post
2011-2021—A decade of steady growth in ACEs and TI laws and resolutions in the states
In 2019 and 2020, dozens of states enacted nearly 60 laws and resolutions that reference adverse childhood experiences or trauma. In this post, there's an interactive map that shows them all.
Blog Post
Multi-level intervention: Positive Pregnancy and Postpartum Period during the Pandemic
As we all know nearly two years into the pandemic, COVID-19 is a viral, respiratory disease easily transmitted through direct contact via respiratory droplets (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2021b). It has become a global pandemic that has had a large effect in the local community home to the University of Florida - Alachua County. Unfortunately, there are many risk factors put individuals at increased risk for severe COVID-19. One risk factor that many people are not aware of is...
Blog Post
January 19th CTIPP CAN Call - Trauma-Informed Initiatives in Baltimore and Maryland
Join us next Wednesday for two excellent CTIPP CAN presentations to begin our 2022 lineup. Baltimore Councilman Zeke Cohen will discuss the work, started by the late Congressman Elijah Cummings, that is making the city of Baltimore trauma-informed. Claudia Remington will describe new trauma informed initiatives by the State of Maryland, including legislation that created a Commission to develop a comprehensive strategy to make the State trauma informed. We will also report on the first...
Blog Post
PHC 6534: Building Resiliency in Children in Foster Care
Summary: This proposal utilizes trauma-informed principles to design an intervention targeted at helping foster parents and children in LA County. The intervention will educate foster parents on trauma-informed care and how to build strong relationships with their foster children. The foster children will work on resilience and relationship building in order to lessen effects of previous traumatic experiences. Statement of Need: Foster children experience trauma at a greater rate than...
Blog Post
PHC 6534: Expanding Shelter Pet Care Capacity for Victims of Intimate Partner Violence: A Grant Proposal
As our semester-long project for PHC 6534, we were tasked with putting together a sample grant proposal. I chose to focus on pets for domestic violence victims seeking shelter. Obviously, many people own pets. Concern for these animals can keep victims of Intimate Partner Violence from leaving their situation. Pets may be threatened, hurt or killed by abusers. Alachua County’s shelter already provides some capacity for sheltering families with pets, so my proposal is designed to build on...
Blog Post
PHC 6534 Exploring and Mitigating the Trauma of Gentrification in East Gainesville
Overview: My proposed trauma-informed project aims to mitigate the impact of gentrification on mental health by building community and individual resilience. I chose this topic with both personal and professional interests in mind. Gentrification can be a traumatic experience for disadvantaged individuals, in particular African Americans, who constantly face pressures of insecurity, loss, and the exacerbation of other socio-environmental disadvantages (Anguelovski et al., 2021). In Alachua...
Blog Post
PHC 6534 - Trauma-Informed Familial Resources for Youth in Mental Health Crises
Summary: Mental health diagnoses in childhood are increasingly common, with about 10% of youth between 5-16 years holding at least one diagnosis (Lowthian et al., 2021). The prevalence and the risk for mental illness increase with each cumulative adverse childhood exposure (Felliti et al., 1998). In Michigan, ACEs are widely prevalent, with nearly 20% of respondents experiencing 4 or more ACEs (Murad & Barth, 2016). Moreover, certain exposures pose greater risk for childhood mental...
Blog Post
PHC 6534: Building Resiliency as a Protective Factor Against Adverse Childhood Experiences in Young School Aged Children: A Grant Proposal
Background Adverse childhood events (ACEs) are traumatic events that occur before the age of 18 that significantly affect the child’s physical, mental and emotional well-being. Some examples of ACEs include physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, and parental incarceration. ACEs are linked to chronic health problems, mental illness and substance use problems in adulthood and can also negatively impact education, job opportunities and earning potential in adulthood (Centers for Disease...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Addressing Substance Abuse and ACEs among Hispanic/Latinx families in Alachua, FL
Hispanic/Latinx families, especially in the rural south, experience a myriad of ACES and issues with substance abuse or heavy alcohol consumption. According to the Florida Health Charts (2020), in Alachua County alcohol consumption (heavy binge drinking) has increased substantially from 19.9% of Hispanic adults in 2016 to 35.7% of Hispanic adults in 2019. WellFlorida Council and the Rural Women's Health Project will collaborate to create a summer long program through the local Iglesia...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Conversations About Consent
My program, Conversations About Consent (CAC), aims to significantly reduce the prevalence of sexual assault perpetration and prevent sexually violent behaviors towards women on the University of Florida’s campus via a web-based program applicable for all genders. CAC also strives to propagate personal resilience in survivors of sexual violence through their involvement in the implementation of the program. Participants will access the program through a password-protected web portal that...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Trauma-Informed and Resilience Building Life Coaching and Networking Support Program For First Generation Latino High School Students Seeking Higher Education
First generation students are at high risk of dropping out during their second or first year at a College or University, and are “51% less likely to graduate within 4 years” compared to students who have parents with college education (Ishitani, 2006). Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in the first-generation immigrant student population is largely understudied and may also be a contributing factor to the dropout rates. A recent study demonstrated that Latino Immigrants experience traumas...
