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Trauma-Informed Screening and Intervention for Trauma, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Resilience in the Pediatric
1David Geffen School of Medicine, at University of California Los Angeles; Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA.
Insights
Screening for trauma and adverse childhood experiences in hospitalized children is feasible and identifies adversity linked to poor outcomes. This approach can help mobilize resources to build resilience in young patients.
Area of Science:
- Medical Settings
- Pediatric Health
- Trauma-Informed Care
Background:
- Trauma-informed care is foundational for screening and intervention.
- Pediatric subpopulations have pioneered trauma screening in hospitals.
- Screening during hospitalization reveals high adversity levels correlating with poorer outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the feasibility and impact of screening all pediatric patients for trauma and adverse childhood experiences.
- To support patient resilience by mobilizing multidisciplinary hospital resources.
- To buffer the effects of adversity in children admitted to medical/surgical units.
Main Methods:
- Screening for trauma and adverse childhood experiences.
- Assessing patient and caregiver adversity.
- Correlating adversity with health outcomes.
- Mobilizing multidisciplinary resources.
Main Results:
- Screening for trauma and adverse childhood experiences in hospitalized children is feasible.
- High levels of adversity were uncovered in patients and caregivers.
- Adversity correlates with poorer health outcomes.
- Further study is needed to implement universal screening.
Conclusions:
- Universal screening for trauma and adverse childhood experiences in pediatric medical/surgical units is warranted.
- Screening can identify patients needing support to build resilience.
- Efficient mobilization of hospital resources can buffer adversity's impact on children.
Abstract:
Built on the foundation of trauma-informed care, screening and intervention for trauma, adverse childhood experiences, and resilience in the inpatient medical setting is a burgeoning field that has predominantly been pioneered in pediatric subpopulations. Several studies have shown that screening during medical hospitalization is feasible and uncovers high levels of adversity in patients and caregivers that correlate to poorer outcomes. Further study is needed for screening all-comers in pediatric medical/surgical units admitted for any reason, with the goal of supporting patients' resilience factors by efficiently mobilizing desired multidisciplinary resources in the hospital to buffer their adversity.
