An Analysis of Trauma Informed Care in Mental Health Settings

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of trauma-informed care in mental health, emphasizing its significance in addressing mental health issues. It explores the definition and application of trauma-informed care within mental health services and nursing practices, highlighting its importance for both consumers and healthcare providers. The essay delves into the principles of trauma-informed care, such as safety, trustworthiness, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural sensitivity, demonstrating how these principles can improve patient outcomes. It discusses the need for organizational changes and training to effectively implement trauma-informed practices. The essay also examines real-world examples of implementing trauma-informed care, such as in mental health care settings, and concludes by summarizing the benefits of this approach in enhancing patient care and promoting healing. The essay uses various sources to support the concepts discussed, including books, journals, and online resources.

Trauma Inform Care
in Mental Health

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Trauma is a type of emotional outcome to an awful event like an accident, rape or natural
disaster. This can be emotionally distressing and troubling occurrence. Trauma enforced care is
an approach which is used to deal with trauma. This is used by mental health service delivery
and nursing practice (Trauma Informed Care Australia, 2017). Trauma-informed care is an
organizational structure and treatment framework that includes identification, understanding and
responding to the effects of all types of mental issues that are faced by the people.
This essay will represent the mental health issues that are faced by people and way in
which it can be solved with trauma informed care. It will also explain the importance of trauma
informed care for both; consumers and mental health care services. Various principle of trauma
informed care that will help consumers with mental issues are also explained in this essay.
MAIN BODY
According to Isobel and Edwards, (2017) trauma-informed care is a framework for
delivering human service or knowledge and understanding the impact of trauma on the lives of
people.
It can be applied to all human and health care system. There is a requirement of trauma
informed care practice among all health and human service system to provide care to those
requiring it.
At health care services, the health care providers need to provide appropriate training to
their clinical staff in order to deal with trauma. In order to become a truly trauma-informed,
widespread changes need to be done in health care policies and culture. In order to take the step
to become trauma-informed, human service program needs to assess and potentially modify
every part of organization and management to include a basic understanding of how trauma
change the life an individual seeking changes as per Havens and Marr, (2017).
According to Carter, (2016), for implementing trauma informed practice, the
responsibility often lands on the individual doctor, nurses and or other health care professionals.
Entire hospital needs to embrace trauma informed care in order to provide patients and families
the true experience of trauma informed medical care. To improve the health status of
communities nurses play an important role as they have central ethic of caring and health
promotions in their work.
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There is a requirement for nurses to educate themselves and confront their belief and
values while working towards trauma informed practice at health care organizations. To become
trauma-informed organization, there is a need for the support from senior leaders. To make the
workforce to be a part of transformation process, there is a need for crafting a plan that can help
to generate buy-in throughout organization. As per Levenson, Willis and Prescott, 2016, in order
to communicate the advantages to both patients and staff, leadership will establish strategies for
rolling out changes at organization in order to implement a successful care. It will likely require
significant investments to train staff, hire consultants and make physical modifications to the
facility. Through the outside funding, senior leaders are typically responsible for identifying
resources that are needed to develop a trauma-informed care as stated by Hanson and Lang,
(2016).
According to Edwards, (2017) the consumers often have mental health issues and abuse
problems due to which they face trauma. Consumers that are fighting with trauma have been
provided with trauma informed practice which is a sort of mental health care service. It helped
them to know their struggle, history, means of survival and copying of what promotes healing,
better than anyone else. In order to examine the effects of trauma-informed practice in
consumers, there is a need to produce self-awareness among them.
By enforcing this practice, the capacity of consumers can be built by providing them with
pre-training sessions. This practice will also balance consumer’s representation by having more
than one consumer serve a committee. They need to be involving consumers in the treatment
process. An active role in decision making and voice is requiring in their own treatment
planning. The consumers are actively involved in their care in trauma-informed approach and
their feedback gives a way to a care plan as per Classen and Clark, (2017).Various principles of
trauma-informed care are as follows-:
Safety
People who serve in the organization such as staff must feel physically and mentally safe.
Trustworthiness and transparency
The operations and decisions of organization are conducted with transparency and with
an objective of building and holding trust among staff, clients and family members of those
receiving services (Levenson, Willis and Prescott, 2016).
Peer support and mutual self-help
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These are essential to the organization and service delivery approach can be considered
as an institute for building trust, establishing safety and empowerment.
Collaboration and mutuality
From direct care staff to administrators, there is true partnering and levelling of power
differences between staff and clients as well as among organizational staff. There is
acknowledgement that healing happens in relationships and in the meaningful sharing of power
and decision-making. The organization realizes that everyone has a role to play in a trauma-
informed approach. To be therapeutic, one does not have to be a therapist.
