A just-published article reports that the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) recommends against pediatric ACE screening but strongly supports continuing surveillance of ACEs along with protective factors in the population as a way to identify public health and other policies that can prevent adversity and toxic stress. Their report highlights Dr. Robert Anda’s (and colleagues) commentary that notes that ACE scores are neither a diagnostic tool nor predictive at the individual level (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32222260/).
ACPM’s review of research indicated that there is “a potential benefit of screening for ACEs, if effective interventions exist, but they do not offer strong and consistent evidence that screening reduces the consequences of ACEs.” Further, the research suggests that “Interventions to enhance protective factors and prevent and mitigate the consequences of ACEs and other childhood adversity are promising and require further implementation and research.”
ACPM also makes other recommendations, such as: “All healthcare teams should receive training about the impact of childhood experiences on health across the lifespan and must have protocols and systems in place which support evidence-based trauma-informed, resiliency-informed, healing-centered care, and referral for other indicated behavioral and social services, such as perinatal home visiting and parenting programs for those who are at risk for or have experienced trauma.”
Sherin, et al., “Recommendations for Population-Based Applications of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study: Position Statement by the American College of Preventive Medicine.” AJPM Focus at https://www.sciencedirect.com/...ii/S2773065422000372.
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