Do our childhood experiences really make a difference?

Adverse Childhood Experience Workshop
By: Kathy Denman-Wilke, Director of Department of Indian Work

Guest speakers from the Minnesota Department and Health

Do our childhood experiences really make a difference? Over 20 health providers involved with Eliminating Health Disparities Programs within the American Indian community met at the Saint Paul Area Council of Churches on April 23 for a training addressing this question. Training was provided by the Minnesota Department of Health.

At the end of the training, participants discussed current efforts that are working well in the Saint Paul American Indian community as well as innovative strategies that could help the community move toward a prevention framework to better promote resiliency.

Interactive discussions

The Minnesota Department of Health has collected data regarding the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) on the lifelong health and wellbeing of adults in Minnesota. For two decades, research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other states have demonstrated the powerful impact of ACE on health, behavioral and social problems.

Research shows that adverse childhood experiences are specifically linked to poor physical and mental health, chronic disease, lower educational achievement, lower economic success and impaired social success in adulthood.  The hope of this research is to demonstrate that by reducing ACE, we can reliably expect a reduction in many ACE related health and social problems.

If you would like to learn more about this workshop, please contact:

Kathy Denman-Wilke
Director, Department of Indian Work
651-789-3854
kdenmanwilke@interfaithaction.org