Blog Post
PHC 6534: Combatting the Impact of ACEs on Placement Instability in Foster Care
In 2020, more than half a million children were served by foster care systems across the nation. Yet, the topic is seemingly nonexistent; unmentioned in the media, forgotten in political discourse, and even overlooked in the field of public health. The initial removal of children from their homes is itself a traumatic experience, in addition to whatever circumstances led to removal; an entire traumatized population is left to a system that kicks them out at midnight on their 18 th birthday.
Blog Post
PHC6534: The Art of Adaptation – Expressive Arts as a Protective Factor in Healing Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Trauma caused by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as abuse, neglect, witnessing violence, and other traumatic exposures are associated with neurological impacts on the developing brain. These impacts are concerning to the brain’s responses to stress, with resulting impairments and functionalities leading to increased risks for depressive disorders in adulthood. To combat this issue, this proposed program seeks to provide preventative activities of expressive arts as a method of...
Blog Post
PHC6534 - Building the Active-Duty Spouse Community to Prevent Adverse Childhood Events in Active-Duty Military Dependent Children
An ever-increasing number of studies show a correlation between the number of ACEs and devastating health and behavioral events later in life. To prevent these outcomes, we must prevent the occurrence of ACEs, which means directing prevention efforts at the parental level. An often-overlooked population is the military spouse community and the children of active-duty military members. With spouses who are often not co-located with their family and the transient life of forced moves every...
Blog Post
PHC6534 - Lowering Depression and Suicide Rates Among First-Year Residents at Shands Hospital
Working as a doctor is already a stressful job, but factor in the reality that we are living in a pandemic, then the job gets significantly more difficult. A study that surveyed 7,288 doctors found that “45.8% of physicians were considered to be experiencing at least 1 symptom of burnout based on a high emotional exhaustion score or a high depersonalization score” and “37.9% of US physicians had high emotional exhaustion” 1 . As a result of stress, demanding hours, poor time management, and...
Blog Post
PHC 6451: Building Strong Kids and Families: The Power of Resilience
This blog post will describe a Multi-Level Public Health Resilience Building Intervention program focused on building resiliency in children and their caregivers who have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The theme of the program is “Building Strong Kids and Families: The Power of Resiliency” and the name of the after-school program for the children is “Club Resilience.” Adverse childhood events (ACEs) are traumatic events that occur before the age of 18 that significantly...
Blog Post
How much would the NAS poverty reduction packages reduce referrals to CPS and foster care placements? Would they reduce racial disproportionality in child welfare? (nasonline.org).
Because of a collaboration with Columbia University and UW-Madison, we have answers to these questions. By Peter Peter Pecora, Casey Family Programs, March 17, 2023 - Overview The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recently released a “ roadmap ” to reduce child poverty by as much as half through the implementation of a series of social policy packages. The aim of this study was to simulate the reductions in Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement and foster care placements that are...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Breaking the Cycle: Cultural Sensitive and Trauma Informed Screening and Treatment for ACEs and its Mental Health Sequelae in an Asian American Community
The Asian American population has doubled in size from 2000 to 2019 and is estimated to reach more than 46 million by 2060 in the U.S. (Budiman & Ruiz, 2021). In North Carolina, the Asian American population has grown by 85% from 2000 to 2010, ranking the third highest rate among all states (Asian Americans in North Carolina, n.d.). Despite this growth, little is understood about Asian Americans and their experiences with trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) due to the lack of...
