At the fall 2011 NCFR Annual Conference I met with a woman named Ellen Taner to discuss her ideas about advancing the field of family life education. Ellen came from a public health background and had been actively involved in parenting education within the realm of substance abuse prevention. She introduced me to the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study which opened the door to an exciting and promising approach to promoting the value of family life education.

ACEs are potentially traumatic events that can have negative, lasting effects on health and well-being Experiencing events or conditions that cause stress to the maturing brain can negatively affect development in childhood and have implications for health in adulthood. ACEs can be categorized into three different types: Abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual), Neglect (physical and emotional), and Household Dysfunction (mental illness, incarcerated relative, mother treated violently, substance abuse, and divorce. As the number of ACEs increases, so does the risk for negative health outcomes. Possible risk outcomes can be categorized as Behavior (Lack of physical activity, smoking, alcoholism, drug use, and missed work) or Physical and Mental Health (severe obesity, diabetes, depression, suicide attempts, STDs, heart disease, cancer, stroke, COPD, and broken bones).

Many of the ACEs occur within the context of a child’s home. Professionals working with or for families are keenly aware of the important role the family and home environment plays in impacting behavior and physical and mental health, both in the short term and, as highlighted by the ACEs study, the long term.

The ACEs study can provide an effective platform for promoting the value of family life education. Family life educators can be identified as having the knowledge and skills to assist families in creating a positive home environment and to reduce the likelihood of incidents and environments known to contribute to ACEs. Increasing awareness within the health care system of the impact of ACEs on adult health and of the role that professionals trained in family science can play in reducing ACEs, is a logical approach for promoting family life education and Certified Family Life Educators (CFLE) as providers. The NCFR White Paper, Family Life Education: A Profession with a Proven Return on Investment includes helpful data on the financial value of FLE with the context of health and behavioral issues.

I recently learned about the ACEs Connection Network, an online network of people interested in sharing information and exploring resources and tools that will help them work together to create resilient families, systems and communities. A companion site, ACEsTooHigh.com provides news to the general public. Through the ACEs Connection Network, I learned about the 2016 Midwest ACE summit which I attended. Much of the focus of this two-day conference was on the importance of recognizing trauma and identifying methods and approaches for addressing those who have experienced trauma. As is often the case, there were only a few sessions focused specifically on approaches to reduce or prevent these negative experiences to begin with. However, I was encouraged by a session delivered by CFLE Jerica Berge on “Prenatal Group Visits in Family Medicine: Building a System of Care for the Prevention of Multi-Generational Transmission of ACEs.” The concept of a multi or two-generation approach provides opportunities to meet the needs of children and parents together and is another promising strategy that has positive implications for the field of family science and family life education professionals.

NCFR will continue to search for approaches, studies, and initiatives that recognize the importance of the family in positively impacting individual health and well-being. We are in the process of developing new promotional materials for family life education in general, and the CFLE credential specifically. This will include new print materials, an updated video about family life education, and infographics about FLE and CFLE. As professionals working in the field of Family Science, you no doubt have ideas, or even existing examples of how you or your company/organization spread the word about FLE. Please share with me any ideas you may have for highlighting the important work of family science.

Sources

ACEs Connection Network. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.acesconnection.com/pages/about

Ascend. The Aspen Institute. (2012). Two-Generation Playbook. Retrieved from http://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/resources/two-generation-playbook

Sacks, V., Murphey, D., & Moore, K. (2014). Adverse Childhood Experiences: National and State-Level Prevalence. Child Trends. Retrieved from http://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Brief-adverse-chi…

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2013). Infographic: The Truth About ACEs. Retrieved from http://www.rwjf.org/en/library/infographics/the-truth-about-aces.html 

Wilkins, J.K., Taner, E., Cassidy, D., & Cenizal, R. (2014). White Paper. Family Life Education: A Profession with a Proven Return on Investment (ROI). National Council on Family Relations. Retrieved from https://www.ncfr.org/sites/default/files/downloads/news/ncfr_white_paper_family_life_education.pdf

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