Tufts University medical professor Dr. Robert Sege directs the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine and is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that address social determinants of health. He is also the principal investigator for the HOPE framework (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences).The HOPE framework is based on research that shows how positive childhood experiences can mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences. Sege and colleagues...

Safe, stable, nurturing relationships are key to a child’s cognitive, emotional, physical and social development. Their first exposure to these are through parents and caregivers, but these relationships don’t happen in a vacuum. The physical and social environment surrounding families have a significant impact – both positively and negatively – on the context in which relationships develop. One way to think about this context is through community norms. Norms are defined as a those values,...