September 2017

"Native American students make up 1.4 percent of the students in Washington state public schools. And they have the lowest graduation rate of any ethnic group, with just 56.4 percent earning a high school diploma in four years. “I was that young person, I dropped out of school. I was one of those statistics of Native women dropouts,” says Dawn Hardison-Stevens, who is a member of the Steilacoom Tribal Council. Hardison-Stevens, who at the time was a young mother with a 3-year-old and a...

"The 2017 Building Trust and Mutual Respect to Improve Health Care call for proposals (CFP) will fund empirical research studies to help us better understand how to build trust and mutual respect to meet vulnerable patients’ health care needs. For this CFP, we would define vulnerable populations in a number of different ways, including the economically disadvantaged, diverse racial and ethnic populations, the uninsured, older adults, homeless individuals, and people with complex health and...

"Over the past 18 months, four foster care “hackathons” have explored how technology could be optimized to streamline child welfare systems and better serve youth and families. During that time, events in Washington, D.C., New York City, the Silicon Valley and Los Angeles have been instrumental in spurring changes to the child welfare systems there. The hackathon series kicked off in May 2016 at the first-ever White House Foster Care and Technology Hackathon in Washington, D.C. Hosted by the...

Compassion fatigue has been described as the "cost of caring" for others in emotional and physical pain. It is characterised by deep physical and emotional exhaustion and an uncharacteristic inability to feel empathy for others. Compassion fatigue is also called "vicarious traumatisation" or secondary traumatisation, where the emotional residue or strain of exposure to others who are suffering, or reliving traumatic incidents, impacts you and over time can become overwhelming, possibly even...

2017 Call for Proposals Release Date: September 12, 2017 | Application Deadline: October 13, 2017, 3:00 p.m. ET Purpose The 2017 Building Trust and Mutual Respect to Improve Health Care call for proposals (CFP) will fund empirical research studies to help us better understand how to build trust and mutual respect to meet vulnerable patients’ health care needs. For this CFP, we would define vulnerable populations in a number of different ways, including the economically disadvantaged, diverse...

At the upcoming 22d International Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma (IVAT) Sept. 21-27 in San Diego, the Academy on Violence and Abuse is hosting a one-day pre-summit this Friday, Sept. 22. It features: Dr. Vincent Felitti, co-principle investigator of the CDC-Kaiser Permanent Adverse Childhood Experience Study; Dr. Denyse Olson-Dorff, who overseas the integration of trauma-resiliency awareness at Gundersen Health Systems; Dr. Vicki Bodendorfer, who will present results of a research...

Traditionally, men are raised to be self-sufficient, tough, and to protect their family and property. But what happens when the strong protector needs help? Fear of appearing weak or vulnerable, being unable to meet responsibilities or serve the role they expect of themselves can lead men to feel that they are a burden and that those around them might be better off if they ended their life. Men are less likely than women to reach out to mental health professionals or even to talk about their...

There are 1.3 million torture survivors living in the United States. More than 35,000 adult and child torture survivors reside in San Diego County. Most were tortured because of their religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, political viewpoints or defense of human rights. Since 1997, Survivors of Torture, International has served and cared for more than 2,000 men, women and children who have fled from over 80 different countries where torture is prevalent. As the only accredited...

Humans of New York uploaded this photo of a gay teen to Facebook last Friday with the heartbreaking quote "I'm homosexual and I'm afraid about what my future will be and that people won't like me." The comments are an outpouring of love and support for the boy. But this one from Hillary Clinton stands out: To read more of Michael Langenmayr's article, please click here.

Fueled by the opioid-abuse crisis, the medical community is on the cusp of major change in how it treats chronic pain, a first-ever Pima County opioid symposium was told Friday. Chronic pain is the most common pre-existing condition leading to an opioid overdose, state data show. And unresolved trauma, which is a major risk factor for substance-use disorders, is also a characteristic in some chronic-pain patients, Dr. Bennet Davis of the Integrative Pain Center of Arizona told those in...

Grab a coffee, sit back and enjoy the read – it’s a long one! I want to let you know up front that this article is written purely from the heart and has not been critiqued for publication. This was done intentionally as this is the authentic me. Recent events of hatred amongst different groups in the US is what sparked me to write this. I'm writing this because I have NEVER understood how a person could feel such disdain for someone that they don’t even know personally, but as of late I...

“With all the stories of heroism and tragedy in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey, one group of people have been left out of sight and out of our hearts: the incarcerated men and women in our federal correctional facilities. While Texas and Florida authorities safely relocated most of the inmates in the state prisons, the men and women who were locked in our federal prisons were not so fortunate. The Federal Bureau of Prisons stated it did not intend to evacuate its facilities in the...