Two generations thrive: Bidirectional collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and parents to promote culturally responsive trauma research, practice, and policy.

Abstract

Objective: Prolonged exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the absence of protective relationships and systems contributes to toxic stress and can lead to numerous psychological and physical health consequences. Disproportionate exposure to ACEs and lack of appropriate responses stemming from systemic racism contributes to racial inequities. Culturally responsive practices and policies focused on early childhood are critical to prevent toxic stress and subsequent health inequities. This paper describes a collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and parents of color with lived experiences of ACEs entitled: Two Generations Thrive, which aims to prevent the intergenerational transmission of ACEs through improving practices and policies within the health care, education, and child welfare systems. Method: Communitybased Participatory Research (CBPR) and cultural humility provided a framework and key principles for our collaboration, with an emphasis on critical reflection, mitigating power imbalances, and institutional accountability. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to evaluate outcomes. We describe our process of building an infrastructure for bidirectional collaboration and key lessons learned to offer a roadmap for researchers, clinicians, and advocates who seek to partner in preventing ACEs and subsequent health inequities. Results: Key lessons learned include: the importance of building and maintaining trust, consistently working to mitigate power imbalances, and the power of bidirectional collaboration to maximize the benefit of research and action for communities traditionally marginalized in research and practice. Conclusions: Cultural humility and CBPR provide a strong foundation to promote bidirectional collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and parents with lived experience of ACEs. Clinical Impact StatementRepeated exposure to adversity can cause toxic stress, which is damaging to physical and mental health. Disproportionate exposure to ACEs and lack of appropriate responses stemming from systemic racism contribute to racial inequities associated with toxic stress including disproportionate intergenerational transmission of ACEs among families of color. This article describes a bidirectional partnership among researchers, practitioners, and parents initially focused on intervention research that grew to focus on building capacity across systems to reduce racial inequities associated with toxic stress.

Reimagining traumatic stress studies as a participatory science grounded in critical self‐reflection: A call to action

“…Engaging in critical self‐reflection practices takes intentional effort to identify the assumptions and biases that impact each decision and action (Isobel, 2021). Incorporating this into research is facilitated through intentional infrastructure, such as community action boards (CABs) that create the necessary space for ongoing deep and complicated dialogues about power and the social, political, and personal underpinnings of knowledge production, as well as opportunities for repair and accountability (Woods‐Jaeger et al., 2023). Ensuring this is built in throughout the entire research process from inception (i.e., CAB‐defined research questions) to dissemination (i.e., describing these revelations in reflexivity, positionality, and discussion sections in TSS manuscripts; prioritizing sharing findings through community forums, newsletters, and other community‐accessible means) offers an opportunity for mapping the field forward toward a decolonial science.…”

Addressing the Mental Health Challenges of Refugees—A Regional Network-Based Approach in Middle Hesse Germany

“…Figure 1 provides an overview of the different actors in the network. Particularly in the treatment of trauma sequelae, cross-collaborations between, for example, practitioners, researchers, and advocacy groups have been shown to offer more benefits than the usual translation of science into clinical practice [ 33 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ].…”

Back to the basics and fast forward to multiculturalism.

“…Using CBPR methods in the context of cultural humility is essential. Cultural humility involves a realistic self-reflection and understanding of the limitations of one’s own culture and how those cultural limits impact professional activities including research (Tervalon & Murray-García, 1998; Woods-Jaeger et al, 2022). Scientific rigor as defined in the context of mainstream culture does not necessarily translate into rigor among minoritized communities.…”