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Arizona trauma expert tells Surprise commission ACEs drive long-term health problems, urges community-based responses

Surprise Veterans, Disability and Human Services Commission · January 14, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Dr. Robert Roten of the Arizona Trauma Institute briefed the Surprise Veterans, Disability and Human Services Commission on ACEs research, arguing that adverse childhood experiences and social determinants are primary drivers of chronic illness and that communities should invest in trauma-informed, relational supports.

Dr. Robert Roten, founder and CEO of the Arizona Trauma Institute, told the Surprise Veterans, Disability and Human Services Commission that decades of research show adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and social-environment stressors have large, lasting effects on health.

In a presentation and extended Q&A, Roten said large ACEs studies find that "if you had 4 of these 10, you are more likely to have long term health issues," and described links between childhood trauma and later problems such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He…

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