Outcomes of Occupational Therapy in Trauma-Informed Care

ABSTRACT

A retrospective chart review was utilized to gather the outcomes of occupational therapy services for young children who experienced trauma. Subjects (n = 22) were between the ages of 0–5 years, had at least two adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) reported, and received treatment from an occupational therapist and, either or both, a recognized mental health provider or speech-language pathologist. Caregivers of 22 subjects completed an initial Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) with the most frequently identified problem area categories of Regulation and Developmental Skill Growth. For the 10 subjects for whom a final COPM assessment was available, caregiver perception of child performance and caregiver satisfaction improved by an average of two points. Results from three additional standardized assessments showed varying results in areas tested. Results suggested receiving occupational therapy treatment within an interprofessional team led to positive outcomes for children who experienced trauma. However, further research is needed to determine the specific and most effective means to measure the outcomes of occupational therapy interventions for this population.

KEYWORDS:

• Adverse childhood experiences
• complex trauma
• Trauma-informed care

Acknowledgments

We want to thank the partnership created by Central Clinic Behavioral Health and Cincinnati Occupational Therapy Institute that made this research possible. We would also like to thank Anna DeHondt, OTR/L, Jacqueline Fox, OTR/L, Melissa Marjak, OTR/L, Kaitlin Mullahey, OTR/L, and Ashtyn Stadler, OTR/L for their participation, as graduate students in occupational therapy at Xavier University, in data collection and initial revisions of the manuscript. Lastly, we extend our gratitude to Dr. Joanne Estes, PhD, OTR/L, Professor Emeritus, Xavier University for her thoughtful review and comment on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.