Health Care Teams: Your Journey to Becoming ACEs Aware Starts Here

Female healthcare provider sitting at her desk in front of a laptop, holding a pen

ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and toxic stress are associated with increased risk of a wide range of health conditions in both pediatric and adult populations, known as ACE-Associated Health Conditions. Screening for ACEs enables providers to intervene and help patients take steps to improve health outcomes.

Watch Dr. Nadine Burke Harris (below) speak to the mechanism of the toxic stress response and its impact on health and ground yourself in the fundamentals. Read or review the following to give yourself a strong foundation:

Get trained: Becoming ACEs Aware in California

A must for Medi-Cal reimbursement, providers are encouraged to take the free online course covering Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), toxic stress, ACE screening, toxic stress risk assessment, and trauma-informed care. Approximately two hours, the course can be taken anytime and provides health care teams evidence-based strategies to mitigate the toxic stress response. Qualified Medi-Cal providers are eligible for a $29 payment for qualifying ACE screenings for pediatric and adult patients (up to age 65) with full scope Medi-Cal.
 

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ACEs Aware Learning Center

Your go-to place for all ACEs Aware training, guidance on implementation, and continuing education. In addition to resources highlighted above and below, you’ll find training and expert guidance on ACE screening and trauma-informed care in reproductive health, pediatrics, and beyond. Most trainings provide continuing education credit.

Visit the ACEs Aware Learning Center >

 

How to Implement ACE Screening

Get guidance and resources to prepare your practice for integrating ACE screening and ensure readiness at the organizational level.

Implementation How-to Guide (web resource, also available as online course)
Developed to facilitate the adoption of ACE screening and trauma-informed care into practice at the organizational level. Provides guidance on (1) what is needed clinically, operationally, administratively, and emotionally to begin screening, (2) key decisions that must be made in selecting your clinic’s approach to implementing ACE screening and treating toxic stress, and (3) resources to create a supportive work environment, update policies, and integrate trauma-informed principles.

Implementation with Intention (webinar)
Explore previously recorded and upcoming webinar trainings provided to aid with the adoption of ACE screening and putting trauma-informed care into practice at the organizational level.
 

How to Identify and Respond to ACEs & Toxic Stress

Learn the processes for conducting screenings and providing an appropriate clinical response.

Clinical Assessment & Treatment resources (web resource)
Provides overarching guidance on gathering information, conducting a patient assessment, and preparing the clinical response.

ACE Screening Clinical Workflows, ACEs and Toxic Stress Risk Assessment Algorithm, and ACE-Associated Health Conditions: For Pediatrics and Adults (PDF Guide)

Stress Busters: Clinical Strategies for Preventing and Mitigating Toxic Stress (online course)
Designed to help develop your clinical response to childhood adversity and toxic stress through a comprehensive exploration of seven evidence-based, stress management strategies, called stress busters. Learners will gain an understanding of the scientific basis behind these evidence-based strategies for regulating toxic stress and learn about practical interventions they can use with their patients and clients. Patient-facing information on Stress Busters is available as well.

Science & Innovation Speaker Series (webinar series)
Learn about the emerging science of toxic stress, ACEs, and other early life adversities, as well as resilience and strength-based factors within a foundation of equity. The series highlights cutting-edge researchers and innovators in the field who have published evidence-based, community-engaged, and data-driven studies.
 

Additional resources

“We have set a bold goal to cut ACEs and toxic stress in half in one generation. I believe that we can get there with shared vision, shared understanding, and cross-sector collaboration.”

Former California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris

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    1. The PEARLS Tool. The PEARLS tool is a unique tool that assess for both Adverse Childhood Experiences (“ACEs”) such as abuse, neglect, and household challenges, and related events, such as discrimination, food insecurity, and community violence, thought to be risk factors for toxic stress. The PEARLS tool was made in the course of research under the auspices of the Children’s Hospital Research Center at Oakland (“BCHO”) and the University of California, San Francisco. BCHO has licensed the PEARLS tool to DHCS and provided DHCS with the right to sublicense the PEARLS tool.
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