Acknowledging that trauma affects children is not a new concept, but the way pediatricians address it is evolving, according to one of the leaders of a new AAP national center.
“Our appreciation of how the pediatric provider can recognize trauma, respond to it and build strength and resilience in patients well before traumas happen is a fairly new concept,” said Heather C. Forkey, M.D., FAAP, who joins AAP Past President (2022) Moira A. Szilagyi, M.D., Ph.D., FAAP, as co-medical directors of the AAP National Center for Relational Health and Trauma-Informed Care.
Trauma-informed care is built on the centuries-old standards of pediatric care, Dr. Forkey said, but feels like a new concept to “many people who have been through medical school and residency (and) didn’t learn about it there.”
The new AAP national center seeks to empower pediatricians to “promote safe, stable and nurturing relationships, recognize and treat trauma, and provide guidance and support to help children and families thrive,” according to its mission statement.
That first part is fundamental to every child’s life, Dr. Szilagyi said.
“By safe, I mean emotionally and psychologically safe. By stable, I mean continuous, over time, in the life of a child. And nurturing includes being responsive and centering your child,” she said. “You need at least one adult in your life who provides that for you.”
The center’s website aims to help pediatricians be one of those adults. It provide recommendations, guidelines and training for professionals regarding the implementation of trauma-informed care, as well as resources to share with families.
“We’re guiding them to resources that exist both at AAP.org and with partners like the Center on the Developing Child or The National Child Traumatic Stress Network,” Dr. Forkey said.
The center was developed in partnership with and is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Additional partners include the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and the University of California, Los Angeles, where Dr. Forkey and Dr. Szilagyi are professors of pediatrics.
For the medical directors, who are co-authors of the AAP book Childhood Trauma and Resilience: A Practical Guide and the AAP clinical report on trauma-informed care, the center’s establishment represents a culmination of more than a decade of work.
“The AAP has been out in front of this, and I’ve been working with them on it since 2012,” said Dr. Forkey, adding that she is excited about all the ways the center can help her fellow pediatricians.
“I’d like for us to build a lot more resources around supporting resilience for everyone, around care, around kids who are seeing subspecialists for medical trauma,” she said. “Come see what resources we have, and then come back because we’re building more.”
Resources
- Video playlist: Trauma-Informed Care & Relational Health
