{"id":2275,"date":"2017-07-28T15:35:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T19:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/med.sites.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/"},"modified":"2018-03-06T14:00:08","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T19:00:08","slug":"trauma-informed-care","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Trauma Informed Care"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- portlet_header --><\/p>\n<p><!-- portlet_above --><\/p>\n<p><!-- description --><\/p>\n<h2>Medical Care and Trauma<\/h2>\n<p>When screening for abuse, it is important to remember that regardless of the patient&#8217;s presentation or other factors that may be at play, the person in front of you may have a long history of trauma or could be experiencing their first traumatic event. How we respond and react to a patient can make all the difference and set them on a path of empowerment or a path of silence. How the patient believes you perceive them can ultimately effect their adherence to medical treatment and could have the potential to help or harm them.<\/p>\n<p>Medical care can replicate trauma and it&#8217;s important to know in what ways this occurs. So here are some thoughts to have in the forefront of your mind when working with a patient who discloses abuse or any other type of traumatic incident:<\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>The power dynamics of the patient\/medical provider relationship<\/li>\n<li>Personal questions that may be embarrassing or distressing<\/li>\n<li>Loss of privacy<\/li>\n<li>Physical touch in intimate areas<\/li>\n<li>Feelings of pain<\/li>\n<li>Removal of clothing<\/li>\n<li>Vulnerable physical position<\/li>\n<li>Feeling a lack of control over the situation<\/li>\n<li>Gender of healthcare provider<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div>Being aware of these issues and the difficulty that may be involved for some patient&#8217;s when receiving medical care will greatly increase your ability to connect with your patient and provide excellent care.<\/div>\n<h2>Signs of Acute Trauma-Related Distress<\/h2>\n<p>Here are some signs to look for in a patient who may be experiencing acute trauma-related distress due to medical exams\/medical care:<\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Is highly anxious, agitated, or \u201cjumpy\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Appears tearful during exams, with no obvious cause<\/li>\n<li>Physically withdraws, or becomes very quiet or \u201cfrozen\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Has difficulty concentrating, is very distractible, or seems disoriented<\/li>\n<li>Minimizes symptoms that might require an intrusive exam<\/li>\n<li>Cancels appointments or refuses needed care<\/li>\n<li>Exhibits strong emotional reactions to relatively benign interactions (eg., crying, panic, irritability, anger)<\/li>\n<li>Experiences flashbacks or dissociates during appointments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div>If you have a patient who is experiencing any of these symptoms, it&#8217;s important to stop and assess the needs of the patient at that moment. Here are some tips on how to help minimize these symptoms:<\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Ask the patient if they would like to take a break<\/li>\n<li>Ask if they would like a safe family member or friend to be present<\/li>\n<li>Prepare the patient ahead of time for the exam by telling them exactly what you are going to do before you do it<\/li>\n<li>While performing exams tell the patient what you are doing step by step<\/li>\n<li>Ask for permission to touch the patient and check in during exam to make sure they are still okay with you touching them<\/li>\n<li>Be present and attentive<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Importance of Trauma-Informed Care<\/h2>\n<div>Attention to underlying trauma-related issues can help:<\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Facilitate a stronger and more effective working relationship<\/li>\n<li>Foster better patient-provider communication<\/li>\n<li>Streamline patient-provider interactions<\/li>\n<li>Improve patients\u2019 adherence to and benefit from medical care<\/li>\n<li>In other words, increasing your knowledge of trauma can improve your ability to address your patients\u2019 precise health care needs<\/li>\n<li>Understanding more about the impact of trauma can also help providers maintain their empathy when faced with challenging survivor reactions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Strategies for Providing Trauma-Informed Care<\/h2>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Everyone who interacts with patients should be educated about trauma<\/li>\n<li>Regularly screen for a trauma history<\/li>\n<li>Communicate a sensitivity to trauma-related concerns<\/li>\n<li>Create a safe and comfortable environment<\/li>\n<li>Thoughtfully deliver services in a trauma informed manner<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Help is Here<\/h2>\n<p>If you have any questions or concerns about a patient or need support or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at <strong>984-974-0470<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Medical Care and Trauma When screening for abuse, it is important to remember that regardless of the patient&#8217;s presentation or other factors that may be at play, the person in front of you may have a long history of trauma or could be experiencing their first traumatic event. How we respond and react to a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Trauma Informed Care\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80868,"featured_media":0,"parent":2239,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-2275","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trauma Informed Care | UNC Hospital&#039;s Beacon Program<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trauma Informed Care | UNC Hospital&#039;s Beacon Program\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Medical Care and Trauma When screening for abuse, it is important to remember that regardless of the patient&#8217;s presentation or other factors that may be at play, the person in front of you may have a long history of trauma or could be experiencing their first traumatic event. How we respond and react to a &hellip; Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UNC Hospital&#039;s Beacon Program\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-06T19:00:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/\",\"name\":\"Trauma Informed Care | UNC Hospital&#039;s Beacon Program\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-28T19:35:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-06T19:00:08+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Resources for Providers\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Trauma Informed Care\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/\",\"name\":\"UNC Hospital's Beacon Program\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trauma Informed Care | UNC Hospital&#039;s Beacon Program","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trauma Informed Care | UNC Hospital&#039;s Beacon Program","og_description":"Medical Care and Trauma When screening for abuse, it is important to remember that regardless of the patient&#8217;s presentation or other factors that may be at play, the person in front of you may have a long history of trauma or could be experiencing their first traumatic event. How we respond and react to a &hellip; Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/","og_site_name":"UNC Hospital&#039;s Beacon Program","article_modified_time":"2018-03-06T19:00:08+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/","name":"Trauma Informed Care | UNC Hospital&#039;s Beacon Program","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-07-28T19:35:00+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-06T19:00:08+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/trauma-informed-care\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Resources for Providers","item":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/resources-for-providers\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Trauma Informed Care"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/","name":"UNC Hospital's Beacon Program","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links_to":[],"_links_to_target":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80868"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2275\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}