I am delighted to be releasing this episode of Taking Action for a number of reasons.

First, and most importantly, it features two really committed and passionate people in Gwenne and Jennie, who have an excellent project to talk about.

Secondly, it highlights work in health, which is an area that I haven't featured enough in the series.

Thirdly, it touches on a lot of themes that have been developing across this series. Their work recognises that childhood trauma may have long-lasting effects on self-regulation, mood and behaviour and can increase the likelihood of developing adult mental and physical health conditions. This growing awareness has led to mental health services becoming necessarily more trauma informed. This is reflected in a paradigm shift in nursing education, which is moving from a diagnostic model of trauma care to a psychological, trauma-informed approach. The emphasis is on what has happened to the person instead of what is wrong with the person.

The University of Stirling developed a new undergraduate nursing curriculum based on the six principles of trauma- informed care published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This has led to the development of the (T)AASKED model, the aim of which is to equip nursing students with the skills and knowledge to work in a trauma-informed framework and to improve the experience of mental health service users. Jennie was central to the initial development of this work and Gwenne is currently taking it forward.

• Here is a super video about this work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhMgzKjRvxs
• The Stirling Programme is featured in the ACEs Journey video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hik0_sfbF6I
• It is featured also in the booklet: https://connectedbaby.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ACEs-Journey-book-screen-190625.pdf
• AND it features in the academic paper Suzanne Zeedyk wrote on Scotland’s ACEs Movement, published in 2023. In fact, the paper ends with a quote from Brodie Paterson, whom Jennie mentions in the podcast as one of the team who developed the Stirling Programme. https://connectedbaby.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ACEs-Journey-Article-.pdf