Context

The health disparities among populations affected by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) aren’t simple. They’re the result of many interconnected issues—and so they can’t be overcome by the work of the healthcare sector alone. But when we align and act across all sectors that work on the roots of children’s health inequalities, we can get a clearer picture of the relationship between biological development and social context. And then we can address what’s at play. 

The Idea

Create a cross-sector digital platform that integrates data from traditional clinical settings with community and socio-economic data to build a more precise system—one that both helps identify those at risk for ACEs, and provides insight into where people find buffers from ACEs—and envision a fuller picture of community health as a whole. 

About the Project

This project will investigate how a shared data ecosystem—one that connects the patient and the agencies that serve child health—can work together with predictive analytics to allow for increased collaboration in tackling toxic stress. By integrating data from traditional clinical settings with community and socio-economic data, we will develop metrics that show a clearer picture of risk factors and existing strengths within a community.

This project will empower patients by literally putting their health information in their hands—not only fostering a sense of ownership of their data, but also spurring on increased community engagement and involvement. All of which will help us unlock solutions to the impact of ACEs and resulting toxic stress—together.  

Using predictive analytics, we aim to advance precision medicine to prevent, rather than only respond to, health threats from toxic stress. Furthermore, together, we’ll be able to identify the right interventions for the right communities, leading to more effective and efficient delivery of healthcare and social services. 

We believe that using predictive analytics will help us target interventions and accelerate progress when working with the health disparities that result from both ACEs and adverse community environments. With this project, we’ll explore the root causes of health disparities and current community buffers from toxic stress. From there, we’ll be able to target prevention and treatment aimed at the toxic stress from ACEs—across all socioeconomic strata. 

About the Team

GPEEL will work together with faculty from the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University, Stanford Law School, Stanford's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, the Stanford Center for Poverty and Inequality, Dr. Vincent Felleti, (one of the pioneers of ACEs research) and our community partners and consultants Cassy Bay Area (a school-based mental health service) and Legal Link to tackle the health impacts of ACEs.