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Trauma-Informed Care: Helping the Healthcare Team Thrive

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Trauma-Informed Healthcare Approaches

Abstract

Many individuals have experienced trauma, which can adversely impact health. Healthcare professionals may have experienced trauma at home or at work or secondary (vicarious) trauma. These experiences of trauma can contribute to compassion fatigue and ultimately to the epidemic of burnout among healthcare professionals. In order to provide trauma-informed care and best serve patients, healthcare professionals must recognize and respond to their own experiences of trauma. There are evidence-based strategies grounded in neurobiology that can mitigate the adverse effects of trauma and foster resilience for both health professionals and our patients, many of which center on mindfulness and positive psychology. Assessment of “wellness” on the individual and institutional levels is valuable when designing and implementing change. Healthcare professionals can use a number of trauma-informed strategies to support personal, organizational, and patient wellness and resilience, in turn, leading to healing-centered engagement and higher quality care for our patients and greater well-being for ourselves.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Jessica Barnhill

  2. Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Joslyn W. Fisher

  3. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Karen Kimel-Scott

  4. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Beacon Child and Family Program, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Amy Weil

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  1. Jessica Barnhill
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  2. Joslyn W. Fisher
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  3. Karen Kimel-Scott
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  4. Amy Weil
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amy Weil .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA

    Megan R. Gerber

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Barnhill, J., Fisher, J.W., Kimel-Scott, K., Weil, A. (2019). Trauma-Informed Care: Helping the Healthcare Team Thrive. In: Gerber, M. (eds) Trauma-Informed Healthcare Approaches. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04342-1_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04342-1_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-04341-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-04342-1

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