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By Robert F. Anda, Laura E. Porter, David W. Brown, et al., American Journal of Preventive Medicine, March 25, 2020 INTRODUCTION Despite its usefulness in research and surveillance studies, the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) score is a relatively crude measure of cumulative childhood stress exposure that can vary widely from person to person. Unlike recognized public health screening measures, such as blood pressure or lipid levels that use measurement reference standards and cut points...

Why expect more cooperation and compassion in the face of an epidemic? Because, contrary to popular belief, crises often tend to bring out the best in people. A report that looked at how people responded during the September 11th Twin Tower attacks showed that people bent over backwards to help others escape, sometimes at great personal risk to themselves. Other reports on the aftermath of natural disasters show that strangers will stick out their necks for each other to help. In fact,...

With the headlines about Covid-19 shouting, "it's the end of the world," I'm sure you are all feeling *slightly panicked right along with me. This is a scary time for America and the world. There is a lot of uncertainty, and it is entirely reasonable to feel anxious and afraid. If you are experiencing symptoms of anxiety, you can find help here. I am writing to share my hope. When faced with tragedy, we can succumb, or we can rise. I am going to choose to rise every.single.time and I hope...

In these times of Coronovirus concerns, it is comforting to know we have an Emotional Freedom Techniques method of tapping that does not require touching the face. Click this link to see an illustration of a tapping protocol that is especially useful in calming fears: https://www.janebuchan.com/blog/ The Gamut Point, found on the back of the hand between the ring and baby finger tendons, sits on Triple Warmer, our fight or flight meridian. Our personal First-Responder, we need Triple Warmer...

Connecticut Women's Consortium hosts International Women's Day: Celebration of Resilience Resilience film screening followed by Q & A discussion with experts about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), challenges throughout CT, and efforts to lessen their impacts. Resilient Women panel to follow. The panel will feature women of strength and courage that both inspire us and motivate change in our communities. Plan to spend the day and meet with your legislator to discuss issues that...

Measuring Trauma-Informed Care: Overview of Series Federal, state, and local governing bodies are increasingly mandating trauma-informed care (TIC), requiring organizations, schools, and service systems to demonstrate they are advancing TIC in their settings. Yet, organizations and schools have little guidance about how to do so. For example, the Family First Services Prevention Act requires Qualified Residential Training Programs (QRTPs) to demonstrate effective use of a TIC framework, but...

Please join this ACEs Connection co-sponsored webinar "Making Meaningful Change: Addressing ACEs through Public Policy" on Feb. 18 (11:30 am-1:00 pm ET) presented by the Health Federation of Philadelphia and MARC (Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities). In this webinar, three nationally recognized experts will discuss policy and advocacy strategies on a local, state, and national level using evidence from studies they have conducted with legislators and the general public. Speakers...

By Charlene Belew, The Duncan Banner, January 17, 2020 “The child may not remember but the body remembers.” That was the key saying behind the “Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope” film screening Thursday, Jan. 16 when First Lady Sarah Stitt brought the Hope Rising Tour to Duncan in an effort to educate and help prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) plaguing youth in the state. “Resilience” focuses on the concept of ACEs, which is now understood to be a leading...

While members of the Maryland General Assembly did not dominate the Dec. 13th “MGA ACEs Roundtable” in numbers, they commanded the room and enlivened a focus on how ACEs science can inform current and future policies considered by elected officials.

In October 2015 in Pueblo, CO, the staff members of a primary care medical clinic – Southern Colorado Family Medicine at the St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center – start asking parents of newborn babies to kids five years old about the parents’ adverse childhood experiences and the resilience factors in their lives. They ask the same questions of pregnant women and their partners in the hospital’s high-risk obstetrics clinic. The results are so positive after the first year that the clinic starts...

Four years ago, Dr. Leslie Dempsey would never have talked about ACEs — adverse childhood experiences — with her patients. Now ACEs is a common topic. “Just as I don’t feel awkward asking someone if they smoke or do intravenous drugs, I don’t really feel awkward talking about their childhood traumas in a way that it relates to their health. It’s just integrated into obtaining background and social history,” she says. Dr. Leslie Dempsey Dempsey is a physician in obstetrics who oversees a team...

By Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, January 15, 2020 Why are the early years of a child’s life so important for brain development? How are connections built in the brain, and how can early brain development affect a child’s future health? This episode of The Brain Architects dives into all these questions and more. First, Dr. Jack Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing Child, explains more about the science behind how brains are built—their architecture—and...