Pediatric Care on Hatteras Island
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can affect one's health over the course of a lifetime. Dr. Jamie Fountain, Family Medicine and Pediatrics Physician, discusses ACEs and how to build resilience in children.
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Learn more about Jamie Fountain, MD
Jamie Fountain, MD
Jamie Fountain, MD is a Family Medicine and Pediatrics Physician.Learn more about Jamie Fountain, MD
Transcription:
Pediatric Care on Hatteras Island
Caitlin Whyte (Host): Preventing adverse childhood experiences is both the responsibility of the parent and the community. And building resilience to help children work through and beyond these experiences is key. Today, we’re talking ACEs or adverse childhood experiences and tips for building resiliency that will help our children when they are inevitably faced with challenges in life. Joining us today is Dr. Jamie Fountain of Outer Banks Family Medicine in Avon.
This is Outer Banks Health. I’m your host, Caitlin Whyte. So, Dr. Fountain, let’s start with some dialog here. What is an ACE?
Jamie Fountain, MD (Guest): So, an ACE is pretty much any bad event that happens to a child during their childhood and some of the things we see here are things like hurricanes, so we have – that’s pretty unique to our community. Children who are displaced from their homes because of a hurricane. We had one in the fall and I have a couple of kids who have struggled with anxiety since then. Another thing that we see quite frequently is children who are growing up in homes with parents who have substance abuse problems and that sort of thing and there’s a whole host of adverse childhood experiences related to that day to day life. But children who come from disruptive families for whatever reason, not just substance abuse, but suffering loss of a parent or even loss of a grandparent; those are adverse childhood experiences.
Host: Let’s talk community. That’s a big theme in working with these issues. How can a strong sense of community inspire healing?
Dr. Fountain: Yeah, I think one of the things we talk about when we think about surviving ACEs and not ending up with lifetime complications so to speak from experiencing ACEs as a child; we think about building resiliency in kids. What is it that makes one kid go through the loss of a grandparent and be okay as they grow versus another kid who goes through the loss and can’t go to school for a while because of severe anxiety, can’t separate from their parents, that sort of thing. And I think that what we see as resiliency is what makes a difference. So, there’s a lot of interest in building resiliency in kids now to help them go through these adverse childhood experiences because no matter what we do, we can’t put our kids in a little bubble and shield them from everything. We can do all we can to prevent traumas from happening, physical injuries and that sort of thing; but we can’t control everything in life and all of our kids are going to experience something difficult at some point in their life and we need to prepare them and build resiliency in them so that they can go through those things and still thrive in life rather than barely surviving because of all these things they carry around inside of them.
And so the community does become an integral part of that, helping parents build resiliency in their kids. Kids need love and support and not just from their parents. There’s an African proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child and I think we all see that that is true, anecdotally, in our own lives and professional setting too. That it really does take a community to build a child up and so, having strong community programs and that sort of thing is important to help kids have a safe place. A lot of kids even growing up in strong families and safe homes, they still need the strong community supports too but especially children who are growing up in homes that are disrupted, or mom is sometimes there and sometimes she’s not and sometimes they are living with their grandparents and sometimes they are with their uncle or aunt. They need something to be stable in their life. And they need consistency somewhere and so the community becomes even more important then at providing even a grocery store clerk who always knows their name and talks to them and knows what they buy usually. That’s someone who is a constant figure for that child or someone at church or school. Teachers are so important for that reason too to be there for kids and be that constant support that they need also.
Host: Dr. Fountain, you grew up in the Outer Banks area. How do you think this helps you as a doctor today?
Dr. Fountain: Yeah, I mean I know what it’s like to have to evacuate for hurricanes. I’ve never lost my home, but I know intimately what kids deal with down here as far as not just the hurricanes but it’s a pretty wonderful place to live at times it can be a very difficult place to live also in the winter and not having access to activities and that sort of thing that you would in the city. And I also know the community and I know where kids can go for support and that sort of thing having experienced all of those things myself growing up here.
Host: How do we cultivate this community with those around us?
Dr. Fountain: Conversation is big. Relationship is the key to building community and building resiliency. So, reaching out and engaging in conversations with people and being involved in things. There’s a lot of things to get involved in on our community whether it’s volunteering at the school or the Fessenden Center Parks and Recreation, that sort of thing. Coaching sports teams, getting involved in church activities that sort of thing helps build the community.
Host: And wrapping up here, how can parents engage with their children and grow relationships?
Dr. Fountain: Yeah, I think that simple ways of showing your kid every day that you care are really important. Asking them, if they are school aged, how was your day today but not just leaving it at that because they are all going to say fine or good or bad but they’re probably not going to say much more than that. But asking specific questions to get more information. Who did you sit with at lunch today? And what was the best part of your day? And things like that so that you get more information from them but at the same time, you’re showing them that you really care about them because you want to know the details of their day.
And then making sure that you spend time playing with your kids every day is really important. A lot of trauma-based relationship intervention training for adoptive parents that I’ve experienced personally, is all focused on playing. Kids learn through play. They build relationships through play. Play is very important and we’re all so busy and distracted that I think sometimes we get through a day and we haven’t played with our kids at all and they really need that time with us. That’s the best way to show them that we care also. Even just 15 minutes a day of sitting on the floor and putting a puzzle together, playing a board game or something like that can build relationships with your kids and goes a long way with them.
