Healing Horizons: Weekly News & Research - July 18, 2024
Welcome to our weekly news show, Healing Horizons, hosted by experts Bri Twombly and Alison Cebulla. Dive into the most recent updates on trauma-informed care practices, positive and adverse childhood experiences, and the critical concept of psychological safety. Each episode is designed to keep you informed on the latest research, trends, and best practices in these essential areas. Whether you're a healthcare professional, educator, or simply passionate about mental health, our show provides valuable insights and practical advice. Stay tuned for in-depth discussions and expert interviews that will enhance your understanding and application of trauma-informed care and psychological safety.
Here are the news stories and research we featured:
New Zealand
It started before Covid-19 arrived in Aotearoa, when staff saw an increase in issues amongst the children, including self-harm and depression.
The holistic approach to learning is in its third year so far and the results speak for themselves. “I’ve seen a huge reduction. I used to have three drawers of vapes that I’ve collected. I’ve got no vapes now. Our kids aren’t vaping. No incidents of vaping, no incidents of self-harm,” says Julies.
“Our day always starts with an incantation or prayer and followed closely by exploring how we feel. So that might look different in each class, but everybody is practicing it. It’s embedded in our school culture. It might look like meditation, yoga, but we see it as important as maths, reading and writing is.”
If a child feels stressed or can’t focus they are allowed to leave the classroom on their own accord for a break.
Work to remove barriers for families, such as picking children up and brining them to activities
“They don’t even reach the cortex, which is at the upper level of the brain where all the learning is taking place, because they’re in survival mode. They are in the trauma brain all the time. So it is important for us to shift them from out of the trauma brain so that they can reach the cortex where the learning is happening.”
“It’s hard for people to understand that no learning is actually even taking place at. Why waste your time on learning first? If you can start at the bottom, making sure that our kids are well, that they are in a good space and a place for learning, learning becomes easier if they are ready for learning.”
The Macintyre Health Alliance are celebrating that their application for an Innovative Model of Care (IMOC) Grant to implement the new Indigenous Wellness Connect program has been successful.
The $1.5 million grant will support a four-year trial of an Allied Health Primary Care-led Digital Health and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander chronic conditions management model.
“Indigenous Wellness Connect will utilise the range of skills offered by multidisciplinary Allied Health and nursing professionals in the Indigenous communities in Boggabilla and Toomelah and tap into General Practitioners and Indigenous Health Workers across the Queensland border located in the Goondiwindi Medical Centre. These three video-linked telehealth hubs will be networked to support each other clinically and culturally and to provide the best care for their patients, saving travel time and delay in accessing medical services.
“One of the significant benefits of the project will be the cross-border data sharing, which will mean a patient only has tell their story once, and health care professionals will have access to the most up to date health information.”
Improve Healthcare Facilities By Creating Human-Centered Spaces (facilityexecutive.com)
A Texas elementary school transformed into a trauma-informed school in 2017 and saw clear results: suspensions decreased from 445 a year to 19, the school passed its state exams for the first time in its history, and teacher retention dramatically improved. The same happened in a school in Hawaii. The number of behavioral incidences went from 2,260 to 1 and out-of-school suspensions went from 2,277 to zero. The graduation rate increased by 10%, and the number of teacher vacancies was cut in half.
Whole Health Louisiana (WHL) is Louisiana’s cross-sector initiative created to prevent, recognize, and treat childhood adversity and its effects utilizing a trauma-informed approach. The report represents the state’s first-ever plan to systematically address childhood adversity and trauma in Louisiana’s systems of care and support.
Priority areas
Collaboration: Connect and align government agencies, community based organizations, educational institutions, and healthcare providers to create a seamless network of support for children and families.
Example objective: Advance efforts to create a coordinated single point of entry system across state agencies for individuals who may need to access support and resources, decreasing the need for individuals to engage in redundant or retraumatizing intake processes across entities.
Awareness:Inform the public, policymakers, and workforce about the impacts and drivers of childhood adversity to reduce stigma and encourage the adoption of evidence-based early intervention and preventative measures.
Example objective: Work with policymakers to advance state and local-level policies that integrate trauma-informed care across systems, including education, healthcare, juvenile legal, and other public sectors.
Prevention and Healing: Expand preventive programs, access to services, and community-based initiatives that promote resilience and well-being.
Example objective: Utilizing insights from community members and community-based organizations (see C4), collaborate with community ambassadors to develop, implement, and promote community-driven, trauma informed solutions that are specific to the areas they impact.
Workforce:Implement strategies for training and support to ensure that frontline workers can effectively care for themselves and those they serve.
Example objective: Enhance systems of support for the child- and family-serving workforce, including prioritizing practices and policies that support staff well-being and decrease turnover
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced an $11 million investment in treatment services designed to keep children who have complex behavioral health needs in homes and communities, and out of inappropriate boarding. The department is partnering with Rapid Resources for Families to expand access to family-based therapeutic programs, enabling children to receive trauma-informed treatment in a home-based setting.
"Children do best when they are in a home environment and surrounded by a supportive community," said NC Health and Human Services Secretary Kody H. Kinsley. "We’re investing in family-centered services that provide a safe, nurturing place for children with complex needs to get the right level of support, when and where they need it."
