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What is Ace?
What is Ace?
Adverse Community Experiences, such as lack of opportunity, limited economic mobility, fear of discrimination, and the associated effects of poverty and joblessness contribute to – and compound – the adversities experienced by individuals and families like unemployment , community violence, natural and man-made disasters. When childhood adversity occurs in the context of an adverse community environment, these stressors can become toxic to a child’s development and long-term health.
Causes of Adverse Community Experiences:
Poverty
Growing up poor makes everything harder. For many children, being raised poor limits their ability to reach their greatest potential. Children from poor families or neighbourhood are more likely than other children to have serious health problems. Poverty leads to Low birth weight, chronic diseases such as asthma, obesity and high blood pressure, increased accidental injuries, lack of school readiness, toxic stress, to name a few, which can lead to ACE's.
Violence
Structural violence refers to harm that individuals, families and communities experience from economic and social structures, social institutions, relations of power, privilege and inequality and inequity that may harm people and communities by preventing them from meeting their basic needs.
At the community level, this means both that multiple people are traumatized, and significantly, that there is a breakdown or disconnect within the community and across the members of the community.
A community that is experiencing these symptoms of community trauma, without healing and support, does not have adequate efficacy and capacity to organize against and counter structural violence. Further, the symptoms of community trauma may provide a basis for legitimizing structural violence (e.g. justifying enhanced suppression and containment tactics), which can further contribute to community trauma
Community trauma and Community resilience
THE SOCIAL-CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
Damaged, fragmented or disrupted social relations, particularly inter-generational relations.
Damaged or broken social networks and infrastructure of social support.
The elevation of destructive, dislocating social norms that promote or encourage violence and unhealthy behaviours rather than community-oriented positive social norms.
A decreased sense of collective political and social efficacy .
THE PHYSICAL/BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Deteriorated environments and unhealthy, often dangerous, public spaces with a crumbling built environment.
The high availability of unhealthy products, such as alcohol.
THE ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
(Multiple studies have illustrated that levels of violence, crime and delinquency, education, psychological distress, and various health problems, among many other issues, are affected by neighbourhood characteristics, particularly the concentration
of poverty.28 Conversely, the risk of violence and associated trauma is increased by the presence of concentrated poverty. The stressors of living with inadequate access to economic and educational opportunities or inequitable opportunities can also contribute to trauma at the community level.) The manifestation of trauma at the community level includes:
i. Intergenerational poverty;
ii. Relocation of businesses and jobs;
iii. Limited employment and long-term unemployment; and
iv. Government and private disinvestment.
Solutions to Adverse Community Environments
Solutions to Adverse Community Environments
Adverse community environment are factors prevalent in the community outside home that influence the development of children. So can these factors be collectively combated by our community?
Protective factors
Protective factors
Corrective strategies
Corrective strategies
Programs addressing the issue of ACE
Programs addressing the issue of ACE
Building Community Resilience:
Building Community Resilience:
BCR focuses on collaboration between stakeholders and community members.
It focuses on 4 major components:
Increased understanding of childhood adversities in community
System support with respect to policies formation.
Reaching out cross sector partners
Engaging families and residents
Prevention Institute
Prevention Institute
Prevention Institute is a non-profit, national centre dedicated to improving community health and well-being by building momentum for effective primary prevention. Primary prevention means taking action to build resilience and to prevent problems before they occur. The Institute’s work is characterized by a strong commitment to community participation and promotion of equitable health outcomes among all social and economic group.
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