Trauma Informed Care Training: A Theory-Driven Qualitative Evaluation and Recommendations for Improvement

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Social Work

Background:

• Trauma-informed care (TIC) is promoted for services to address trauma's impact.
• Professional understanding and implementation of TIC remain unclear.
• A TIC training provider sought to enhance training for professionals working with children and adolescents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore professionals' understanding of TIC post-training.
• To identify barriers and facilitators to TIC implementation.
• To gather recommendations for improving TIC training.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with nine professionals from health, social, and education sectors.
• Analysis guided by the COM-B (capabilities, opportunities, motivation, behavior) model of behavior change.
• Explored participants' perceptions, experiences, and suggestions.

Main Results:

• Participants demonstrated understanding of TIC aligned with guidelines, with some variations in conceptualizing trauma and responsibility.
• Perceptions influenced facilitators and barriers to TIC implementation.
• Barriers included a need for systemic change (e.g., shared language, resources) and training improvements (e.g., clearer roles, hands-on practice, supervisor training).

Conclusions:

• Findings contribute to the evidence base on TIC understanding and implementation.
• Training improvements are needed to address both individual capabilities and systemic opportunities/motivation.
• Enhanced TIC training can improve professional practice with children and adolescents.