Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) were identified as having a major long term impact on health outcomes following a large scale study in the USA.
In the 1990’s Felitti and Anda from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) carried out a study of childhood trauma experiences of over 17,000 patient volunteers. All had jobs and good health care, because they were members of the Kaiser Health Maintenance Organisation. Participants were asked about the the 10 types of childhood trauma that had been identified in earlier research literature. Findings from the study showed;
Findings also showed that a higher prevalence of aces had a higher likelihood of subsequent risky & damaging behaviours including;
Ultimately ACEs resulted in diminished life chances. They reduced life expectancy by up to 20 years for the cohort. The study’s group were relatively well educated yet this did not protect them from the adverse outcomes of their childhood experiences.
In Professional Settings
ACEs have been widely recognised as an opportunity to target early interventions for children and families – allowing resources to be focussed on reducing adverse childhood experiences and mitigating their impact.
Settings can play an important role in this by;
Resources
E-Learning
'All Our Health' offer free, bite-sized e-learning sessions - to improve the knowledge, confidence and skills of health and care professionals in preventing illness, protecting health and promoting wellbeing. The sessions cover some of the biggest issues in public health including;
They contain signposting to trusted sources of helpful evidence, guidance and support to help professionals embed prevention in their everyday practice.
