Abstract
Background: Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a person-centred approach that acknowledges the enormous impact that adverse childhood experiences have on health, and follows the principles of safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, and empowerment in healthcare. To promote equitable health and wellness, one of the goals of the Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Ontario Health Team (FLA OHT) is to deliver TIC to everyone in the FLA region. To work towards this goal, the FLA OHT has partnered with Kingston Community Health Centres (KCHC) and Teach Resilience (TR), a community initiative focused on TIC training, to begin developing an education strategy to enhance TIC knowledge in primary care across the FLA region. Through this partnership, an initial TIC training session was held in Spring 2024. This abstract will present the participant evaluation of this session.
Approach: Through discussions between FLA OHT, KCHC, and TR in November 2023, a shared goal of TIC education in primary care was identified and a plan was mobilized to create and host an initial TIC continuing professional development event (CPD) together based on years of KCHC client care and feedback. This TIC CPD was held in Spring 2024 in Kingston, Ontario at the North Kingston site of KCHC. The session was accredited by Queen’s University, sponsored by the FLA OHT and the Ontario Medical Association, and was led by KCHC physicians (co-authors MR, RP) and Teach Resilience (co-author RR). Online evaluation forms assessed TIC knowledge before and after the TIC CPD session. Participants were asked to rate their agreement with understanding TIC principles, with Likert scale scores ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
Results: Forty-eight primary and community care team members attended the TIC CPD session representing at least 6 primary care practices across the FLA region. Thirty-seven people completed the pre-session evaluation and 29 people completed the post-session evaluation. Of these participants, 90% agreed that the session enhanced their knowledge of TIC. Average self-reported participant TIC knowledge increased significantly from 3.3±0.85 (out of 5) to 4.3±0.77 (p<0.001), representing a 30% increase in knowledge. Participant ideas for TIC incorporation into their practice included giving people more choice, thinking more holistically and empathetically, and having a greater understanding for people’s reactions and behaviours in healthcare environments. Two people gave feedback on potential changes to the course content including increased consideration for Indigenous identities and people living in larger bodies. Several clinicians from rural regions indicated that they were interested in the training, but needed the session to be hosted closer to their communities to improve accessibility.
Implications: The TIC CPD session significantly improved knowledge of TIC among primary and community care team members, building participant motivation to create care environments that are more people-centred, holistic, and empathetic. Participant feedback will be incorporated into the planning of future sessions including hosting sessions rurally. Next steps include continuing the partnership between FLA OHT, KCHC, and TR to develop a regional TIC primary care training strategy to improve TIC knowledge and practice in primary care practices across the FLA region.