Advancing Clinical Decision Making Through Trauma-Informed Care in Pediatric Hearing Health Care

Abstract

Purpose: Adverse childhood experiences affect early brain development and future health outcomes. The principles of trauma-informed care (TIC) incorporate safety, screening, understanding context, avoiding retraumatization, and discharge planning to provide optimal care for patients and families. Secondary traumatic stress is the trauma providers' experience when serving patients and families who have experienced trauma. The purpose of this article is to examine the impact of trauma, investigate the principles of TIC, and identify the ways to implement it in hearing health care. Conclusions: Providers working with children and families who have experienced trauma should be trained to provide a trauma-informed approach and learn the signs, symptoms, and risks of secondary traumatic stress. To improve the quality of care for children with hearing loss who have experienced trauma, their adverse experiences must be considered with trauma-informed techniques incorporated into the hearing health care model of care.