Introduction/Rationale: Although trauma-informed care practice is a highly recommended treatment approach in pediatric care and mental health, this approach is underutilized by occupational therapy practitioners when serving diverse clients in adult physical and/or neurological settings.
Objectives: 1. Examine occupational therapy practitioners' knowledge and use of trauma-informed care approaches with adults with physical and/or neurological conditions in various practice settings, and 2. Identify potential barriers and facilitators for implementing trauma-informed care approaches with adult clients.
Methods/Approach: Upon completing a literature review using the Ecological Systems Theory, the research group designed an exploratory, sequential mixed-methods study to investigate the nature and resources for implementing trauma-informed care. A quantitative electronic survey was randomly distributed to practitioners with 39 anonymized responses. The qualitative phase utilized a convenience sample of four participants interviewed virtually. The interview data was transcribed, analyzed, and triangulated using reflexive thematic analysis. Emerging themes were integrated with correlational findings.
Results/Practice Implications: Survey respondents reported that barriers to implementation included lack of knowledge and resources, productivity, and time. Conversely, most reported that facilitators for implementation were statistically significant for formal training and continuing education. Themes focused on clients, practitioners, and organizations were generated from the literature review, and data was collected. The emerged themes were: (a) managing negative behaviors and maladaptive responses proactively to prevent traumatization; (b) leveraging practitioner agency, fiscal resources, and organizational systems to facilitate knowledge translation; and (c) reducing barriers to address systemic issues in trauma-informed care, to facilitate cohesiveness in service delivery, and to promote standards of practice.
Conclusion/Significance to the Occupational Therapy profession: This study emphasizes the importance of education and resources to support occupational therapy practitioners using trauma-informed care strategies with adults. Further research should continue investigating implementation barriers, facilitators, and systemic factors involved in reducing client retraumatization and promoting best practices.