“We went as a team closer to the truth”: impacts of interprofessional education on trauma- and violence- informed care for staff in primary care settings

ABSTRACT

Building on trauma-informed care (TIC), Trauma and Violence-Informed Care (TVIC) aims to minimize re-traumatization for people who have previously experienced violence, support people currently experiencing violence and draw attention to structural violence. Previous research has not explored how health care providers understand TVIC nor studied either TIC or TVIC in primary health care (PHC). This analysis of the perspectives of fourteen PHC staff regarding the impacts of interprofessional TVIC education sessions was conducted as part of a larger study of an intervention to promote equity in PHC. Researchers drew on general clinic observations and observations of TVIC training sessions and analyzed in-depth interviews with PHC staff who took part in TVIC training, using an interpretive description approach. While the impacts varied, all participants described enhancements in their knowledge, awareness and/or confidence in providing care related to trauma and violence. Factors intrinsic to the process of educating staff, including providing staff with data on trauma and violence in the patient population, and supporting interprofessional discussions, influenced how participants understood, integrated, and prioritized TVIC. Importantly, structural, organizational, and personal contexts significantly influenced how participants enacted TVIC in practice. This study contributes knowledge about interprofessional TVIC education and how diverse professionals understand and enact TVIC concepts in PHC, pointing to the role of TVIC in challenging the biomedical paradigm in PHC and the difficulties of using a structural lens in clinical practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Qualitative method
• Interprofessional education
• Trauma Informed Care
• Structural Violence
• Equity
• Primary Health Care

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Notes on contributors

Sarah Levine

Sarah Levine, MSN, BSN, RN, Nurse Educator, Overdose Emergency Response, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority; Nurse Educator, Indigenous Wellness Team, First Nations Health Authority.

Colleen Varcoe

Colleen Varcoe, PhD, MSN, MEd, BSN, RN, Professor, University of British Columbia School of Nursing.

Annette J. Browne

Annette J. Browne, Professor and Distinguished University Scholar, University of British Columbia School of Nursing.