Trauma Informed Care Principles and Practices in Adult Mental Health Research: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Background: Experiences of trauma are highly prevalent among service users accessing mental health services (Mauritz et al., 2023). In response to this, Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) approaches have been implemented across UK mental health provision, seeking to acknowledge and respond to the potential impact of trauma on service users and healthcare professionals and reducing risk of re-traumatisation (Sweeney et al., 2016). As researchers within NHS mental health care, we conduct studies with these same service users and frequently ask participants questions on sensitive topics relating to their lived experiences. At present, there are no standardised guidelines for integrating trauma-informed practices into research delivery. A small number of research studies have explored how these approaches are equally important in research and consequently propose frameworks detailing how trauma-informed principles might be considered in relation to research processes (Edelman, 2023).

Aim: We conducted a scoping review to explore existing trauma-informed practices, policies, frameworks and procedures in adult mental health research.

Methods: Informed by the evidence base, we evaluated our R&D practices, policies and procedures.

Results: With input from PPI groups, we created trauma-informed resources: a reasonable adjustments document in paper and video format to give to all potential participants and a second video to explain what it’s like to be involved in research.

Conclusion: Further work should be done to expand on trauma-informed research frameworks and embed them more widely into research design and practice"