At the September 12th NACDD Health Equity Council meeting, we welcomed our very own Chair-Elect, Margaret Chaykin, MPH, CHES, RDN, CD, to speak on the work being done in the Washington State Department of Health. Margaret shared examples of trauma-informed approaches and harm reduction principles and their integration into community public health practice.
Examples of work shared by Margaret included trauma-informed food service guidelines, the importance of language and communications, and leveraging resources to honor community needs. A resource shared to support harm-reduction in language was the Arizona Style Guide developed by Cori Lorts, PhD, RDN with Arizona Department of Health in their editorial entitled, “The Language of Health.” Some of the key takeaways include reframing language for harm-reduction, such as considering: Communities of need versus communities of priority investment.
Have any of you begun incorporating trauma-informed practices or healing centered engagement into the work being done with your state? What are some of the ways in which you include equity in your work? Is it also accomplished when you are celebrating other cultures? Please feel free to share with us by reaching out to Renaldo Wilson or join the conversation in the NACDD Engage Community. Let’s start a discussion on incorporating principles of Trauma Informed Care in public health practice.