Host: Thank you so much for your time today Jamie. To make an appointment with Dr. Fountain at Outer Banks Family Medicine in Avon, you can call 252-995-3073. That’s 252-995-3073. If you enjoyed this episode, you can find more like it in our podcast library and be sure to share this episode on all your social channels. This has been Outer Banks Health. I’m Caitlin Whyte. Thanks for joining us.
Pediatric Care on Hatteras Island
Caitlin Whyte (Host): Preventing adverse childhood experiences is both the responsibility of the parent and the community. And building resilience to help children work through and beyond these experiences is key. Today, we’re talking ACEs or adverse childhood experiences and tips for building resiliency that will help our children when they are inevitably faced with challenges in life. Joining us today is Dr. Jamie Fountain of Outer Banks Family Medicine in Avon.
This is Outer Banks Health. I’m your host, Caitlin Whyte. So, Dr. Fountain, let’s start with some dialog here. What is an ACE?
Jamie Fountain, MD (Guest): So, an ACE is pretty much any bad event that happens to a child during their childhood and some of the things we see here are things like hurricanes, so we have – that’s pretty unique to our community. Children who are displaced from their homes because of a hurricane. We had one in the fall and I have a couple of kids who have struggled with anxiety since then. Another thing that we see quite frequently is children who are growing up in homes with parents who have substance abuse problems and that sort of thing and there’s a whole host of adverse childhood experiences related to that day to day life. But children who come from disruptive families for whatever reason, not just substance abuse, but suffering loss of a parent or even loss of a grandparent; those are adverse childhood experiences.
Host: Let’s talk community. That’s a big theme in working with these issues. How can a strong sense of community inspire healing?
Dr. Fountain: Yeah, I think one of the things we talk about when we think about surviving ACEs and not ending up with lifetime complications so to speak from experiencing ACEs as a child; we think about building resiliency in kids. What is it that makes one kid go through the loss of a grandparent and be okay as they grow versus another kid who goes through the loss and can’t go to school for a while because of severe anxiety, can’t separate from their parents, that sort of thing. And I think that what we see as resiliency is what makes a difference. So, there’s a lot of interest in building resiliency in kids now to help them go through these adverse childhood experiences because no matter what we do, we can’t put our kids in a little bubble and shield them from everything. We can do all we can to prevent traumas from happening, physical injuries and that sort of thing; but we can’t control everything in life and all of our kids are going to experience something difficult at some point in their life and we need to prepare them and build resiliency in them so that they can go through those things and still thrive in life rather than barely surviving because of all these things they carry around inside of them.
And so the community does become an integral part of that, helping parents build resiliency in their kids. Kids need love and support and not just from their parents. There’s an African proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child and I think we all see that that is true, anecdotally, in our own lives and professional setting too. That it really does take a community to build a child up and so, having strong community programs and that sort of thing is important to help kids have a safe place. A lot of kids even growing up in strong families and safe homes, they still need the strong community supports too but especially children who are growing up in homes that are disrupted, or mom is sometimes there and sometimes she’s not and sometimes they are living with their grandparents and sometimes they are with their uncle or aunt. They need something to be stable in their life. And they need consistency somewhere and so the community becomes even more important then at providing even a grocery store clerk who always knows their name and talks to them and knows what they buy usually. That’s someone who is a constant figure for that child or someone at church or school. Teachers are so important for that reason too to be there for kids and be that constant support that they need also.
Host: Dr. Fountain, you grew up in the Outer Banks area. How do you think this helps you as a doctor today?
Dr. Fountain: Yeah, I mean I know what it’s like to have to evacuate for hurricanes. I’ve never lost my home, but I know intimately what kids deal with down here as far as not just the hurricanes but it’s a pretty wonderful place to live at times it can be a very difficult place to live also in the winter and not having access to activities and that sort of thing that you would in the city. And I also know the community and I know where kids can go for support and that sort of thing having experienced all of those things myself growing up here.
Host: How do we cultivate this community with those around us?
Dr. Fountain: Conversation is big. Relationship is the key to building community and building resiliency. So, reaching out and engaging in conversations with people and being involved in things. There’s a lot of things to get involved in on our community whether it’s volunteering at the school or the Fessenden Center Parks and Recreation, that sort of thing. Coaching sports teams, getting involved in church activities that sort of thing helps build the community.
Host: And wrapping up here, how can parents engage with their children and grow relationships?
Dr. Fountain: Yeah, I think that simple ways of showing your kid every day that you care are really important. Asking them, if they are school aged, how was your day today but not just leaving it at that because they are all going to say fine or good or bad but they’re probably not going to say much more than that. But asking specific questions to get more information. Who did you sit with at lunch today? And what was the best part of your day? And things like that so that you get more information from them but at the same time, you’re showing them that you really care about them because you want to know the details of their day.
And then making sure that you spend time playing with your kids every day is really important. A lot of trauma-based relationship intervention training for adoptive parents that I’ve experienced personally, is all focused on playing. Kids learn through play. They build relationships through play. Play is very important and we’re all so busy and distracted that I think sometimes we get through a day and we haven’t played with our kids at all and they really need that time with us. That’s the best way to show them that we care also. Even just 15 minutes a day of sitting on the floor and putting a puzzle together, playing a board game or something like that can build relationships with your kids and goes a long way with them.
Host: Thank you so much for your time today Jamie. To make an appointment with Dr. Fountain at Outer Banks Family Medicine in Avon, you can call 252-995-3073. That’s 252-995-3073. If you enjoyed this episode, you can find more like it in our podcast library and be sure to share this episode on all your social channels. This has been Outer Banks Health. I’m Caitlin Whyte. Thanks for joining us.