Pathways to Recovery
Pathways to recovery from trauma will, likewise, align with the pathways of impact. Trauma-informed care provides pathways for healing for nursing home residents by building trust, fostering meaningful relationships, and meeting needs through best practices. This section includes a selection of promising and best practices.
Improve body-brain regulation by offering predictable schedules and routines.
Trauma survivors can feel that unpredictability causes distress and disrupts their lives. Routines and schedules can help alleviate some of this discomfort. Provide continuity among care providers, especially when the relationship between resident and care provider is healthy and positive.
Train all staff in some basic, well-established practices for helping residents to self-soothe.
These tactics may include slow, deep breathing, or spending time outdoors. Singing, dancing, and physical exercise are also activities that engage the rest and digest response and help to regulate the flight-flight-freeze response.
Ensure physical and emotional safety and avoid restraints.
Trauma survivors often feel that their sense of safety and control over their bodies have been taken away. Emphasizing bodily autonomy helps to promote self-esteem and address some of the unmet needs resulting from trauma’s impact.
Acknowledge resident strengths.
Make decisions in partnership with residents. Trauma survivors may carry a deep sense of shame, guilt, and helplessness. Supportive care that draws on positive outlooks can help promote well-being and restore positive social connection.
Consider the full story of who the resident was, is, and can be.
Invite Interdisciplinary Team members to reflect on each resident's life story. Imagine the cultural and environmental symbols that have nurtured and sustained residents such as food, music, surroundings, language, and worship. Find ways to bring these symbols and connections into your community.