NCDHHS is contracting with Rapid Resources for Families to expand access to Intensive Alternative Family Treatment® (IAFT) – a specialized program that enables children with complex behavioral health to receive family-based services through a therapeutic foster home with counseling and psychiatric supports. IAFT® serves children whose complex needs make it difficult to find a safe, supportive placement, helping to prevent inappropriate boarding or use of institutional settings.
IAFT® provides in-home, family-based therapeutic foster care with a team approach that supports the whole child's health and wellness. Kinship and foster parents who participate in IAFT® are trained by a community-based IAFT® provider to deliver individualized support tailored to meet the specific needs of children in their care. To ensure long-lasting recovery and permanence, IAFT® treatment builds on a child’s natural support system and focuses on healing for the whole family.
Morgan County Child Advocacy Center helps abused children in the county (yahoo.com)
Alabama
"Essentially what happens is when a report is received from either DHR or law enforcement and it involves a child where there's suspicion that abuse has occurred, Instead of them taking that child to the police department and questioning the child about what's happened, we have trained forensic interviewers that are able to gather that information as part of that investigative process."
In addition to the forensic interviews, they also provide trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. They report it is the gold standard of therapy for the ages they serve that have experienced trauma. Therapy is provided at no cost.
The center has a dog present to help with tough situations. Jezebel, or Jezzy, is a certified service trained facility dog. Has been shown to create a sense of safety for children who don’t want to be alone with an adult, especially in a room with a closed door.
Early Childhood Authority develops 'Human Capital Strategy' to enhance early childhood workforce
The Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA) has developed its Human Capital Strategy which mainly focuses on ensuring the availability of a specialised and highly competent workforce in early childhood development.
As part of executing on the strategy, the ECA has identified a core set of essential competencies required from all practitioners in the field of Early Childhood Development. This aims to establish a shared understanding among employers and all members of the workforce regarding the skills, knowledges and behaviours required from early childhood development professionals.
One competency is understanding the impact of adverse childhood experiences and how to address them effectually
“Beyond setting benchmarks, the programme embodies a shared vision to cultivate a dynamic and inclusive professional framework within the sector. Through robust collaboration and forward-thinking strategies, the aim is not merely to meet standards but to exceed them, ensuring the delivery of exceptional services that resonate with the evolving needs of children and families.”
Teacher Residency Program Improves Retention and Diversity | Kaiser Permanente
Amid Colorado’s severe teacher shortage, a teacher residency program from the Public Education & Business Coalition is improving teacher retention and diversity with the help of a grant from Kaiser Permanente.
With the help of a $1.5 million, 2-year Kaiser Permanente grant awarded in the winter of 2023, the program is expanding mental health support and reducing financial barriers for “pre-service” teacher candidates with a focus on candidates of color.
By giving teacher residents training on social, emotional, and trauma-informed practices, the residency improves teacher retention rates long-term; 81% of teachers who completed the residency are still teaching after 5 years, compared with the national average of only 55%. And the number of racially diverse teacher candidates in the residency has risen by 8 percentage points.
The program and the grant support teacher candidates through a critical stage in early professional development. Many of them face financial hurdles when completing licensure-required teacher residency, which requires working in classrooms without pay or health care coverage. Costs include licensure exams, study materials, and living expenses, as well as an emergency fund for unforeseen circumstances. The barriers are particularly pronounced for under-resourced populations. Increasing the number of teachers from diverse backgrounds is important because students who see themselves and their experiences reflected in their teachers gain a new confidence about what they can achieve and where their future could take them.
The latest study was published in June 2024 in the journal Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, And Policy.
It involved surveys conducted between 2016 and 2018 with a representative sample of 4,441 Singapore residents from an earlier study. They were asked about ACEs such as bullying, witnessing domestic violence, and living with family members who had mental illness or were in jail.
People who have gone through traumatic experiences in their childhood, such as emotional neglect or parental death or separation, could cost Singapore about $1.18 billion a year in absenteeism, reduced productivity and use of healthcare resources.
This is one of the key findings of a recent study by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) on the economic and social costs of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in Singapore.
The healthcare and productivity cost for a person who had at least one ACE was $767 more every year compared with a person who had no such experience, and $2,168 more for someone who faced three or more ACEs.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, May 2024
Combined 2016–2021 data from the National Surveys of Children’s Health for children, ages 6–17, identified by parents as having ASD
A total of 4997 children and adolescents with ASD were included in the analysis. They had a mean age of 11.72 years, the majority were boys (79.28%), and approximately half (50.22%) of the sample lived below 200% of the federal poverty level. The mean number of reported ACEs was 2.02 and the most frequently reported ACE was bullying or exclusion (62.97%), followed by parental divorce (35.05%) and financial hardship (34.01%).
ACEs were significantly associated with school outcomes. With increased ACEs, autistic children experienced a significant decrease in the odds of school attendance, grade progression and school engagement
Although depression and anxiety symptoms were associated with school outcomes, they did not fully explain the strong relationship between ACEs and school success.
