COVID-19 is an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE). What Can Schools do to Help?

Aug 24

THE PROBLEM:

As the new school year starts, we’re thrilled to see COVID-19 cases down in most parts of the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have loosened their restrictions, and children are no longer required to mask up or quarantine in most circumstances. However, it’s imperative to look at the ongoing effects of the pandemic, and that our children and youth are now falling victim to ACEs and poor mental health at an increasing rate. In fact, many experts believe that the response to the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated some ACEs. Social isolation, job losses, school closures, and other stressors unleashed by the virus have put the physical and mental health of school-aged children at risk—and schools are key players in combating this issue.

With that being said, there is a great need for investment in youth-serving services within school systems to effectively address adverse childhood experiences and prevent its short- and long-term negative health sequelae- well beyond the pandemic period.

ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES (ACEs):

ACEs are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood, such as experiencing violence, neglect, having a family member attempt or die of suicide, and more. ACEs can negatively impact both physical and mental health as well as education, job opportunities, and earning potential. Minimizing their impact could potentially reduce many health conditions. For example, by preventing ACEs, up to 21 million depression cases could have been potentially avoided in the United States.

Given the likely increase in ACEs during the coronavirus pandemic, it is vital that we assess for these experiences more intentionally and more broadly when this pandemic concludes. While some children recall the COVID-19 period as positive, or as an opportunity to spend more time with family, many others see it as a dark time with increased abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction. These children were lacking support systems from outside of the home—such as teachers, friends, and grandparents.

IMPACT OF COVID-19:

We know that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children and adolescents is multifaceted and substantial. Everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, culture, and other factors experienced the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in one way or another. Survey studies regarding child and adolescent mental health amid COVID-19 indicated that anxiety, depression, loneliness, stress, and tension are the most observed symptoms. The World Health Organization (2020) had also warned that this period of social restriction could lead to increases in sedentary lifestyle, changes in mood and behavior, and, of course, the risk of being exposed to harmful content, exploitation, and cyberbullying—as children have in most cases, more, and sometimes less supervised screen time. Even after the pandemic, these effects of what some may call a traumatic period are still being felt, and children need more resources than ever. These rising concerns are especially worrisome in underserved communities—where the pandemic was compounded by a greater economic fallout, greater risk of contracting the virus, and higher substance abuse, parental stress risk, and more.

In short, COVID-19 had made a more severe impact on typically high-scoring individuals of ACEs questionnaires due to decreased interaction with mandatory reporters and other support systems. On the other hand, those who typically score low on these questionnaires are likely to see higher scores now and in the future.

IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH:

Mental health is a state of well-being where school-aged children can meet their learning potential, cope with normal stresses, and are connected to the community and their friends. Children’s mental health challenges were already on the rise before the onset of the pandemic. ADHD, anxiety problems, behavior problems, and depression are the most commonly diagnosed mental disorders in children. Isolation and remote learning during the pandemic, although in some cases necessary, only escalated this problem for many. For adolescents, depression, substance use, and suicide are important concerns. These existing issues in mental health, in conjunction with ACEs being on the rise due to COVID-19 measures, have only grown to be more prevalent in society.

So, What Can Schools Do to Combat the Impact of Mental Health Disorders and ACEs on Their Students?

Schools have direct contact with more than 95% of our nation’s young people aged 5 to 17 years, for about 6 hours per day and up to 13 critical years of their social, psychological, physical, and intellectual development. Therefore, schools are the ideal setting to provide students with the tools they need to achieve optimal, lifelong health and wellness. Here’s how schools, in collaboration with digital technologies, can create robust programs to address the ongoing impact of the pandemic on mental health and ACEs:

Assessing the impact of ACEs on school-aged children with secured and tailored data collection and responding with evidence-based interventions using phones and other mobile devices after receiving parental consent.
Understand high risk populations and mental health needs throughout the student community by distributing clinical, and other, assessments to understand the impacts on mental and physical health and life goals.
Having a referral program that allows schools to triage and refer students to the appropriate health and counseling professionals.
Providing multiple channels for students to seek help (in person or via telehealth).
Improving family and community engagement by allowing them to access their, or their children's, health information. This creates a greater understanding of the issue at hand and proper follow-up.
Integrate public health with schools to ensure that the right support and data is available to increase collaboration, leading to safer learning environments
By providing accurate and reliable health education content from academically sourced libraries – both private and public sources.

With modern problems comes the need for modern solutions. With the proper tools and resources, schools, having a large influence on the health and well-being of their students, can help to mitigate the issues at hand.

TECHNOLOGY IS ON YOUR SIDE:

ACEs and mental health programs have the potential to directly impact the health and safety of school-aged children. Digital solutions can help identify and efficiently treat individuals in need through advanced screening questionnaires, trusted educational tools, secure messaging, referral, and more.

We want to keep students, teachers and staff safe and healthy by leveraging data, science, and active community collaboration.

So why wait? Get your trial subscription – get started in days not months!

ABOUT AZTUTE:

Aztute allows you to continue using your current systems while adding crucial capabilities to enable rapid collaboration between students, staff, teachers, parents, nurses, schools, school districts and public health. Our solutions give schools and students the opportunity to prevent and foster a healthy lifestyle by empowering them with evidence-based health education, engagement, and more. Built on the powerful and scalable Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, our solution makes it easier to securely integrate disparate tools and data to meet the key requirements related to data privacy, security, scalability, and interoperability creating a foundation of any robust school health solution.

Aztute provides comprehensive school solutions for health and safety: