Group leaders: Dr. Giovanni Cucchiaro and Dr. Alvina Rosales
Project summary:
One in three children in the U.S. is estimated to have been victim of violence. There is a robust link between exposure to violence and increased likelihood of somatic symptoms including physical pain (e.g., headache, abdominal and back pain). Violence can be particularly devastating for youth from under-resourced communities, which most often include ethnic and racial minority groups that are often casualties of socioeconomic inequities. Latinos are the largest ethnic group in California (38.8%) and in the greater Los Angeles area where they represent approximately 49% of the population. Approximately 66% of the patients seen at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) are of Latino ethnicity. Therefore, it is important to examine exposure to violence in the context of pain in Latino youth.
The main objective is to develop a multidisciplinary collaboration among CHLA Pain Management providers and community-based researchers from Casa de Esperanza, and extend the invitation to Los Angeles community organizations focused on violence in Latino communities, and community pediatric health care providers.