The researchers also observed a significant correlation between participant race and school outcomes, as Black children and adolescents with ASD had significantly higher school attendance and engagement, and had a 49% greater likelihood of achieving a single level increase on the composite school index for academic success, relative to their White peers.
Pennsylvania DHS Releases New Research on Trauma-Informed Care for Disabilities - MyChesCo
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) has published the latest issue of the Positive Approaches Journal. This edition provides recent research aimed at assisting people with mental and behavioral health challenges, intellectual disabilities, autism, and other developmental disabilities. The focus is on trauma-informed care and best practices for supporting affected individuals.
Data Discoveries: Initial findings suggest a higher prevalence of trauma among individuals with autism, highlighting the need for trauma-informed care and resilience-building.
The Women’s Justice Commission is a multi-year research, policy, and communications initiative that documents and raises awareness of the unique challenges facing women in the justice system and builds consensus for evidence-based reforms that enhance safety, health, and justice.
Chaired by former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the Commission includes 15 other high-profile, ideologically diverse leaders representing law enforcement, courts, corrections, medicine, research, and advocacy.
Women’s pathways to criminal justice system involvement differ from those of men. Most system-involved women have experienced some form of childhood abuse or trauma. Many are at high risk for experiencing violent victimization by an intimate partner, and women in jails and prisons consistently report higher rates of mental health and substance use disorders than their male counterparts.
Women are four times more likely than men to self-report sexual victimization by other incarcerated people in prisons and more than twice as likely in jails.
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual women are overrepresented in the criminal justice system and are far more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to report sexual victimization during confinement.
More than half of women in prisons are parents to minor children, and estimates suggest that at least three out of four women in jails are mothers. Prior to their incarceration, mothers were more than twice as likely as fathers to be the sole or primary caretaker of their children.
JAMA Psychiatry, July 2024
This cohort study found that individuals who lived in neighborhoods during childhood that were more income deprived were more likely to develop depression in adulthood. The experience of moving during childhood, whether living in a deprived or nondeprived neighborhood, was associated with significantly higher rates of depression in adulthood compared with those who did not move.
This cohort study included the whole population of 1 096 916 people born in Denmark from January 1, 1982, to December 31, 2003, who resided in the country during their first 15 years of life.
The study uncovered a striking link between frequent childhood relocations and mental health: individuals who often move before age 15 are over 40% more likely to be diagnosed with depression in adulthood.
Children who moved once between ages 10 and 15 were 41% more likely to develop depression compared to those who did not move. Moving twice or more during this period increased the risk to approximately 61%, indicating that the effect of relocation was more pronounced than the impact of growing up in a deprived neighborhood.
a settled home environment in childhood may have a protective association.
"During those formative years, children are building their social networks through school, sports groups or other activities. Each time they have to adapt to something new it can be disruptive, so we potentially need to find new ways to help people overcome those challenges," Professor Sabel added.
Policies that enable and support settled childhoods should be promoted.
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, July 2024
The study was conducted with 360 participants from Poland, ranging in age from 18 to 79, with slightly over half being men. These participants were surveyed online to assess various aspects of their personality, childhood experiences, and belief systems.
The Dark Triad traits were assessed using the Short Dark Triad questionnaire, which includes 27 items measuring Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy.
People who hold stronger conspiracy beliefs are more likely to report that their childhood was stressful and threatening. While such beliefs were not associated with a general index of pace of life, they were associated with the Dark Triad traits and problematic coping strategies. We assert that conspiracy beliefs may be an adaptive response to early life experiences and difficult childhood conditions.
Research: New Hires’ Psychological Safety Erodes Quickly (hbr.org)
Harvard Business Review
We studied more than 10,000 employees in a large organization and discovered that new hires’ psychological safety eroded swiftly. On average, newcomers joined the organization with higher psychological safety relative to their more tenured colleagues, then lost it and waited years to reach levels comparable to when they arrived.
It held across years — before, during, and after the Covid-19 pandemic — and across characteristics like race and gender. It implied that it could take 20 years or more for employees to get back to the levels of psychological safety they had when they started. Further, while analyses showed that a supportive context — that is, departments with high psychological safety — dampened the decline, it was nonetheless present in all conditions.
Without psychological safety, new hires might choose to lay low and keep their ideas and concerns to themselves — putting teams and companies at risk of making bad decisions, experiencing preventable failures, or missing out on improvement ideas.
Suggestions:
strategically assigning new hires to departments with positive climates ensures preferable socialization, kicking off a virtuous cycle that builds psychological safety over time. When placement in settings with low psychological safety is necessary, investing in departments’ psychological safety, such as through manager or team leader skills training, could help stave off losses among newcomers.
Use framing to establish and reinforce the need for interpersonal risk-taking to do a good job at work. For example, framing work as complex and uncertain clarifies the expectation that things will go wrong, and the sooner someone notices and speaks up about it, the better off everyone is.
When colleagues and managers respond to newcomer questions, ideas, or mistakes with curiosity and support, they can prevent the loss of psychological safety. Appreciation is not about tolerating repeated failures or incompetence, but rather about ensuring learning.
