We now know that trauma early in life can have a significant impact on an individual’s health and wellness throughout their life. As a result, health care organizations are beginning to focus on providing more trauma-informed care, or care where all parties involved recognize and respond to the impact of traumatic stress and resiliency factors on children, caregivers, and service providers.
Screening for ACEs in pediatric clinical settings promotes early intervention and can be a tangible entry point for organizations interested in providing trauma-informed care, especially when coupled with other efforts to build organizational capacity related to addressing trauma and promoting resilience with patients and families.
The Center for Community Health and Evaluation (CCHE) is evaluating two programs that are implementing ACEs/trauma screening in pediatric settings. Learning from these two programs can provide guidance to practices of all types that are interested in or already implementing ACEs screening.
Insights based on learning from evaluations of two programs
The National Pediatric Practice Community (NPPC) on ACEs Screening is a pilot program of the Center for Youth Wellness to support health care professionals in applying ACEs and toxic stress science to pediatric practice and to shape the field of trauma-informed medicine. The NPPC pilot launched in 2017 and provided training, technical assistance, and practice coaching in pediatric ACES screening to a small group of medical practices across the country.
The Resilient Beginnings Collaborative(RBC) is a partnership between Genentech Charitable Giving and the Center for Care Innovations. RBC launched in June 2018 and supports seven safety net organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area in strengthening their capacity to address childhood adversity and promote resiliency in pediatric care. Teams have focused on implementation of screening to assess for and address trauma as one element in a broader effort to respond to trauma and promote resilience.
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