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In this "How to talk policy and influence people" interview with Fritzi Horstman, founder and CEO of the Compassion Prison Project (see http://compassionprisonproject.org/ ), we discuss childhood trauma, the significance of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) science, offending behaviour, addiction, violence and the fact that the men and women who end up in prisons are often among the most traumatized members of any society. We talk about the power of the "Step Inside the Circle"...

Supporting Trauma-Informed Transformation in First Nation Communities Beginning in 2010, the Traumatic Stress Institute began supporting the Yukon Territory (Canada) child welfare system to make the transition to trauma-informed care (TIC). Much like tribal communities in the US, First Nation and Aboriginal people in the Yukon suffer the devastating impact of historical and intergenerational trauma...Now significant portions of the youth in the child welfare system are children of...

By Rachel Martin, National Public Radio, May 27, 2020 After the death of Ahmaud Arbery , Morning Edition asked for your reactions to the killing in the shape of a poem. The 25-year-old black man was shot and killed by two white men while he was out for a jog in February in Glynn County, Ga. When video of the incident was released, it was met with public outcry and protest. In the weeks since, we've seen more outrage accompany new headlines about African Americans killed by police. Dreasjon...

By Eva Purkey, Colleen Davison, Meredith MacKenzie, et al., BMC Health Services Research, May 24, 2020 Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with increased morbidity and mortality, lower levels of distress tolerance, and greater emotional dysregulation, as well as with increased healthcare utilization. All these factors may lead to an increased use of emergency department (ED) services. Understanding the experience of ED utilization among a group of ED users with...

By Nigel Thompson and Zitlait Ayllon, Al Dia, May 22, 2020 What does it mean to be a nurse? In the year of the nurse, amid a pandemic, it means to be the center of the world, providing the critical care, physical and emotional, that patients need to survive and that families need to cope. “What it means to be a nurse is to be an extension of family,” was Kemberly Girón’s answer to the question when posed during AL DÍA’s first-ever virtual RoundTable Talks. [ Please click here to read more .]

By Carolyn Jones, EdSource, May 27, 2020 In the wake of a federal order for schools to keep providing special education during school closures, one of the trickiest parts of those services — mandatory parent meetings — has proven to be an unexpected boon in some districts but almost impossible in others. For parents who have computers and are comfortable with videoconferencing, the virtual meetings with teachers, therapists and other school staff have been relatively smooth and efficient. In...

From Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, May 2020 The worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a source of unexpected stress and adversity for many people. Resilience can help us get through and overcome hardship. But resilience is not something we’re born with—it’s built over time as the experiences we have interact with our unique, individual genetic makeup. That’s why we all respond to stress and adversity—like that from the COVID-19...

By Jensen Toussaint, Al Dia, May 21, 2020 When Amy Perez was a college undergrad, she went through a difficult and challenging period of time. “There were a lot of personal things that were going on in my life, like family issues,” she said. It was during that time that she found an elective yoga course, which she called “very therapeutic” for her as she looked for ways to cope with her emotions. [ Please click here to read more .]

I keep going back and forth on whether to call this behavior out: the use of the word “crazy” to describe stuff that is unpredictable, wild, unusual, or that provokes confusion. I used to use it a lot myself. “That’s crazy!” is a phrase I’ve uttered probably, and this is no exaggeration, a million or more times. But I’ve stopped now. I’ll explain why. Right now I’m seeing it even more than ever used to describe this era that includes the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic. “These crazy times,”...

By Renee Gross, JD Health Policy Consultant, Kaiser Permanente Over the past few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused everyone to grapple with uncertainty and manage new stressors at home, at work, and in our communities. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll indicated that 45% of Americans report that the current crisis is harming their mental health. We are facing unprecedented disruption in our daily lives and navigating a world of school and business closures, job losses, social...

By Kristy A. Clark, Susan D. Cochran, and Anthony J. Maiolatesi, JAMA Pediatrics, May 26, 2020 Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth are more likely to be bullied and to report suicidal thoughts and behaviors than non–LGBTQ youth. 1 Whether bullying is a more common antecedent among LGBTQ youth who die by suicide, however, is unknown. We investigated this question using postmortem records from the 2003-2017 National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). Methods...

By David Caraccio, The Sacramento Bee, May 25, 2020 The chief medical officer for Sutter Health is seeing a worrisome trend when it comes to COVID-19 diagnoses. According to data reviewed by Dr. Stephen Lockhart, African Americans were almost three times more likely than their non-Hispanic white peers to learn they had the coronavirus-caused illness through an emergency room or hospital test. The black patients also were far more likely to be admitted for care, leading Lockhart and research...