What is Trauma Informed Care?

Trauma-informed care shifts the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” A trauma-informed approach to care acknowledges that health care organizations and care teams need to have a complete picture of a patient’s life situation — past and present — in order to provide effective health care services with a healing orientation. Adopting trauma-informed practices can potentially improve patient engagement, treatment adherence, and health outcomes, as well as provider and staff wellness. It can also help reduce avoidable care and excess costs for both the health care and social service sectors.

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Trauma-informed care seeks to:

• Realize the widespread impact of trauma and understand paths for recovery.

• Recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma in patients, families, and staff.

• Integrate knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices; &

• Actively avoid re-traumatization. (Adapted from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s “Trauma- Informed Approach.”)