ACEs in Pediatrics Thoughts on Toxic Stress

Former Member

So ...we get MOC requests to join something on preventing smoking, decreasing obesity, checking cholesterol...etc...But as we can see...and know... Pediatrics is about prevention..So how do we get our colleagues to work with us on Toxic Stress Reduction which really is the basis of addressing everything we are attempting to address in our General Pediatric Clinics? Thoughts and Ideas?????

7/4/1412:35 PM

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Former Member

I actually mean in the pediatric clinic we are receiving requests to join performance improvement projects in our office on issues that are actually the result of toxic stress but I was asking "How do we get our colleagues to better understand that addressing toxic stress may actually be the most effective way to positively affect all these health care outcomes?"

7/4/145:53 PM

Calista ScottMember

Yes, I totally agree. Maybe the answer is too simple. Perhaps because we have forgotten where it all starts ….at the bottom of the pyramid; not halfway up. We have to address basic needs before we can move on. Basic needs are essential. Skipping over basic needs causes stress which impacts the brain....then you've got a problem. Lack of an adequate supply of diapers infancy and toddlerhood causes distress for an infant and his mother. Here, you have already negatively impacted the back and forth between baby and mom. The baby isn't getting what he needs. One in three families struggle with diaper need. We must address poverty. Imagine what we could do if we made sure babies and children had their basic needs met. But this is not what we learned in school. We learned to figure out the more complicated things, like if a child has ADHD or something else, and what medication he needs. An adequate supply of diapers for a baby! That's too simple.

Thank you,

Calista Scott, MSN, Member of the National Diaper Bank Network

Working to End Diaper Need

3/17/2010:30 PM