Blog

Hi Community! We know many Caribbean people who have been forecasting the end of the lockdowns, closures and drama that has been associated with Covid-19.😷 Even as more vaccines💉 are being administered around the world, a new USA survey by Yahoo/YouGov has found that optimism over the return to normalcy (however that may look to you) is more aligned to gender than we realised. The survey respondents came from different ages, races, income levels and political ideologies. Only 50%...

With the Covid-19 fallout having its toll on school attendance around the world, many persons of all ages and stages of life have been adversely affected. But it has not only been children who have been impacted. Trauma has arisen through separation from playmates and colleagues, loss of access to food from school feeding programmes, loss of safety from abuse within the household, loss of familiarity with the school environment, loss of employment for non-academic staff, loss of income for...

Hi Caribbean Community! I hope everyone is doing well. Our newest member on ACEs Caribbean Community is Dr. Joanne Spence from 🇹🇹. On Friday 19th March 2021, she and other female mental health professionals from the Caribbean (Guyana 🇬🇾 and Jamaica 🇯🇲) will be speaking at an online workshop on Caribbean Women's Mental Health. The event is part of International Women's Day celebrations. #IWD2021 #ChooseToChallenge More info on the event is available at the Calendar entry at the link...

The issue of Justice is dear to my heart for several reasons. So, in light of the over-use of imprisonment in our region, amidst overburdened or slothful criminal justice systems, I question whether we are "doing justice" when we incarcerate people for what may only be their Trauma Responses. What do I mean? Well, often a criminal investigation does not delve further than the identification of the perpetrator of an alleged and reported crime. Once that is done, if the accused has no or...

Hey Community! We are planning a series titled, "Did You Know" to highlight some not-too-well-known facts about ACEs science. Along the way, we will bust some myths and educate you, our members, about childhood trauma, resilience, and hope. So if you would like to take part, please comment below and let us know what areas you would like us to cover. Are you in?

Hi! Some people said they were having difficulty understanding how to join the ACEs Caribbean Community as they are not familiar with the Aces Connection platform. So we've made a short tutorial to show how to (a) navigate the Aces Connection platform, (b) become a member of the platform, and (c) then join this Community. The screen recording was done using an Android phone so it will look a little different if you use an iPhone or a PC. Below we've posted the link to the embedded video in...

The New York Times published an article today which features Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris, the Surgeon General for California, USA and podcaster Ezra Klein of The Ezra Klein Show where they discuss Covid-19 and the growing evidence that childhood adversities including things like Covid-19 impact us into adulthood. It is an interesting transcript but, if you prefer to use your ears rather than your eyes, the link below has an option to listen to the original podcast.😀 Here are some excerpts...

Research from the UK suggests that men from racialised backgrounds are reporting higher levels of mental distress during the pandemic compared to white men (Proto et al., 2021). Contributing factors include bereavement, loneliness and worries about coronavirus and misinformation.

Hey Community! We just observed International Women's Day (#IWD2021) yesterday and we hope the ladies in our community had a terrific day. Against the backdrop of all the intimate partner violence and family-related abuse being perpetrated in the region, here is a question many are asking - " What leads to a (big, hard-back) man assaulting a woman or a child? " There is a recent thread on Aces Connection where a man in Canada posed the question. The responses are interesting. Before you head...

As we established last week, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has free content on the topic of childhood trauma that you can access even from the Caribbean. Well, what would happen if you search for "adverse childhood experiences" on PBS? You would receive a wider range of content, that's what! Some of the content is designed as a series so you can arrange to view the segments when you have the time. So get another bowl of popcorn ready and check out PBS for your free ACEs-related content.

International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day observed on March 8 celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality. IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organization specific. In 2021 the theme is #ChooseToChallenge . Men and...

For more than a year the world has been gripped in the throes of combating the Novel Coronavirus 2019 and over 1 million lives have been lost globally to the disease. In the face of the fear, anxiety, despair and grief which has arisen, a question for those familiar with ACEs science is whether this body of knowledge can help alleviate the prevailing stressors. Here is where Hope steps in. Last month, panelists in an Aces Aware webinar discussed the secondary health effects associated with...