Reducing the impact of adverse childhood experiences and empowering early childhood educators
No Thumbnail Available
Authors
Meeting name
Sponsors
Date
Journal Title
Format
Project
Subject
Abstract
For over three decades adverse childhood experiences (ACE) have been studied by a variety of healthcare professionals and scientist. Through this research, clear correlations of negative physical and psychological outcomes have been seen in individuals with ACE. Their research found that individuals with ACE are significantly more likely to develop various chronic conditions including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and mental health challenges (Boullier et al., 2018). The prevention of chronic conditions has been the priority for healthcare providers for many decades. However, one component of prevention that is often overlooked is the impact ACE has on chronic conditions. ACE research was initially focused on understanding an adult’s childhood experiences and their current chronic conditions (Boullier et al., 2018). New research, however, is finding that the impact of ACE can be seen before the diagnosis of a chronic condition in adulthood. New research found that even in early childhood ACE can impact a child’s physical, social and cognitive development. 2015 systematic review found that experiences of "chronic traumatic events, such as abuse and neglect during childhood affected brain development, by overstimulating the autonomic nervous system, and dysregulating the hypothalamic, pituitary adrenal axis (Kalmakis, et al. 2015)." Children with ACE are five times more likely to have an emotional, behavioral, or mental health condition (Bethall et al., 2016). Early childhood educators (ECE) and other educational professionals have reported that children demonstrate less engagement, lower attendance, academic achievement/literacy, socialization, and school readiness (Bethall et al., 2016; Jimenez et al., 2016; Lipscomb et al., 2021). With the staggering impact of ACE, it’s critical that preventative interventions take place to support children with ACE before the negative health impact occurs. Early childhood is a critical time for ACE prevention and education for families and caregivers. Due to the critical nature of early childhood, all early childhood educators (ECE) would benefit from preventative ACE support within their facility. This project will be providing education and preventative services to an early learning center in Columbia, Missouri. Through interactions and interviews with facility directors they have indicated a need to improve parent engagement, classroom behaviors, and staff retention. It is well established within literature that ACE increases potential of negative outcomes for children. However, the implementation prevention strategies is limited, especially when specificized to the occupational therapy profession (Kalmakis, et al. 2015; Boullier et al., 2018). More research is needed to establish the benefits and implementation of protective strategies in early childhood education. This doctoral capstone experiences (DCE) seeks to implement the current knowledge of protective factors in and early childhood education and build child resilience within the facility.
Table of Contents
DOI
PubMed ID
Degree
OTD