Application of Adverse Childhood Experiences Research into Health Care at Gundersen Health System: Addressing the Social Determinants of Health

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-260
Author(s):  
Denyse Olson-Dorff
2021 ◽  
pp. 105566562110487
Author(s):  
Ethan Ponton ◽  
Rebecca Courtemanche ◽  
Tanjot K. Singh ◽  
Damian Duffy ◽  
Douglas J. Courtemanche ◽  
...  

This study aimed to describe the social determinants of health (SDoH) for patients receiving multidisciplinary team care in a Cleft Palate-Craniofacial program, develop responsive and consistent processes to include trauma-informed psychosocial histories, promote discussions about additional “non-medical” factors influencing health and surgical outcomes, and demonstrate that these activities are feasible in the context of multidisciplinary patient-provider interactions. Single-site, cross-sectional study using a questionnaire. Participants were recruited from a provincial quaternary care Cleft Palate-Craniofacial program at British Columbia Children's Hospital in Vancouver, BC, Canada. 290 families completed the questionnaire. 34% of families experience significant barriers to accessing primary health care, 51% struggle financially, and 11% scored four or more on the Adverse Childhood Experiences scale. Furthermore, 47% reported not having adequate social support in their lives, and 5% reported not feeling resilient at the time of the survey. Patients with cleft and craniofacial anomalies have complex needs that extend beyond the surgical and medical care they receive. It is critical that all Cleft and Craniofacial teams incorporate social histories into their clinic workflow and be responsive to these additional needs. Discussions surrounding SDoH and adversity are welcomed by families; being involved in the care and decision-making plans is highly valued. Healthcare providers can and should ask about SDoH and advocate for universal access to responsive, site-based, social work support for their patients.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cosmin A Bejan ◽  
John Angiolillo ◽  
Douglas Conway ◽  
Robertson Nash ◽  
Jana K Shirey-Rice ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective Understanding how to identify the social determinants of health from electronic health records (EHRs) could provide important insights to understand health or disease outcomes. We developed a methodology to capture 2 rare and severe social determinants of health, homelessness and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), from a large EHR repository. Materials and Methods We first constructed lexicons to capture homelessness and ACE phenotypic profiles. We employed word2vec and lexical associations to mine homelessness-related words. Next, using relevance feedback, we refined the 2 profiles with iterative searches over 100 million notes from the Vanderbilt EHR. Seven assessors manually reviewed the top-ranked results of 2544 patient visits relevant for homelessness and 1000 patients relevant for ACE. Results word2vec yielded better performance (area under the precision-recall curve [AUPRC] of 0.94) than lexical associations (AUPRC = 0.83) for extracting homelessness-related words. A comparative study of searches for the 2 phenotypes revealed a higher performance achieved for homelessness (AUPRC = 0.95) than ACE (AUPRC = 0.79). A temporal analysis of the homeless population showed that the majority experienced chronic homelessness. Most ACE patients suffered sexual (70%) and/or physical (50.6%) abuse, with the top-ranked abuser keywords being “father” (21.8%) and “mother” (15.4%). Top prevalent associated conditions for homeless patients were lack of housing (62.8%) and tobacco use disorder (61.5%), while for ACE patients it was mental disorders (36.6%–47.6%). Conclusion We provide an efficient solution for mining homelessness and ACE information from EHRs, which can facilitate large clinical and genetic studies of these social determinants of health.


Author(s):  
Adam Hege ◽  
Denise Presnell ◽  
Kellie B. Reed-Ashcraft ◽  
Karen Caldwell ◽  
Damiana Gibbons Pyles ◽  
...  

Rural Appalachia faces extreme poverty-linked hardships, often referred to as ‘social determinants of health'. One social determinant of health often linked with rural poverty is adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs refer to numerous experiences (e.g., forms of abuse and maltreatment, a dysfunctional household, mental illness in the household, etc.) that one encounters before the age of 18. Local leaders of a county in the heart of Appalachia in northwestern North Carolina (Watauga) embarked on a community level initiative (Watauga Compassionate Community Initiative) aimed at preventing and treating the effects of ACEs and building resiliency. This chapter delves into the academic research related to ACEs and poverty and details the background and ongoing story of the Watauga Compassionate Community Initiative, concluding with lessons learned and insights into what other rural communities can focus on when addressing ACEs, poverty, and other social determinants of health.


Author(s):  
Adam Hege ◽  
Erin Bouldin ◽  
Manan Roy ◽  
Maggie Bennett ◽  
Peyton Attaway ◽  
...  

