Tagged With "health equity"
Blog Post
What Policymakers Should Know About Early Childhood Mental Health
Jordana Ash, Early Childhood Mental Health Director in the Office of Early Childhood, part of the Colorado Department of Human Services, talks about brain development, resilience, and what she wishes health care providers and policymakers knew about early childhood mental health. The Checkup is a podcast hosted by the Colorado Health Institute. Click here to listen to the podcast.
Blog Post
Windows of Opportunity: Providing a Warm Handoff to Positive Services
As a follow-up to the " Are You OK? You Are Not Alone Anymore" Resource Poster , there have been important discussions in many local and statewide coalitions about "Windows of Opportunity" to build trust and provide a warm handoff to these critical services. However, as we know through research, individuals with untreated trauma may have difficulty trusting strangers, organizations or government agencies, even if they are wanting to help. Often times, these individuals are experiencing...
Blog Post
Windows of Opportunity: Providing a Warm handoff to Services
As a follow-up to the " Are You OK? You Are Not Alone Anymore" Resource Poster , there have been important discussions in many local and statewide coalitions about "Windows of Opportunity" to build trust and provide a warm handoff to these critical services. However, as we know through research, individuals with untreated trauma may have difficulty trusting strangers, organizations or government agencies, even if they are wanting to help. Often times, these individuals are experiencing...
Blog Post
Hofmeister announces school mental health grants totaling $12.5 million
Posted by SDEmedia on Fri, 10/05/2018 - 10:39am OKLAHOMA CITY (October 5, 2018) – On the heels of a trauma summit focused on equipping educators to respond to students suffering from toxic stress, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister today announced that the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) has received three federal grants totaling $12.5 million to support districts in meeting the mental health needs of their students. “Far too many of our children in...
Blog Post
Honea: Why fathers must talk about their mental health
In recent months, notable pillars of traditional masculinity, including NBA players DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love, and muscular action heroes Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds, have publicly addressed their experiences with anxiety and depression. While I would never wish either on anyone, I was glad to see them talk about it, and use their platforms to show that men’s mental health is a serious issue that needs to be discussed, especially by those we perceive as too tough to do so. The impact...
Blog Post
Hunt & Kendall: Healthier Communities Start With Kids
The small city of Hudson is nestled in Upstate New York and home to fewer than 7,000 people. The city was hit hard by deindustrialization in the late 20th century, facing economic decline as factories closed and industry jobs left. In recent years development has surged, with the opening of antique stores, restaurants and art galleries. The city has become a popular destination for tourists and second-home owners. While our town is often celebrated as a story of revival, development has not...
Blog Post
Jones: Day 2: Soda, cigarettes and trauma: How Adverse Childhood Experiences alter brain chemistry, cultivate unhealthy habits and prompt premature death
Patients would carry soda into Dr. Gerard Clancy’s office, with cigarettes tucked away for after therapy. Often victims of abuse or violent crime, they would seek soothing but risky behaviors to cope. Overweight. Chronic pain. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Type II diabetes. His former patients will die younger than they should, he said. Clancy conducted therapy sessions until he became president of the University of Tulsa in 2016. At his psychiatry clinic, he saw firsthand how a...
Blog Post
Keith: Local trauma specialist spreading knowledge statewide
NORMAN — Jeremy Elledge thinks he can change Oklahoma. From where he sits, that’s a tall order. Elledge works in mental health services in a state that's top in the nation for childhood trauma. Oklahoma leads in female incarceration and heart disease mortality, and has high rates of child abuse and divorce, lending to the cycles of trauma that impact the state’s youngest residents, the Tulsa World reports. But Elledge wants to stop that cycle. For the last two years, he’s been traveling the...
