Lessons from Smoking Cessation Campaigns: Applying Public Health Strategies to Trauma
I was traveling with my daughter the other day, and I asked her, "What stopped you from smoking?" She replied, "It just wasn’t socially acceptable anymore." I was surprised and said, "Wow, public health campaigns really do work." She comes from a family of smokers; my mom smoked, and her grandfather died of lung cancer. Now, three generations later, she broke the cycle in part due to the billions of dollars spent to increase awareness around the health risks of smoking.
The federal government defines trauma as "a deeply distressing or disturbing experience that overwhelms an individual's ability to cope, leading to lasting psychological, emotional, and physical effects." I think they defined it this way so that people who haven't experienced these painful experiences could understand it theoretically. However, for those of us who have a personal or collective relationship with the lasting effects of what we have experienced or the experiences of our community as a whole, it's more about removing the shame from the experience and providing us with safe places, people, practices, understanding, and resources.
To promote resilience and post-traumatic growth, a public health campaign focused on trauma can encourage the development of programs and services that help individuals build and maintain social connections, such as peer support groups, mentorship programs, and community-based activities. The campaign can also support the development of accessible, culturally sensitive, and evidence-based mental health services for individuals who have experienced trauma.
How many culturally sensitive trauma therapists are there? Does anyone know? Send me a good link if you have one!
We need more access to stress-reduction programs, mindfulness training, and therapy that specifically focuses on trauma. In addition to these protective factors, a public health campaign that takes trauma into account can also encourage the use of trauma-informed practices in all service areas. Trauma-informed care is an approach that recognizes and responds to the impact of trauma on individuals, and seeks to promote safety, trust, choice, and empowerment in all interactions. By using trauma-informed practices in healthcare, education, criminal justice, and other settings, people who have been through trauma are more likely to get the help they need and feel supported and validated while doing so.
A public health campaign that focuses on trauma and uses trauma-informed practices in all service areas could have the same positive effects on public health as successful campaigns on smoking, childhood immunizations, and other public health issues. To be effective, it would need to incorporate clear and concise messaging, effective use of media, strong partnerships and collaborations, evidence-based strategies, cultural sensitivity and relevance, and adequate funding and resources.
A trauma-informed public health campaign can also help lower the stigma around trauma-related disorders and increase understanding and compassion for people who have been through trauma. This can help reduce barriers to accessing care and support and promote a more inclusive and supportive society.
To sum things up, a public health campaign focused on trauma has the potential to make a significant impact on public health outcomes by reducing the incidence and impact of trauma-related disorders and promoting protective factors, resilience measures, and post-traumatic growth. A campaign like this can improve health outcomes by using effective messaging, media strategies, partnerships and collaborations, behavior change strategies, evidence-based practices, cultural sensitivity and relevance, and enough money and resources.
I’m looking forward to the day when caring for people's emotional, physical, and spiritual safety is common practice.