The ACEs Messaging Group (AMG) met on Tuesday, December 13th to discuss small group the work that had been done in November in lieu of a larger group meeting. The group began with a history and overview of the work, revisiting the discussion of particular target audiences: youth, parents of young children, and older adults. Each small group then updated the larger AMG about their work.
The group focused on youth reported back about the event that took place at UrbanPromise in which a group of roughly 25 teens aged 15-18 were trained by Hopeworks ‘N Camden’s Youth Healing Team (a group of young people who train peers and professionals in trauma-informed care). This group then broke into small groups to discuss how they are already talking about these issues, methods for messaging to them and their peers about ACEs and trauma, and the most effective avenues for delivering those messages. Youth were interested in the information but reported not wanting to be seen as a statistic – that just because they may have a high ACE score does not mean that they will engage in risky behaviors or develop adverse health outcomes. They were interested in learning more about the topic and how they could talk about it with their peers as well as with the adults in their lives. The youth messaging group plans to reconvene around these issues in the new year.
The parents of young children group reported back on their meeting in which they discussed their value message, “Every parent wants to be a good parent.” They reported wanting to focus more on healing and resilience as well as methods for how to cope with stress. They also discussed places where messages could be disseminated including Parent Cafes, through the Community Umbrella Agencies, and through block captains.
The older adults messaging group shared several of the messages they had developed through their work along with explanations of possible visuals to go along with each of their messages. They pitched an idea for how to engage a broader group of older adults in the feedback process, identifying YMCAs as a place where messages could be disseminated and the AMG could request feedback. They also raised questions about whether or not this particular work would be more of an awareness campaign or if we want to be directive about what our ask of city residents is.
The AMG will reconvene in January to continue their work.
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