Abstract
As evidence continues to accumulate for the association between childhood trauma and long-term adverse outcomes, Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) approaches are emerging as fundamental to contemporary mental health services. To evaluate a workshop designed to influence mental health practitioners in TIC principles and practices. Nursing, medical and allied health professionals completed pre and post measures of confidence, awareness and attitudes towards TIC practice. The workshop was rated as highly relevant and useful to clinician’s practice. Participants’ self-reported confidence, awareness and attitudes towards TIC significantly increased (p < .001) and the perceived number of barriers to working within a TIC framework significantly decreased (p < .05). Child and Adolescent Mental Health clinicians routinely screened for trauma and 80% had received training in a trauma specific intervention at follow-up. This brief training provides an important foundation for the development of trauma-informed, evidence-based mental health services.
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Acknowledgements
We wish to express our appreciation to the many clinicians who participated in the Trauma Informed Care project. We are also very grateful for the support from Mental Health, Justice Health and Alcohol & Drug Services management. We acknowledge the ACT Health Private Practice Fund for their financial support
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by the ACT Health Human Research Ethics Committee (ETH. 11.12.281).
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Palfrey, N., Reay, R.E., Aplin, V. et al. Achieving Service Change Through the Implementation of a Trauma-Informed Care Training Program Within a Mental Health Service. Community Ment Health J 55, 467–475 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-018-0272-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-018-0272-6