Written by Wendy Ellis, DrPH(C), MPH. Project Director of Building Community Resilience.
Disclaimer: Moving Health Care Upstream is a collaborative effort co-led by Nemours Children’s Health System (Nemours) and the Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities at the University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Nemours, UCLA or the Moving Health Care Upstream initiative.
The Building Community Resilience Pair of ACEs tree image grew out our need to illustrate the relationship between adversity within a family and adversity within a community.
In my research, it is the interaction between the traditional Adverse Childhood Experiences (as defined by the landmark studies conducted by Anda and Felliti) and Adverse Community Experiences (such as lack of affordable housing, access to care, and high unemployment rates) that led me to understand that addressing adversity requires a multi-sector, multi-disciplinary response. In the September special issue of Academic Pediatrics we outline the development of the BCR process as a means to help health care, local public health, city agencies, education and other sectors coordinate and align resources to prevent and address childhood and community adversity and promote equity.
In addition to the BCR article, the issue explores research, policies and practices to help stem the tide of adverse childhood events (ACEs). This special issue of Academic Pediatrics also includes a national agenda that identifies specific research areas, priorities, and policy actions to help prevent and heal the wounds that childhood trauma can cause.
The entire issue is MUST READING for all sectors if we are to begin to effectively address the Pair of ACEs as a true American public health issue. You can access the full articles, commentaries and appendices online at http://www.academicpedsjnl.net/issue/S1876-2859(17)X0002-8.
The issue and agenda are the result of a four-year effort led by the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI) and AcademyHealth, to engage practitioners, policymakers and advocates across many sectors to address ACEs. Journal publication and key steps to develop the agenda were funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
