“THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN”
The Board on Children, Youth, and Families (BCYF) of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine recently held its fall meeting, following the election of our nation’s 45th President, Donald J. Trump. His opponent, Secretary Hillary R. Clinton, has long been an outspoken advocate for children, working early in her career for the Children’s Defense Fund and ultimately serving as chair of its board of directors. Members of BCYF were clearly “interested” in any indications regarding what the new Administration’s first 100 days might entail. The President-elect had proposed repealing Obama Care (ACA); but what about the 32+ million Americans who, but for ACA, would not even be receiving necessary primary care? Hope was expressed that children’s issues would remain truly bipartisan in appeal.
Under the leadership of Chair Angela Diaz, MD, MPH (former White House Fellow) and Board Director Natacha Blain (former APA Congressional Fellow), BCYF has/will continue its charge to convene top experts from multiple disciplines to analyze the best available evidence on critical issues facing children, youth, and families today. The underlying approach is to evaluate research simultaneously from the perspectives of the biological, behavioral, health, and social sciences and thereby shed light on innovative and influential solutions in order to inform the nation. All agree that critical to BCYF’s future will be its continued ability to provide independent analyses of the available science. Some would suggest that this is especially important at this point in our nation’s history. Two recent BCYF initiatives:
Supporting the parents of young children [July, 2016]. A national framework for strengthening the capacity of parents of young children (birth to age 8) was proposed. Efforts were made to identify a core set of parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) tied to positive parent-child interactions and child outcomes, as well as evidence-based strategies supporting these KAPs universally, across a variety of specific populations. Concrete policy recommendations were generated, across private and public sectors, within the health, human services, and education systems, including the most pressing research gaps. Populations of interest -- fathers, immigrant families, persons with substance abuse and/or mental health issues, low income families, single mother headed households, and parents of children with disabilities. Contextual areas of interest -- resource poor neighborhoods, unsafe communities, rural communities, availability of quality health care and education systems and services (including early childhood education), and employment opportunities. The underlying vision is to serve as a “roadmap” for the future of parenting and family support policies, practices, and research.
The biological and psychosocial effects of Peer Victimization: Lessons for bullying prevention [May, 2016]. Three key questions were addressed: * What is known about the physiological and psychosocial consequences of peer victimization for both the perpetrator and target? Specifically, what is the state of research on the neurobiological and mental and behavioral health effects of peer victimization? * How are individual and other characteristics (e.g., cognitive and social skills and affective dispositions) related to the dynamic between perpetrator and target, and the subsequent initial signs and long-term outcomes for both? And, * What factors contribute to resilient outcomes of youth exposed to, and engaged in, peer victimization (e.g., safe and supportive school climate; relationships with adults and peers)? Key findings: * Bullying is associated with harmful short- and long-term consequences both for youths who are bullied and for those who do the bullying. Individuals who are both perpetrators and targets for bullying appear to be at greatest risk for poor psychological and social outcomes. And, * Emerging research indicates that some widely-used approaches, such as zero-tolerance policies, are not effective at reducing bullying.
Give an Hour: The increasing integration of mental/behavioral health into primary care has provided mental health professionals unprecedented opportunities to make a difference in the lives of our nation’s citizens through venues which have heretofore been unrecognized. In September, 2005 psychologist Barbara Van Dahlen established Give an Hour, with the mission of harnessing the expertise and generosity of volunteer mental health professionals capable of responding to both acute and chronic conditions that arise within our society. To date, Give an Hour has provided over 210,000 hours of free mental health care (valued at over $21 million) to our nation’s active duty personnel, Veterans, and their families. The VA reports that every day 20 Veterans commit suicide; however, the Campaign to Change Direction recognizes that the need for mental health care is not limited to our Veterans or to any particular subset of our population, and instead requires a fundamental change in the culture of mental health so that all in need receive the care and support they deserve. The five signs of emotional suffering are changes in personality, agitation, withdrawal, decline in personal care, and hopelessness.
This fall Barbara invited students from the USUHS to attend a special Sirius XM radio broadcast “Changing the Culture of Mental Health: It’s Time” featuring, among others, Brian Duffy (VFW Commander-in-chief) and Dr. Jill Biden, addressing the importance of eliminating the historical stigma associated with receiving mental health care. Given her son’s history, Dr. Biden was personally most appreciative of the services rendered by the National Guard and highly sensitive to the stresses which they might experience. Later on that afternoon, she presided over a Pentagon ceremony during which Give an Hour and the National Guard signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work closely together.
“As one of the military students in the audience of Jennifer Hammond’s broadcast and as one of the many future health care professionals working to combat suicide, I greatly appreciated the opportunity to meet with individuals from different professions to discuss this important topic. Until recently, suicide was viewed as a cowardly act and in some states, even a crime. Talking about suicide or suicidal thoughts and how they affect everyday people in different ways is instrumental for changing the culture. As noted during the broadcast, most individuals know the signs of a heart attack and the basics of what to do. Through normalizing the experience of mental health strain and thinking critically about what we can do to help ourselves and others, we can inspire change such that mental stress is as easily recognizable as outwardly physical ailments. Among suicide researchers, an important change is how we speak about those who are afflicted. The term ‘commit’ is defined as ‘to carry out; to perpetrate.’ It brings with it the connotation of the past, that those who experience these thoughts and feelings are somehow committing a crime. Changing the language, such that those who ‘commit’ suicide are now those that ‘die by suicide’ (akin to ‘died of a heart attack’) changes how we automatically characterize the people we aim to help. Little changes like these, Give an Hour’s many collective therapy hours, and the support of recognized names such as Dr. Biden and Yashi Brown are what will create lasting cultural change. I am honored to be a part of it” [Hannah Martinez, 2LT, USA; psychology graduate student].
Dr. Jill Biden: “The Biden family is a National Guard family. So, it’s incredibly special that my last event at the Pentagon as Second Lady is to witness this National Guard milestone. Eight years ago, our son Beau proudly deployed for a year to Iraq with the Delaware Army National Guard 261st Signal Brigade…. When Beau returned home – knowing that Mrs. Obama and I had begun to plan the work eventually known as Joining Forces – he asked that we especially focus on de-stigmatizing and addressing the wounds that could not be seen: such as PTSD and TBI. The length of those wars and multiple deployments had naturally taken its toll. And we needed to address the mental wellbeing of our military upfront with dignity and respect….
“Today, we have another incredible organization, answering the call in their own way. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank Barbara and everyone at Give an Hour for your strength, determination and foresight. I always tell people: go to your strengths and Barbara, you have done just that. You leveraged what you knew into an incredible organization of thousands of mental health providers willing to donate their time to help our troops, Veterans and families. Thank you…. With this MOU, we will reach countless guard members across this country with the 5 Signs. We will be able to offer expanded mental health services to our guard members and families through a network of more than 7,000 Give an Hour providers…. As a proud National Guard mom, this is personal… Thank you, and God bless our troops and their families.”
Exciting Opportunities for Change: The New Hampshire Psychological Association recently joined with Give an Hour to serve their state’s Veterans and other underserved high risk populations. This would seem to be a particularly appropriate initiative for HPA, given the significant number of members of the Hawaii National Guard who have been deployed during the past decade. Kathy McNamara recently had the opportunity to visit with U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who proudly mentioned that her undergraduate major was psychology, so her personal interest in psychological services has been long-standing. “And all the bells were ringin’.” Aloha.
Pat DeLeon, former APA President – HPA – December, 2016
