Implementation of Trauma-Informed Care into Clinical HIV Prevention and Care Settings: A Decade of Limited Progress

Trauma is common among people living with or at risk for HIV and associated with increased HIV risk and worse HIV care outcomes. Trauma-informed care (TIC) may improve clinical interactions and support care engagement yet may be difficult to implement as a multi-component organizational intervention. We aimed to identify research on implementation of TIC in HIV prevention and treatment settings and assess barriers and facilitators to implementation.

We identified 13 peer-reviewed articles implementing trauma-informed HIV prevention or treatment in clinical settings. Barriers and facilitators to implementation were identified across all five Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research 2.0 domains, with most falling in inner and outer setting domains. We identified consistently influential system-level factors to enable deployment of targeted implementation strategies for TIC integration. Suggested strategies include training, capacity building, technical assistance, and workflow integration strategies that reduce resource strain.