Blog Post
PHC6534 Summary of Grant Proposal: Mitigating Adverse Childhood Experiences by Strengthening Economic Support for Families Through Universal Livable Wages
My grant proposal focuses on a trauma-informed and primary prevention program for ACEs by addressing poverty, a prominent risk factor for ACEs and trauma, through providing a guaranteed livable wage/universal livable income to impoverished families residing in Gainesville, FL. The program partners with the Central Florida Community Action Agency (CFCAA), a non-profit community-based organization working to reduce poverty and increase self-sufficiency among low-income families in multiple...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Adolescents and Young Adults, Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress, and Social Support: A Palliative Care Peer Support Program
Pediatric medical traumatic stress (PMTS) is defined as “a set of psychological and physiological responses of children and their families to pain, injury, serious illness, medical procedures, and invasive or frightening treatment experiences” (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2018). Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with chronic illness are particulary susceptible to PMTS due to their increased likelihood of experiencing potentially traumatic medical events and the...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Black, Proud, and Strong: Building Black LGBTQ+ Community Resilience to Improve HIV-related Health Outcomes
Kansas City’s Black LGBTQ+ community is the most highly-impacted community for HIV health-related outcomes, including HIV diagnosis and being virally unsuppressed (KC-TGA, 2022). Bond et al. (2021) and Bertolino et al. (2020) indicate a relationship between HIV risk behaviors and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Black, Proud, and Strong (BPS) will use a trauma-informed Community-Based Participatory Research approach to assess ACEs within the Black LGBTQ+ community and to build and...
Blog Post
Addressing ACEs and its Mental Health Sequelae in AAPI College Students in NC
The Asian American (AA) population has doubled in size from 2000 to 2019 and is estimated to reach more than 46 million by 2060 in the U.S. (Budiman & Ruiz, 2021). Despite this growth, little is understood about their experiences with trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) due to the lack of data disaggregation (Yang & Dinh, n.d.). The model minority myth, a stereotype about Asian Americans’ achievements that erases the large disparities within this non-monolithic group...
Blog Post
Building resilience in the mobile home community through neighborhood connections
Emma Crall and Gabriella Grillo: According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, hurricanes and tropical cyclones have caused more fatalities and damage than any other weather disaster (n.d.). These destructive phenomena can have lasting, negative consequences on a community, resulting in deaths, injuries, and damage to property and infrastructure (Waddell et al., 2021). These consequences often displace communities from their homes. In the United States, 1,965 individuals...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Preventing ACEs through CBT-Based After School Programming in Sacramento, CA
According to a 2022 community health needs assessment, Sacramento County had worse outcomes with ACEs indicators when compared to California averages ( UC Davis Health, 2022 ). Additionally, youth who resided within “Communities of Concern” were shown to have higher ACE risk factors along with poorer mental and physical health when compared to state averages (California Department of Education, 2022). The implementation of targeted interventions to high-risk neighborhoods that increase...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Trauma-Informed Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program to Reduce High Risk Sexual Behaviors Among Teens in Orange County, Florida
In 2022, 537 infants—or 11.2 infants per 1,000 childbearing persons ages 15 to 19 years—were born to adolescents in Orange County, Florida (Bureau of Community Health Assessment, 2022). Adolescent pregnancy is associated with numerous maternal and child health risks that pose significant public health concern (Flaviano & Harville, 2020) and a strong dose-response relationship exists between the number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adolescent pregnancy with teen pregnancy...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Prevention Among Miami-Dade Residents Utilizing a Trauma-informed Approach
Summary: Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the term utilized for any disease related to the heart, this may include coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure, or arrhythmias (American Heart Association, 2024). Currently, CVD is the leading cause of death among individuals in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). It was estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that approximately one in every five deaths in the United States were...
Blog Post
PHC6534 : Teen Pregnancy Prevention with a Trauma Focus Lens in Alachua County
Even though teen pregnancy in the United States is declining, there is still 15.4 births for every 1,000 female teens from 15-19, including 100 teen pregnancies in Alachua, Florida (HHS, 2023). Teens who are most at risk of teen pregnancy mostly come from traumatic backgrounds, with many adverse childhood events or experiences such as physical or sexual violence, neglectful homes, poverty, mental health conditions (Shreffler, 2021 & Rubin, 1999). Teen pregnancy not only has negative...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Nurturing Resilience Through Art Therapy for Adolescents in Alachua County
Project Overview Adolescents who have experienced multiple ACEs are more prone to reporting a range of mental health symptoms, suicidal tendencies, engagement in violent behavior, and substance use (Meeker et al., 2021). This is of particular importance for Alachua County since the rate of hospitalizations from non-fatal self-harm injuries in adolescents aged 12-18 years in 2022 was 140.8 compared to the state rate of Florida at 71 (Florida Health Charts, 2022). The project proposal aims to...
Blog Post
PHC6534: Impacting Obesity through Altering Nutrition Beliefs in a Community with Large Adverse Childhood Experience Rates
Statement of Need Florida has a high obesity rate at 31.6% of adults according to CDC data from 2022, however Charlotte County falls in the fourth quartile in Florida, with an obesity rate of 39.5% ( Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps | Overweight & Obesity | CDC , 2023) ( County Health Status Summary Profile - 2021 , 2022). Adverse Childhood Experiences can severely impact one’s relationship with nutrition, as experiencing instability, violence, or other traumatic experiences can change the...