Effects of Trauma

Part 1

1. What was your reaction to the outcome of the ACE study and Dr. Nadine Harris Burke Ted Talk?

Exposure to adversity on developing brains and bodies of children has a dramatic effect on health across the lifetime. When children are exposed to life-threatening situations over time, they develop fight or flight responses that are activated all the time. I liked the example used by Dr. Nadine where she used a bear in the forest and a child meeting the bear when walking in the forest. The activation of the fight or flight response occurs at that particular time, and it ends when the child leaves the forest or escapes from the bear. However, imagine a situation where the child is exposed to this adversity every day at home (Burke Harris, 2015, February 17). The child will have a hyperactive flight or fight response that will stay activated and lead to adverse health outcomes later in life.

Understanding the impact of exposure to adversity as a child and how it affects a persons health outcomes later in life was eye-opening as it lays a good ground for us to understand why people develop particular diseases and others dont. The good thing about ACEs is that they are representative of all the population regardless of social status. The initial ACE study mainly had white, middle- and upper-class participants meaning that the results cannot be assumed to only impact those from poor inner-city folks. Exposure to traumatic events as a child will lead to adverse health outcomes even for those who come from affluent backgrounds. Therefore, the results are representative of the population, and they can be used to explain some of the adverse health outcomes seen across the population.

Using the ACE results, we can initiate early interventions to assist children at risk of developing chronic health conditions due to exposure to adverse events at home. With the different grading criteria, we can identify children at risk and implement solutions that can assist them in dealing with the activation of their stress-response genes.

2. What ideas do you have as a social worker to address this national health crisis?

In addressing this national health crisis, the first step is to educate people on the impact of adverse events in childhood and how they lead to chronic health outcomes later in life. With education and increased knowledge, people will begin to see that adverse childhood events can impact all children, and they are not things that happen to those in poor inner-city areas. Therefore, they will take the issue seriously and begin making changes. Childhood trauma is widespread, and there is a direct link between it and the adult onset of chronic diseases. Making the correlation between the two was vital as it explains why people get diagnosed with certain conditions, and there is no indication as to why they suffer or develop the disease. When we begin educating people on how they might have developed certain conditions and how their childhood could be impacting their adult life, they will be more willing to undertake measures to assist them in overcoming these adverse events, so they do not transfer them to their children. Increasing the knowledge of society and other professionals is vital for overcoming the trauma most people suffer and they are not aware of.

The second step would be to administer the ACE test to people and encourage them to share the test with others. When people start to see they might be victims of adverse childhood events, they can start taking precautions towards preventing the development...

…they cannot afford mental health services. Therefore, their inclusion will mean more people can access mental health services, and social workers can work without worrying if the patient can foot the bill.

How does public policy differ from organizational policy and procedure? How are they connected?

A public policy defines what a government does and how governmental agencies make decisions. It determines actions that a government selects to implement and those it decides not to act upon. An organizational policy defines the policies implemented within an organization or company, and they can only be implemented within the organization. These policies explain how the organization behaves, interacts with society, and how employees present themselves in the organization. Public policy differs from an organizational policy in that public policy impacts a huge number of people and is implemented targeting all citizens. Organizational policies are targeted towards employees of the organization, and other citizens do not have to follow and adhere to these policies. For example, when lawmakers pass a law establishing a legislative agenda or implementing regulations, they are establishing a public policy that affects all citizens residing in the country. However, when an organization passes a regulation or policy, it only affects its employees.

Public policy and organizational policy are connected in that they both focus on passing regulations that govern specific individuals. Procedures guide an entity on what it can and cannot do. A policy defines the behavior of the entity with its environment. Public policy and organizational policy aim to deal with a concern or problem identified by an organization or the government. They are both goal-oriented and define courses of action to be taken over time by government officials or employees. A policy describes what a government or organization will actually do and not what it intends to do. The organizational policy…