Blog Post
Life Expectancy by Zip Code: Where You Live Affects How Long You Live
Life expectancy is highly correlated with ACE scores and complex childhood trauma. Enter your address or zip code to know what the health outcomes are in your neighborhoods and communities. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Life Expectancy Calculator
Blog Post
Martinez-Keel: Oklahoma City Public Schools announces new administration, staff positions
Superintendent Sean McDaniel on Friday announced a plan to dedicate $600,000 toward additional administrative, leadership and mental health staff for Oklahoma City Public Schools. McDaniel said the reorganization plan included three more administrative positions and an unspecified number of new leadership directors, school counselors and nurses. “As I spent this year listening and learning about the many challenges faced by our students, families and staff, it was apparent that there were a...
Blog Post
National Council for Behavioral Health Conference #NatCon19
Last month, I had the pleasure of attending the annual National Council for Behavioral Health Conference. I have been to my fair share of conferences but #NatCon19 was one of the best. First, I'm biased. It took place in my city, Nashville, TN . And the venue was the world renowned Opryland Hotel's Gaylord Convention Center . And, I love, love, love the Opryland Hotel ! As any seasoned conference goer, I had a strategy when it came to which sessions and events I wanted to attend. My game...
Blog Post
New Community!!! Ardmore OK Behavioral Health Collaborative
I'm excited to announce the newest ACEs Connection geographic community for my region, the Midwest & TN: Ardmore OK Behavioral Health Collaborative . This community is a partnership of local organizations taking a trauma-informed stance on behavioral health in Carter County, OK. Their goal is to build a healthy, connected and resilient community. The community manager is Ashley Godwin . Ashley Godwin joined Ardmore Behavioral Health Collaborative in March 2017 as the Director where she...
Blog Post
Newbigging: Key to lifelong good mental health – learn resilience in childhood
Poor mental health among young people is on the rise in the UK, while access to support and treatment remains patchy . There is now a pressing need to build resilience in young people to minimise their risk of poor mental health later on, as our latest report argues . There are 12.5m young people in England, and one in ten will experience poor mental health. Half of all lifelong mental health problems start before the age of 14 , but only one in four young people uses mental health services.
Blog Post
Nominate a Trauma-Informed Care Champion: #TICchampion
Becoming a trauma-informed organization requires clear communication about the transformation process, and support from staff at all levels of an organization. Often these efforts are spearheaded by “trauma-informed care champions”— individuals committed to raising awareness regarding the health effects of trauma and toxic stress and improving care for people who have experienced trauma. This week, the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) invites you to recognize people around you who...
Blog Post
Perrin: Promotion of Mental Health as a Key Element of Pediatric Care
N umerous national surveys, cohort studies, and meta-analyses have documented the etiologic and experiential connections between childhood abuse, physical illness, and mental health disorders 1 , 2 spanning from childhood to adulthood. Yet pediatric training and practice typically focus primarily on the identification and treatment of physical health conditions. The recent advent of enthusiasm for integrated care is a welcome nod to the marked comorbidities that have been amply reported.
Blog Post
Rains: Ardmore community seeking ways to address childhood trauma amid low state rankings in well-being, high drug-related arrests
Most parents would never look at their child and say, ‘I can’t wait to mess you up.’ Instead, it’s often ‘I want better for you than I ever had,’ said Ardmore Behavioral Health Collaborative Director Ashely Godwin. However, within the last couple of years, Oklahoma has ranked in the bottom 10 states in the nation for child well-being and has been among the states with the highest recorded juvenile drug-related arrests. A report conducted by Greenhouse Treatment, a rehabilitation facility,...
Blog Post
Reilly: An Initiative to Improve Health in Schools Puts Trauma Front and Center
A recent initiative from America’s Promise Alliance—an organization best known for its efforts to boost high school graduation rates—supports work with communities to improve health in schools. Addressing trauma will be a major focus of that work, which is backed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and reflects growing interest among funders and nonprofits in this area. The organization is working on six community-led projects to make schools more healthy. Communities identified their own...
Blog Post
Saegert: Partners in Education awarded $1,000 grant
A local organization is working to increase awareness of what trauma can do to a child, and by extension, an entire community. Partners in Education was recently awarded a $1,000 grant from the Potts Family Foundation . The foundation is working with organizations across the state to help inform communities about the nature of trauma. PIE Executive Director Cynthia Pickens said because her organization focuses on education, the topic is a relevant one. “The adverse childhood experiences are...
