A New Age of Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences

Course Summary

Adverse childhood experiences are specific types of childhood trauma and include psychological, physical, or sexual abuse, witnessing violence against the mother, living with household members who had a substance use disorder, mentally ill or suicidal, or who are imprisoned.  Recognizing a need for intervention to disrupt adverse childhood experiences to illness trajectory, The American Academy of Pediatrics has called upon medical providers to address ACEs through screening and community-building.  Since there is currently no guideline for how to address ACEs, it’s important to use available literature to guide professional practice when considering how and when to screen for and address ACEs. At this time, evidence suggests ACE screening should occur routinely in the primary care setting. Previously held beliefs about the amount of provider training required to have ACEs conversations were prohibitive to the practice of screening and following up to the questionnaire. The evidence also indicates these misconceptions are contrary to patient preference: patient’s want to be asked about ACEs!