Residential care worker perceptions on the implementation of trauma-informed practice

Christopher Vamvakos and Emily Berger

Children and Youth Services Review, 2024, vol. 159, issue C

Abstract: Young people in residential out-of-home care are one of the most traumatised, vulnerable, and disadvantaged groups in the Australian community. Residential care workers are trained in trauma-informed practice, to provide quality care to young people in residential care through a trauma-informed lens. However, limited research exists on perceptions of residential care workers on the implementation of trauma-informed practice in the Australian context, and whether it is sufficient to support young people in residential care. This qualitative study used interpretative phenomenological analysis to better understand worker perceptions and experiences when implementing trauma-informed practice in residential care, and explore any perceived barriers or recommendations to implementation in this context. Seven participants were recruited and interviewed. The results demonstrated that workers apply some elements of trauma-informed practice into everyday practice, such as self-awareness, providing a safe environment, and giving the young person choice and control. However, participants perceived that they lacked the training to support positive behaviour changes and engaging young people with trauma to develop adaptive skills to become more independent. It was also found that participants rarely referenced or identified their own trauma-informed actions and aligned these principles to practical aspects of their role, even when incidental trauma-informed approaches were being used. Understanding the experiences of residential care workers provides insight into the functional day-to-day delivery of trauma-informed practice, demonstrating which aspects are translatable, and which areas workers may benefit from further training to improve practical and contextualised application.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740924000859
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:159:y:2024:i:c:s0190740924000859

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107513

Access Statistics for this article

Children and Youth Services Review is currently edited by Duncan Lindsey

More articles in Children and Youth Services Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().