Exploring trauma informed practice: what is it and why does it matter?
VONNE (Voluntary Organisations' Network North East)
Strengthening the VCSE sector; supporting the North East region
In this article we will identify what we mean by trauma and trauma informed practice, why it matters and what we are doing to move forward with this issue.?
In this instance, we define people facing multiple disadvantage as those who are experience two or more of the following: homelessness, addiction, involvement in the criminal justice system, exploitation, domestic abuse, and poor mental health.?
A key theme in the People Facing Multiple Disadvantage Network is the necessity for all health and care services to understand the impact of trauma of people facing multiple disadvantage and how trauma affects access to services.
This article is not an exhaustive account of what trauma, and a trauma informed approach can mean/look like. It is not intended as a guide for addressing trauma. It is a vehicle for providing background and context to those not familiar with the idea and is intended to provide a mechanism for meaningful engagement as we navigate our next steps (see below).
What is trauma and how can trauma occur?
Trauma can mean multiple things and it impacts everyone differently. People may have trauma after a particularly distressing event.
Mind defines trauma as “Going through very stressful, frightening or distressing events is sometimes called trauma. When we talk about emotional or psychological trauma, we might mean:
Traumatic events can happen at any age and can cause long-lasting harm. Everyone has a different reaction to trauma, so you might notice any effects quickly, or a long time afterwards.”
So, what do we mean by trauma informed approach? ?
A trauma-informed approach to healthcare aims to provide an environment where a person who has experienced trauma feels safe and can develop trust. Examples might be?a health care provider explaining why they are asking sensitive questions, or responding with compassion when a person refuses a medical exam or test. It might involve enabling the person to take control,?for example, asking them to share what they’ve found helpful or harmful in similar situations in the past.?
Trauma informed practice is not designed to treat trauma related difficulties. It seeks to address the barriers that those affected by trauma can experience when accessing care and services by using the six principles of trauma informed practice:
Why does it matter??
For some people the experience of trauma can cause lasting adverse effects, limiting the ability to function and achieve mental, physical, social, emotional or spiritual well-being. For people who experience complex trauma, traumatic experiences involving multiple events with interpersonal threats during childhood or adolescence including abuse, neglect, violence,?racism and discrimination, these effects can be severe and long lasting.?
A trauma informed approach to healthcare enables people who have experienced trauma to be able to access health and care services with a level of trust and safety.?
Tyne Housing, a member of the People Facing Multiple Disadvantage Network, embeds a trauma informed approach into their service delivery and are partners in the ‘See Me North’ research project.
“Trauma informed care is embedded within all of Tyne's support processes.? We know that many of our residents and visitors have experienced significant?trauma in the past and this frequently leads to problems in terms of their mental and emotional health.??
To better develop our trauma informed care practices we are working in partnership with Northumbria University and several VCS organisations on the?"See Me North" research project.? This project is looking at trauma, homelessness and mental health and how trauma informed care can be used to better support vulnerable individuals. Tyne staff are supporting a?group of residents to ensure that those who are experts by experience?are central to the research process.”
What are the next steps??
The People Facing Multiple Disadvantage Network is working on a document with recommendations for trauma informed practice and approaches. Utilising case studies, they hope to raise recommendations within the ICB, have trauma informed care become a part of the integrated care strategy and create training opportunities for health and care staff to become trauma informed in their practice.?
If you would like to join the group,?you can sign up here and you can?find out more about the VCSE Partnership Programme here. Please note the group’s name has changed from Multiple Complex Needs Network.
If you would like to find out more about this network, you can get in touch with?[email protected].