Blog Post
Simmons: Mental health scientists offer hope after sobering report on state's infants and toddlers
Data is being collected to support the theory that where a child grows up can have a large impact on the developing brain. Friday at the Stillwater Public Library, childhood development experts weighed in on the 2019 State of Babies report (stateofbabies.org) that graded each state, and showed a lot of room to grow for Oklahoma’s rural communities. Room to grow was a euphemism the program used to mean that things could be a lot better for infants and toddlers in Oklahoma. Resilient Payne...
Blog Post
D. D. Kirkland School features innovation, partnerships
A t the invitation of an early education expert with the Potts Family Foundation , I attended the Aug. 14 D.D. Kirkland Early Childhood Center Screening Day and Meet the Teacher event. I should add that this retired high school teacher did not grasp the importance of high-quality pre-K until I was schooled by Ray Potts (as well as John Rex) during MAPS for Kids. Back then, there were still some doubts as to the benefits of pre-K and full-service community schools like D.D. Kirkland. I should...
Blog Post
Early Childhood Is Critical to Health Equity
The first few years of life are crucial in establishing a child’s path toward—or away from—health and well-being across the entire lifespan. A report, produced in partnership with the University of California, San Francisco, examines some of the barriers to health equity that begin early in life, and promising strategies for overcoming them. Key Findings Poverty limits childrens’ and families’ options for healthy living conditions. Poverty can limit where children live, and can lead to...
Blog Post
Embrace OKC seeks to prevent mental illness in OKCPS
A t the Oklahoma City Public School System working board meeting Sept. 24, Oklahoma Department of Mental Health Commissioner Terri White introduced a “historic” collaboration. She explained that the OKCPS has committed to Embrace OKC , a holistic process to study and systematically address the district’s mental health challenges. Other districts have joined with the Department of Mental Health and other service providers in the past, but no other leader has tackled these health problems in...
Comment
Re: National Council for Behavioral Health Conference #NatCon19
I'm a huge Anand Giridharadas fan! Sounds like a great conference.
Comment
Re: New Community!!! Ardmore OK Behavioral Health Collaborative
Welcome Ardmore OK Behavioral Health Collaborative and Ashley! As fellow Oklahomans, we're excited that you now have a presence on ACEsConnection. We look forward to working together in the effort to raise Oklahoma from the bottom 25 to the top 25 of states with positive childhood well-being indicators.
Blog Post
2020 State of Babies & 2020 KIDS COUNT Databook
The State of Babies Yearbook is a national and state resource developed by ZERO TO THREE to tell the story of America’s babies through key indicators in the domains infants and toddlers need to thrive: Good Health , Strong Families , and Positive Early Learning Experiences . The State of Babies Yearbook , an initiative of Think Babies ™, provides policymakers and advocates with national and state-level data to help them advance policies to improve the lives of babies and families. Where...
Comment
Re: 2020 State of Babies & 2020 KIDS COUNT Databook
Well written consolidation and explanation of data. This inspires us to continue our work to better the lives of children and families.
Blog Post
Butler: Finding Resilience: How childhood trauma impacts future health outcomes
It's now well known that childhood experiences helps shape an individual’s personality long before they reach adulthood. Studies have also gone on to reenforce just how critical adverse childhood experiences can on an adult's health. These adverse childhood experiences are commonly referred to as ACEs. They fall into three categories: abuse, neglect and household disfunction. According to information compiled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, as the number of ACEs a child experiences...
Blog Post
Beyond the One-Size-Fits-All: A Compassionate Approach to Community Health
In my work, I notice a common theme centered around the misconception that there is a universal remedy for complex issues such as community health. Effective responses require us not to just tell individuals and communities how to “fix it” but require deep listening and compassion. They necessitate building genuine relationships between serving agencies and individuals and the community. This process involves going beyond surface-level solutions to understand the underlying causes and unique...