Giving Trauma Survivors a Voice: Initial Steps of Validating a Trauma-Informed Care Patient-Perception Instrument

Background and Purpose: Health care providers treating trauma survivors must be skilled in trauma-informed care (TIC) to maximize healing and avoid retraumatization. Few valid and reliable instruments are available to measure patient perceptions of TIC received in health care settings. The purpose of this project was to refine the TIC Patient-Perception Instrument in English and Spanish and to initiate the process of instrument validation to create a rigorous scale for use with Hispanic trauma survivors of interpersonal violence living on the U.S.-Mexico border. Methods: A methodological research design was used to establish content validity. TIC content experts completed Phase 1, Step 1 of the instrument development process. They reviewed and revised the TIC Patient-Perception Instrument to ensure that items representing the six core values of the TIC conceptual framework were included. In Phase 1, Step 2, a sample of Hispanic trauma survivors evaluated the instrument's items to ensure clarity, relevance, and alignment with TIC core values. Results: Trauma survivor participants provided feedback on the Spanish (N = 6) and English (N = 9) items. Item ratings ranged from 3.71 to 4.00 on a Likert-scale assessment, indicating moderate to very clear ratings of clarity, relevance, and the representation of TIC core values. Implications for Practice: A TIC Patient-Perception instrument that measures trauma survivors' perceptions through the lens of the six core values of TIC enables tailoring of culturally and linguistically competent TIC. It empowers health care providers to maximize TIC delivery to support the recovery of survivors of interpersonal violence across diverse populations.