Community trauma focus of Pediatrics’ Community Health and Advocacy Conference

Physicians training in UB’s pediatrics residency program provide care for children at local clinics and at John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital.

They also play key roles advocating for children and families through collaborations with a variety of community organizations. The work of these UB physicians and the organizations they work with will be highlighted at the Community Health and Advocacy Conference taking place from 7:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 5 in the atrium of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB.

Hosted by the UB pediatrics residency program and the Department of Pediatrics, the event is in person, with a virtual option. Register at this link.

Nearly 100 people from community-based organizations will attend, including individuals from local school districts, community health centers, refugee services, education centers, restorative justice coalitions and many others.

“The conference is an effort to create an environment where our pediatric attending physicians, trainees, medical students and other health care professionals can collaborate with community-based organizations around important community health topics,” says Sarah J. Ventre, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics in the Jacobs School, physician with UBMD Pediatrics
and lead conference organizer.

“In light of the traumas our community has faced recently, we felt that trauma prevention was an important topic to focus on and to bring community members together with health care professionals in an interdisciplinary way.”

The schedule:

8 to 9 a.m.: Christopher St. Vil, UB assistant professor of social work, will give the grand rounds address, “All Hands on Deck: Implementing a Community Violence Intervention Ecosystem in Buffalo, N.Y., Grounded in a Multidisciplinary Approach.”

St. Vil will discuss how people in various positions, from physicians to social workers to community members, can address trauma and trauma prevention. He will discuss evidence-based models, including local examples like Buffalo SNUG (Should Never Use Guns) and Buffalo Rising Against Violence (BRAVE).

9  to 10 a.m.: Pediatric residents will do poster presentations on their community health advocacy projects. Topics range from urban gardens, food insecurity, vaccine hesitancy among teens and how to educate providers and the public about child abuse to inspiring children in diverse populations to pursue medicine as a career and diaper equity, the issue around the fact that since there is no exclusive government assistance program to cover the cost of diapers, low-income families are sometimes forced to be more sparing in their use of diapers. That, in turn, creates health problems for the child.

10a.m. to noon: “Breaking Down Silos: Finding an Approach to Trauma Prevention That Fits into Your Roles,” a panel discussion facilitated by Whitney Mendel, research scientist, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Panelists include Sourav Sengupta, associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics in the Jacobs School and director of training in adolescent and child psychiatry; Luanne Brown, executive director, Buffalo Prenatal Perinatal Network; and Mia Ayers-Gross, executive director, Most Valuable Parents.

An interactive workshop will follow the panel.

Ventre explains that medical residents in pediatrics are required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education to participate in advocacy, which serves to connect pediatricians closely to community organizations.

“There may be gaps in care that our families and children are facing that we may not be able to address in 15 minutes in the office, so it’s our job to work in partnership with community organizations who can help address the systemic issues these families are facing,” Ventre says.

And while it might seem that advocacy work is yet another task on top of the often-brutal schedule many pediatricians have, Ventre notes that advocacy work actually turns out to be a positive.

“Doing advocacy has been shown to increase wellness and resilience for physicians,” she says. “It decreases burnout. When you are seeing the same issues over and over and you aren’t part of the solution, then you are running on a treadmill. But when you are part of the solution and part of fixing things, you feel, ‘This is why I went into medicine.’”