News of global conflicts, AI reshaping the workforce, and rising costs makes people anxious. Food insecurity, domestic violence, and neighborhood childcare gaps leave people sad or afraid. The word ‘patient’ comes from the Latin patiens, meaning ‘one who suffers’ or ‘enduring’; no wonder the patient-clinician relationship so often defaults to fixing the broken. All these are real challenges yet look from deficit perspective. There are different ways to view, think, and work with people. One of them is HOPE.
HOPE stands for Healthy Outcomes From Positive Experiences. Dr. Robert Sege and team promote 4 building blocks to cultivate more positive childhood experiences (PCE).
Image source: HOPE – Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences®. ©Tufts Medical Center. Used with permission.
What differentiates the HOPE framework? It is…
- Strength-based and family-centered: If shifts the dynamic from deficit-based, provider-centered prescriptions to collaborative partnership.
- Grounded in science and adaptable: It applies across cultures and integrates seamlessly with other tools, such as the TRIADS (trauma and resilience-informed inquiry for adversity, distress, and strengths) framework.
- Helpful to anyone at any age: Positive childhood experiences (PCE) can reduce the effects of the adverse childhood experiences (ACE). Even for adults, adding more positive experiences and community support can help tilt the scale toward healing and resilience.
Even better, HOPE is not just a framework or a research project; it’s a live movement! Currently, it has a network of advisors and family & community council in US and certified facilitators and champions in 7 countries.
How can you get started with HOPE?
- For Everyone: The Four Building Blocks (4 pagers) and intro course (1hr) are great starting points. Then deeper dive into, e.g.
- For Healthcare Practitioners: The healthcare toolkit offers inquiries and suggestions to turn the clinical records/ visits beyond treatments toward collaborative, strength-building, and more humane care.
- For Educators: The educator toolkit helps teachers support children before, during, and after the emotional distress and negative experiences and build emotional resilience.
- Check out HOPE site for more.
I’m excited to learn about HOPE and I look forward to seeing HOPE-in-action. Most important of all, let’s work together to cultivate HOPEful life!
What is one thing you will do today to create a positive experience in a child’s or your life?
Graphic Credit & Permissions: The 4 Building Blocks graphic is used with permission from HOPE – Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences®. Copyright © Tufts Medical Center. All rights reserved.
Part of the Growing Up Well series — Building Heads, Hearts, and Futures