Blog

For my multi-level public health resilience-building intervention, I am designing an intimate partner violence (IPV) education and prevention program for the Bangladeshi community in Miami, Florida. This intervention will target all levels of the social-ecological model to build resilience by emphasizing accountability and advocating for systemic change at the societal and cultural level. The intervention aims to promote healing from adverse childhood experiences in order to work on...

Homelessness around the world is a sustained and prevalent concern. In Building a Change: Creating connections, skills, and better communities to reduce homelessnessin Los Angeles, the population chosen to research and create an “intervention” for was young adults ages 18-24 who were homeless in Los Angeles, California. Homelessness is a persistent and pervasive issue with over four million people facing this (Morton et al., 2017). In Los Angeles, homelessness occurs at the highest...

The term “resilient” is often used to describe a person, species or object that has a considerable level of toughness and adaptability, able to take hits and bounce back from them. Resiliency works similarly; it is determined by both the built-in nature of the object itself and the object’s ability to withstand external and environmental pressures. However, unlike an object that is made by human hands or plants and animals which are well-understood by science, resiliency in people is a...

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been found to increase the risk for several chronic diseases and poor behavioural outcomes. Traditionally, ACEs included factors such as abuse and household dysfunction, including having a parent who is incarcerated. Black individuals are disproportionality incarcerated in the US, which makes Black children particularly at risk for ACEs and their associated health outcomes (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2021; Wildeman, et al., 2018). Expanded ACEs also...

Mental health is a serious problem among the inmates in our country. According to the Vera Institute of Justice, a premier criminal justice research and advocacy non-profit, mental illness is one of the most significant problems facing women in prison today (Subramanian, 2016). In 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice found that 31% of incarcerated women have a serious mental illness, while only 15% of men report the same (James, 2006).

As part of my coursework for " Building Resilience in Individuals and Communities for Public Health," I was tasked with creating a multi-level intervention utilizing The Social Ecological Model (SEM) as a foundation. The overall aim of this created intervention was focused on building resiliency and self-efficacy surrounding sexual health preventative behavior among 15–24-year-old Hispanic females in Gainesville, FL. Although the intervention addressed all levels of the SEM, it focused on...

Please make a commitment to personal use ONLY! NOW Playbook Transformative Community Capacity to Advance Equity We are excited to share the Vital Village Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing (NOW) Playbook . The NOW Playbook is a resource guide designed to provide tools for local leaders, community coalitions and networks, educators, practitioners, and policymakers working to promote the wellbeing of children and families, advance equity, and align systems of care and education in...

By, Felicia Nelson, Christina Velez, and Mark Egan 7/19/21 A pioneer in the field of internal medicine, Dr. Vincent J. Felitti has over 50 years of experience with extensive knowledge in the areas of childhood trauma, the genetic disease Hemochromatosis, and obesity. Here at The Relationship Foundation, Dr. Vincent Felitti is our mentor and an inspiration to us all. He has spent a greater part of his life, serving as a co-principal for the ACEs Study. ACE stands for “Adverse Childhood...

From The Annie E. Casey Foundation, June 21, 2021 SUMMARY The 32nd edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT ® Data Book describes how children across the United States were faring before — and during — the coronavirus pandemic. This year’s publication continues to deliver the Foundation’s annual state rankings and the latest available data on child well-being. It identifies multiyear trends — comparing statistics from 2010 to 2019. In addition, the report shares data on how...

If you missed the recent world premiere of The Wisdom of Trauma Movie with Dr. Gabor Maté, this weekend you can watch the encore of the movie plus get full access to the Talks on Trauma series including my talk with Dr. Gabor Maté and Nneka Jones Tapia on "A Vision for Compassionate Prison." The link is here (all donations will go to Compassion Prison Project by using this link!): https://fritzihorstman--sand.thrivecart.com/supporter/6080622415b14/ Opening Kick Off Introduction with Gabor...

In 2019 and 2020, dozens of states enacted nearly 60 laws and resolutions that reference adverse childhood experiences or trauma. In this post, there's an interactive map that shows them all.

PACEs Connection's Race & Equity Workgroup will be examining historical trauma in the United States of America and its impact on American society in a series of virtual discussions. This series will highlight each unique region within the United States and outline how unresolved historical trauma has impacted every aspect of American life and directly shapes the socio-political landscape of today as well as the overall well-being of Americans. Discussions will make connections between...