MountainStar Family

4.13.2012 ACE Study documents impact of trauma on long term health

admin — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:40:20 +0000

This 15-year old study documented a strong correlation between the number of adverse childhood experiences and health risk behaviors and disease. Adverse childhood experiences are defined in the study as childhood exposures to psychological, physical, or sexual abuse; violence against mother; or living with household members who were substance abusers, mentally ill or suicidal, or ever imprisoned. Persons who had four or more experiences compared to those who had none, had 4-12 fold increase in health risks for alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, and suicide attempts; and 2-4 fold increase in smoking, greater than 50 sex partners, and sexually transmitted disease. The number of adverse childhood experiences showed a direct relationship with the risk for heart disease, cancer, lung disease, skeletal fractures and liver disease.

Click the link below for the full study

ACE Study

3.26.2012 Treatment for PTSD and Survivors of Child Abuse

admin — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:28:44 +0000

EMDR is a researched based therapy for treating post-traumatic stress disorder and other traumas. A recent study documents that within 12 sessions, 77 percent of multiple trauma victims treated with EMDR lost the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. A posting from a New York Times blog that can be accessed below answers questions posed by their readers about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing or EMDR. Cherie Skillings, Mental Health Specialist and Program Director, uses EMDR with clients at MountainStar.

EMDR

3.9.2012 Cost of Child Abuse/Neglect Rivals Other Public Health Problems

admin — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:36:38 +0000

A recent article on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website sites a study that documents lifetime cost for each victim of child maltreatment who lived was $210K which is comparable to other costly health conditions such as stroke ($159,846) and type 2 diabetes ($181K to $253K). The study looked at confirmed child maltreatment cases – 1,740 fatal and 579,ooo non-fatal in the US in 2008 and found the costs for victims and society to be approximately $124 billion. http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/childmaltreatment/EconomicCost.html

The staggering personal and societal costs provides another compelling argument to support prevention programs such as Oregon Relief Nurseries.

2.22.2012 Baby Yoga at MountainStar

admin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:38:53 +0000

MountainStar’s staff have gained a much deeper understanding of how trauma and neglect can impact and disrupt early brain development through participation in Dr. Bruce Perry’s training in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics. As a result of what we have learned, MountainStar is adding Yoga to our Therapeutic Classroom to as another approach to repair and enhance brain development in infants and toddlers. Music, movement, and warm nurturing relationships are all standard components in our classrooms. Adding Yoga movements and breathing as patterned repetitive activity helps the child to calm and move from a state of ‘flight or fight’ to a place where they can take in information and begin to problem-solve and learn.

Namaspa Yoga Teacher-in-Training instructors facilitated an introductory workshop for staff and provided materials including “animal cards” that staff can use with children in the classroom as a fun way to introduce breathing exercises and yoga postures.

Check out these two links…an article about how yoga helps children heal and a video of Dr. Perry talking about his work with children.

http://yogacalm.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/trauma/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vak-iDwZJY8&feature=channel_video_title

2.21.2012 Importance of social-emotional health in early childhood

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:49:58 +0000

“The social, emotional and behavioral health of young children provides the foundation for success in school and beyond. To put it simply, children who are engaged, able to focus, cooperate with peers, accept supervision from adults and regulate their emotions are much more likely to do well in school than those who are not.”

Social, emotional and behavioral health is the ability to:

persist in the face of obstacles
pay attention, follow instructions and complete tasks
control impulses and delay gratification in the pursuit of longer term goals
recognize and regulate emotions
recognize social rules and follow them
feel and express warmth and caring for others
accept warmth and care from others
feel empathy and understand the perspective of others
feel a sense of self-worth and competence
feel safe and secure while trying new things
find joy in accomplishment

for more information read “From Risk to Resilience” by the (Oregon) Children’s Institute

Children’s Institute S-E Health Report 2011

2.7.2012 Increased Rate for Abusive Head Trauma Since Recession

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:18:43 +0000

Recent article published in Pediatrics Journal in October 2011 reports an increase in abusive head trauma for children 0 to 5 in three geographic regions across the US from 2004 to 2009. Researchers documented an increase from 8.9 in 100,000 before the recession to 14.7 during the recession. “Results of this study demonstrate a relationship between an economic recession and the rate of AHT (abusive head trauma). Given the high morbidity and mortality rates for children with AHT, these results are highly concerning.”

This article, while emotionally difficult to read, provides a compelling argument why child abuse prevention efforts should be strong when the economy is weak.

AHT Study from Pediatrics Oct 2011

2.2.2012 Links for Current Research on Brain Development

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:42:01 +0000

These links will take you to three great articles that look at current research on brain development in early childhood. First is an easy-to-read overview from Zero-to-Three. Second is a more scientific article from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University including a discussion of popular misconceptions such as infants are too young to be affected by family stress. The last article is an interview that talks about the gap between public policy and what science tells us…”"from a neuroscience perspective, it is far better to prioritize early supports that promote positive social and emotional development in children than to wait until problems occur and try and fix them.”

Starting Smart: How Early Experiences Affect Brain Development

Stress Disrupts Architecture Developing Brain

Interview with Pat Levitt, National Scientific Council on the Developing Child

1.31.2012 Changes coming to Early Childhood system

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:43:13 +0000

Read the Executive Summary or the full report to learn about the changes being proposed to Oregon’s Early Childhood system. Key elements include:

transfer budget authority from Commission on Children & Families to Early Learning Council
create (regional) “accountability hubs” to manage contracts and partnerships
deploy system of “Family Resource Managers” that will identify families and refer them to programs (may use staff in existing programs)
adopt a universal screening tool to assess child & family needs
implement a tiered quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) that enhances the child care certification standards
align early learning framework with Head Start standards
pilot then deploy a Kindergarten Readiness Assessment for Oregon

ELC Rpt Exec Sum Dec 2011

ELC Report Dec 2011

For a local contact…Stephanie Sundborg CFC Early Childhood Specialist (541) 385-1405 or stephanie.sundborg@deschutes.org

1.31.2012 Report from new Oregon Education Investment Board

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:18:19 +0000

This Executive Summary presents the goals and concepts underlying a major effort to align and enhance education systems in Oregon from birth to career. This is good reading to understand changes that are already put into motion in the last legislative session and will continue in February 2012.

OEIB report Dec 2011 Exec Sum

A great local contact for more information about changes for early childhood is Stephanie Sundborg CFC Early Childhood Specialist

stephanie.sundborg@deshutes.org

1.20.2012 Early Childhood Stress: A Parents’ Guide

admin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:05:44 +0000

Great article from Slate.com on what kinds of childhood stress parents should be concerned about.

Early childhood stress_Slate Magazine