In a recent article titled, " Adverse Childhood Experiences: Breaking the Cycle in a Time of COVID-19 ," the Medical Board of California newsletter highlighted the work being done by the American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 3 , Dr. Wendy Pavlovich and Dr. Pradeep Gidwani.
Dr. Claudia Gold is an ACEs Champion who has as much medical expertise as she does empathy for parents, including and maybe especially for parents who are struggling. She recognizes the challenges and difficulties many parents experience but instead of shaming or punishing parents, she starts by listening to and learning from us. While this seems like the most practical, effective, and common-sense approach, to me, it is something many providers don't have the time, skill, inclination, or...
Dear Friends and Allies, This is a moment for transformation led by youth advocates—those with lived experience—to reimagine a mental health system centered on equity and justice. While concerns remain with the state's proposals on both Telehealth and CalAIM, there are some hopeful signs of reform on the horizon including: $700 million proposed in the Governor’s budget to support student mental health in schools. The updated CalAIM proposal which advocates for the removal of a diagnosis for...
By Kristen Taketa, The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 7, 2021 Pediatricians across San Diego County say they are deeply troubled by what they see school closures doing to children. Dr. Janet Crow, a pediatrician at UC San Diego, talks every day with middle and high school kids who are heading toward depression or are flat-out depressed, she said. One of her high school patients can’t bring himself to do Zoom school, she said. His mom isn’t there to help him because she is an essential...
[Editor's note: Dr. Harise Stein at Stanford University edits a web site — abuseresearch.info — that focuses on the health effects of abuse, and includes research articles on ACEs. Every month, she posts the summaries of the abstracts and links to research articles that address only ACEs. Thank you, Harise!! -- Jane Stevens] Walker CS, Walker BH, Brown DC, Buttross S, Sarver DE. Defining the role of exposure to ACEs in ADHD: Examination in a national sample of US children. Child Abuse Negl.
Loren McCullough, 2/11/21, positiveexperience.org/blog In our last blog post , we introduced the Black History Month series we’ll be running on the HOPE blog, to highlight and honor the work of Black individuals in the fields of public health, education, and child welfare. Today, we reflect on Ruby Bridges and the harmful effects of racism against Black girls in education. In next week’s post, we will be releasing a new resource that walks you through four questions you can ask to begin...
Sharing our recent publication of pilot data on ACEs (assessed using the Whole Child Assessment) and immune cell gene expression in children age 5-11 years old
The California Preterm Birth Initiative is pleased to share our spring 2021 request for applications for innovative research proposals on preterm birth! About the Opportunity Twice a year, in the spring and fall, we request research proposals via the UCSF Resource Allocation Program (RAP). The spring RAP applications are due by March 1st. What We're Looking For We are looking for proposals focused on: Reducing preterm birth rates Addressing racial disparities in preterm birth and/or...
NO GOING BACK: Providing Telemental Health Services to California Children and Youth After the Pandemic, is the first in a series of briefs outlining how technology can make mental health more accessible with concrete recommendations based on providers’ perspectives, and lessons learned during the pandemic. Read the Report When the shelter-in-place mandate started, California’s mental and behavioral health providers quickly pivoted to telehealth delivery for children and adolescents. Recent...
We Are Resilient is a practical hands-on approach to strengthening resilience and reducing stress. We can all benefit from recognizing what gets in the way of our resilience and learning how to practice these practical, research-based skills which promote our ability to be our most resilient self. We Are Resilient is particularly helpful for healthcare providers and staff to be more comfortable addressing ACEs, trauma, and providing trauma-informed care. The training helps providers manage...
By Amber Dance, Knowable Magazine, February 3, 2021 Childhood has been upended by the Covid-19 pandemic. Carefree playdates, team sports and school have been off the table or strictly online for many of the world’s 2.2 billion children, replaced by isolation, boredom, family stress and worry. What will be the consequences? Children have weathered disasters before, so researchers know plenty about the risks as well as the potential for recovery. For example, after flooding in Buffalo Creek,...
By Signe Hald Andersen, JAMA Network, January 7, 2021 Key Points Question Is age at exposure to negative experiences in childhood and adolescence associated with subsequent adverse outcomes? Findings In this cohort study of data on 605 344 individuals aged 19 years from Denmark, exposure to negative experiences in early adolescence was more strongly associated with later adverse outcomes than was exposure in early childhood. Meaning The findings suggest that policy interventions targeting...
Our bodies are wired for survival, thanks to our biological stress system. However, without buffering protections, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), such as neglect and abuse, can lead to a toxic stress response. Fortunately, we know toxic stress is a health condition that is amenable to treatment. To help Californians better understand ACEs and toxic stress, we invite our ACEs Aware community to join us on Twitter on February 9 and use #SaludTues to Tweet about the lifelong consequences...
WHYY photo credit[/caption] My school district announced that four more schools will be closed at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. This devastating news prompted me to write this letter that will be combined with other school staff, families, and students to ask our state and national leaders to SAVE OUR SCHOOLS. This is my twentieth year as a school nurse serving the students, families, and staff of the Camden City School District. My first twelve years were spent at Cooper’s...
“We are at a critical time because the overall number of cases of COVID are increasing so much,” said Dr. Jackie Szmuszkovicz, pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “We are seeing more children with MIS-C the last few weeks following that big increase (of cases) in the community.” MIS-C , or Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, is the name of a new inflammatory syndrome that afflicts a small number of kids three to six weeks after they experienced coronavirus,...