Having identified the areas of need and strength, document the trauma-informed care improvement plan for your service.
You and your working group will be able to use the results of your analysis to develop a trauma-informed care improvement plan.
This plan may include:
- documenting actions required to improve trauma-informed care
- documenting the people responsible for specific activities
- time frames for activities.
Considerations
- The service’s trauma-informed care aligns with the Trauma-informed Care in Mental Health Services Across NSW – A Framework for Change (PDF 622.4 KB).
- Professional development. Do staff have access to relevant trauma-informed care professional development and training? Do staff have time allocated to professional development.
- Measures for ongoing improvement in trauma-informed care. Is the trauma-informed care self-assessment conducted regularly? Are the results of trauma-informed care self-assessment reviewed regularly? Are outcomes and measures monitored?
- Partnerships and opportunities to share learnings and knowledge. Are trauma-informed care plannings reviewed regularly in partnership with mental health teams? Are there opportunities for teams and staff to provide shared trauma-informed care learnings and knowledge?
- Trauma-informed care documentation, register of information and education provision, ongoing improvement plans. Are these accessible to staff?
Talk to your staff and employees about the self-assessment results and determine strategies to highlight strengths and address areas of need.
For example, if a high proportion of staff answer 'no' to questions in ‘Priority area 5 – Enhance education and training for staff’, this could indicate several areas of need, including:
- staff feel they do not have the knowledge, skills and/or capabilities required to incorporate trauma-informed care practices into their everyday work
- staff are unaware of available trauma-informed care resources, such as the My Health Learning module ‘Implementing Trauma Informed Care’
- staff require additional supports in developing trauma-informed care skills and capabilities
- stronger emphasis is required to highlight the importance of education and training for staff.
You may need to:
- develop a training and education program and timeline for staff and employees
- promote training opportunities for staff and encourage information sharing
- include trauma-informed care training in staff performance reviews
- ensure trauma-informed care resources are accessible to staff and that they are aware of these resources
- encourage trauma-informed care champions to promote training and follow-up with staff when required
- encourage staff to join the trauma-informed care community of practice.