NHS Staff Perspectives of Trauma-Informed Approaches in AMH Settings
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An exploration of NHS staff perspectives on the implementation of trauma-informed approaches in a Community Adult Mental Health context: A constructivist grounded theory study
IRAS ID
346384
Contact name
Michaela Swales
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Bangor University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
The increasing recognition of the prevalence and impact of psychological trauma (Magruder et al., 2017) has led to the development of trauma-informed care approaches (Harris & Fallot, 2001), which have garnered significant attention in recent years. There have been efforts to introduce these trauma-informed approaches in various settings, ranging from small-scale to nationwide projects (Greenwald et al., 2012; NHS Education for Scotland, 2017). There’s also been increasing interest in integrating trauma-informed perspectives in Wales (ACE Hub Wales, 2022).
Introducing new perspectives in organisations can bring both new opportunities and challenges. Research indicates that staff perspectives, in particular, play an important role in the success of implementation efforts; neglecting to consider staff perspectives in the process can lead to negative outcomes for both the implementation project and the staff involved (Thirkle et al., 2021). Therefore, it is essential to consider staff views early in the implementation process when introducing trauma-informed approaches, which this study aims to contribute to. Specifically, it will explore what tensions staff may experience during this implementation process (Biss et al., 2022) and how they make sense of and respond to them.
The study will recruit NHS staff who currently work in Adult Mental Health (AMH) Services in Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs) across Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) who are aware of trauma-informed approaches and would like to share their views about them. Between 6 and 20 NHS employees will be invited to share their views in semi-structured interviews using a constructivist grounded theory approach. An explanatory model of local staff perspectives will be created as a result of this research project, which will conclude in July 2025. It is hoped that insights gained through this proposed study can be disseminated to local stakeholders and inform future implementation of trauma-informed policies in North Wales.
REC name
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REC reference
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