Episode 22: Prevention: Connections Matter

“That’s very personal. And so, we know and we’ve learned through our pilot work that the having somebody within that sector come and be the presenter and the leader of that work, it just builds engagement all the quicker.”
— Liz Cox, executive director, Prevent Child Abuse Iowa

Understanding how adverse childhood experiences, trauma, brain development, and resilience intersect is important to the health outcomes of children and families. Prevention efforts, including the Protective Factors Framework, point to having caring connections as a method to mitigate the negative effects of trauma.

The 'Connections Matter' podcast showcases how a specific training developed by Prevent Child Abuse Iowa serves as a community-based effort to promote and build understanding, trauma-informed communities by tailoring evidence-based training to the following community sectors: early education, education, health care, faith based, and workforce. This podcast focuses on the development of the Connections Matter training, how developers learned the value of having the curricula delivered by community members, and the statewide needs assessment that helped shape the training.

The conversation also provides insight to the state’s newly-developed maltreatment prevention strategic plan (PDF - 993 KB), and the examples used to help develop the strategy.

'Connections Matter' features insight and perspective from the following contributor:

• Liz Cox, executive director, Prevent Child Abuse Iowa