Our understanding of brain development and the impact of adversity and chronic stress in childhood are changing how we understand risk and how we think about solutions. Thanks to a decade-old study conducted by Kaiser Permanente and the CDC, scientists now know that chronic stress, also known as toxic stress, caused by traumatic experiences during childhood such as child maltreatment or neglect, parental substance abuse, or sexual abuse have a direct link with an increased risk for chronic diseases due to their impact on the child’s developing brain and immune system. In practical and plain language, Dr. Blodgett will present the science and the recommendations for how the integration of trauma-informed approaches improve outcomes in education, health care, criminal justice response, and social services.
- Dr. Christopher Blodgett, a Washington State University faculty member and a licensed clinical psychologist. He has been the principal investigator for more than three dozen federal and national foundation grants addressing high-risk children and families. Dr. Blodgett, and his team, partner with communities and systems to adapt the science of resilience, brain development and trauma treatment to better address trauma resulting from adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Now funded by multiple federal and philanthropic grants, his work documents the profound and immediate consequences of ACEs and tests practical actions to improve child, family, and system outcomes.
LINKS:
- All Alaska Pediatric Partnership
- ACEs Connection, a movement to prevent ACEs, heal trauma, and build resilience
- ACEs site from the CDC
- Easy ACEs test from NPR.org
- Alaska’s Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities
LIVE BROADCAST: Monday, November 21, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. AKDT
REPEAT BROADCAST: Monday, November 14, 2016, at 8:00 p.m. AKDT
Eric Bork, or you can just call him “Bork” because everybody else does, is the FM Operations Manager for KSKA-FM. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the FM broadcast. He produces and edits episodes of Outdoor Explorer, the Alaska-focused outdoors program. He also maintains the web posts for that show. You may have heard him filling in for Morning Edition or hosting All Things Considered and can still find him operating the soundboard for any of the live broadcast programs.
After escaping the Detroit area when he was 18, Bork made it up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where he earned a degree in Communications/Radio Broadcasting from Northern Michigan University. He spent time managing the college radio station, working for the local NPR affiliate, and then in top 40 radio in Michigan before coming to Alaska to work his first few summers. After then moving to Chicago, it only took five years to convince him to move back to Alaska in 2010. When not involved in great radio programming he’s probably riding a bicycle, thinking about riding bicycles, dreaming about bikes, reading a book, or planning the next place he’ll travel to. Only two continents left to conquer!