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a critical determinant and predictor of health across the lifespan. The Appalachian region of the United States, particularly the central and southern portions, experiences worse health outcomes when compared to the rest of the nation. The current research sought to understand the cross-sectional relationships between ACEs, social determinants of health and other health risk factors in one southcentral Appalachian state. Researchers used the 2012 and 2014 North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for analyses. An indicator variable of Appalachian county (n = 29) was used to make comparisons against non-Appalachian counties (n = 71). Analyses further examined the prevalence of ACEs in households with and without children across Appalachian and non-Appalachian regions, and the effects of experiencing four or more ACEs on health risk factors. There were no statistically significant differences between Appalachian and non-Appalachian counties in the prevalence of ACEs. However, compared with adults in households without children, those with children reported a higher percentage of ACEs. Reporting four or more ACEs was associated with higher prevalence of smoking (prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.56), heavy alcohol consumption (PR = 1.69), overweight/obesity (PR = 1.07), frequent mental distress (PR = 2.45), and food insecurity (PR = 1.58) in adjusted models and with fair or poor health only outside Appalachia (PR = 1.65). Residence in an Appalachian county was independently associated with higher prevalence of food insecurity (PR = 1.13). Developing programs and implementing policies aimed at reducing the impact of ACEs could improve social determinants of health, thereby helping to reduce health disparities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Pearson ◽  
◽  
K. Schwartzkopff ◽  
A. Dawson ◽  
C. Hagger ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Indigenous populations globally are continually striving for better health and wellbeing due to experiencing significant health and social inequities. The social determinants of health are important contributors to health outcomes. Comprehensive primary health care that is governed and delivered by Indigenous people extends beyond the biomedical model of care to address the social determinants of health. Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) are known to provide culturally informed, holistic health services that directly and indirectly address the social determinants of health. The range and extent of their activities in addressing the social determinants of health, however, is not well documented. Methods The most recent ACCHO annual reports were retrieved online or by direct correspondence. For coding consistency, a dictionary informed by the World Health Organization’s Conceptual Framework for Action on the Social Determinants of Health was developed. A document and textual analysis of reports coded ACCHO activities and the determinants of health they addressed, including intermediary determinants, socio-economic position and/or socio-political context. Summary statistics were reported. Representative quotes illustrating the unique nature of ACCHO service provision in addressing the social determinants of health were used to contextualise the quantitative findings. Results Sixty-seven annual reports were collected between 2017 and 2018. Programs were delivered to population groups across the life span. Fifty three percent of reports identified programs that included work at the socio-political level and all annual reports described working to improve socioeconomic position and intermediary determinants of health through their activities. Culture had a strong presence in program delivery and building social cohesion and social capital emerged as themes. Conclusions This study provides evidence of the considerable efforts of the ACCHO sector, as a primary health care provider, in addressing the social determinants of health and health inequity experienced by Indigenous communities. For the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, ACCHOs not only have an essential role in addressing immediate healthcare needs but also invest in driving change in the more entrenched structural determinants of health. These are important actions that are likely to have an accumulative positive effect in closing the gap towards health equity.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Odette Pearson ◽  
Kate Schwartzkopff ◽  
Anna Dawson ◽  
Christina Hagger ◽  
Agape Karagi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Indigenous populations globally are continually striving for better health and wellbeing due to experiencing significant health and social inequities. The social determinants of health are important contributors to health outcomes. Comprehensive primary health care that is governed and delivered by Indigenous people extends beyond the biomedical model of care to address the social determinants of health. Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) are known to provide culturally informed, holistic health services that directly and indirectly address the social determinants of health. The range and extent of their activities in addressing the social determinants of health, however, is not well documented. Methods: The most recent ACCHO annual reports were retrieved online or by direct correspondence. For coding consistency, a dictionary informed by the World Health Organization’s Conceptual Framework for Action on the Social Determinants of Health was developed . A document and textual analysis of reports coded ACCHO activities and the determinants of health they addressed, including intermediary determinants, socio-economic position and/or socio-political context. Summary statistics were reported. Representative quotes illustrating the unique nature of ACCHO service provision in addressing the social determinants of health were used to contextualise the quantitative findings. Results: Sixty-seven annual reports were collected between 2017 and 2018. Programs were delivered to population groups across the life span. Fifty three percent of reports identified programs that included work at the socio-political level and all annual reports described working to improve socioeconomic position and intermediary determinants of health through their activities. Culture had a strong presence in program delivery and building social cohesion and social capital emerged as themes. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of the considerable efforts of the ACCHO sector, as a primary health care provider, in addressing the social determinants of health and health inequity experienced by Indigenous communities. For the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, ACCHOs not only have an essential role in addressing immediate healthcare needs but also invest in driving change in the more entrenched structural determinants of health. These are important actions that are likely to have an accumulative positive effect in closing the gap towards health equity.


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