Trauma-Informed Care Toolkit

College of Health Professions

Resources

hands making window showing mountains

Becoming a nursing facility focused on healing and thriving is a journey that begins with person-centered, trauma-informed care practices and continues every day. Creativity, curiosity, and positive engagement with all community members are important qualities to nurture along the way. The resources in this section offer additional ideas as you build your vision for flourishing.

Resident Civic and Political Engagement

Often, experiences of individual and collective trauma result from injustices. Remedying, or addressing injustice and inequity, can be powerful actions that promote meaning-making and healing. Likewise, civic engagement contributes to the emotional and physical well-being of older adults (Anderson & Dabelko-Schoeny, 2010). Nursing facility social work staff play many roles in their communities; designing resident civic engagement opportunities is one way social workers can support residents' social identity and meaning making.

Trauma-Informed Design

Safety is a hallmark principle of trauma-informed care. Trauma-informed design envisions physical spaces that promote serenity and well-being. Spaces designed with these principles prioritize positive self-identity, neurally rich sensory experiences, reduced stressors, choice, and connection to the natural world.

Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Connecting residents with one another, their communities, and their cultures are key to healing and recovery.

Spirituality and Spiritual Care

Spiritual care for residents and workforce extends beyond the important roles of offering worship services and providing comfort in times of suffering and crisis. Spiritual care also seeks to connect humans deeply with one another, their purpose and aspirations, and to support meaning making and thriving.

Nature and the Environment

Animal therapy, such as therapy dogs or equine-assisted learning, offer sensory stimulation, connection, and neural enrichment. Green therapy is also a growing field of support for nursing home residents, people with autism, dementia, and mental health conditions. Viewed through the lens of healing and recovery, time spent engaging with nature can support body-brain regulation, meaning making, and positive connection with others.