Empowerment, voice, and choice
Individuals' strengths are identified, built on and validated within organization and
among the clients served. In any organization, new talent plays an important role. The staff's,
clients' and family members' experience of choice need to be strengthened by the organization
and identify that every person's experience is different and requires an individualapproach. To
heal and promote recovery from trauma, a belief is required in resilience and in the ability of
individuals, organizations and communities (Moore, 2016). Rather than responding to perceived
deficits, it builds on what clients, staff and communities have to offer.
Cultural, historical and gender problems
In order to recognize and address historical trauma, the organization actively moves past
cultural stereotypes and biases (e.g., based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, geography)
and provides gender responsive services as well as leverages the healing value of traditional
cultural connections (Williamson and Kautz, 2016).
For an instance, in order to implement trauma-informed care at Ramsay mental health
care, Australia, various initiative and administrative policies need to be involved at system level.
In order to change the system, one needs to identify government policy. The HR department at
this health care needs to enforce rapid recruitment and retention of employees with educational
backgrounds. The development of trauma-informed service system requires support funding
models and needs models and services that promise trauma treatment. Only those service models
need to be supported that provide trauma awareness in the health care. In workforce, there is also
a need to incorporate trauma awareness and operational practice. The various students from
universities and accredited colleges need to offer curriculum that will guide them to work with
trauma survivors (Sullivan, Murray and Ake III, 2016).
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“Allies” refers to one whose main objective is to develop and evaluate trauma particular
services for women with alcohol or drug usage and mental disorders histories. The goals reduces
the use of alcohol, drugs of women and symptoms of trauma related. There was a need to
collaborate across disciplines for the well-being of their mutual clients. The training and
leadership needed to be meaningfully supported by consumers. Thus various sessions of training
were given to nurses in the hospitals in order to treat these women. The environment also plays
an important role for traumatic patients. So, maintaining a safe environment will be beneficial for
the patients. The physical environment that can be maintained according to patient’s care by
keeping the areas such as parking lots, bathrooms and exits well lit (Levenson, Willis and
Prescott, 2016). At waiting room or other crowded areas, noise levels need to be low. The social
factors can also be made safe for the care of patients by welcoming them and by making sure
that they feel respected and supported.
This approach has changed the nursing mental health practice in order to provide better
services and care to the patients. By using this approach at various mental health care
departments have proven beneficial for both patients and organizations. As it has changed the
entire concept of treatment towards the patients. To elevate the risks for physical and behavioural
health issues, prevention activities are focused. In medical, nursing, social work and other
fellowship programs, trauma training is considered as a standard practice (Moore, 2016).
However, on the other side, in order to meet the needs of patients, there is a lack of
understanding about the most effective way to standardize the approach. So, in order to achieve
consensus around standardized measures, investments in research and evaluation are important to
support the establishment of effective approaches.
CONCLUSION
By summing up the above essay, it can be concluded that emerging the best practices in
trauma informed care can be beneficial for patients who have experienced trauma. In order to
implement this practice, there is a need for organizational change so as to improve the health
results, patient’s involvement and reducing unnecessary use of resources. This approach has had
an effect on mental health care services at policy level and consumers. At policy level, as nurses
are important for patients, so, proper training has been given to them regarding trauma-informed
care in order to provide better care to the patients. Consumers on the other side can themselves
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be involved in this approach. Various principles can be taken into practice such as safety and
collaboration in order to examine the change in organization.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Carter, P., 2016. Trauma Informed Pathways to the Five Domains of Wellbeing.
Classen, C. C. and Clark, C. S., 2017. Trauma-informed care.
Edwards, J., 2017. Trauma-informed care in the creative arts therapies.
Hanson, R. F. and Lang, J., 2016. A critical look at trauma-informed care among agencies and
systems serving maltreated youth and their families. Child maltreatment. 21(2). pp.95-
100.
Havens, J. F. and Marr, M., 2017. Trauma-Informed Care in Inpatient and Residential Settings.
In Evidence-Based Treatments for Trauma Related Disorders in Children and
Adolescents (pp. 427-443). Springer International Publishing.
Isobel, S. and Edwards, C., 2017. Using trauma informed care as a nursing model of care in an
acute inpatient mental health unit: A practice development process. International journal
of mental health nursing. 26(1). pp.88-94.
Levenson, J. S., Willis, G. M. and Prescott, D. S., 2016. Adverse childhood experiences in the
lives of male sex offenders: Implications for trauma-informed care. Sexual Abuse. 28(4).
pp.340-359.
Moore, R., 2016. Women, family violence and homelessness: Trauma-informed care as a
standard, not a speciality. Parity. 29(4). p.57.
Sullivan, K. M., Murray, K. J. and Ake III, G. S., 2016. Trauma-informed care for children in the
child welfare system: an initial evaluation of a trauma-informed parenting workshop.
Child maltreatment. 21(2). pp.147-155.
Williamson, L. F. and Kautz, D. D., 2016. Trauma‐Informed Care Is the Best Clinical Practice in
Rehabilitation Nursing. Rehabilitation Nursing.
Online
Trauma Informed Care Australia. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/trauma-informed-care-child-family-welfare-
services/what-trauma-informed-care/>. [Accessed on 30th August 2017].
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