Creating a trauma informed intellectual disability workforce in Ayrshire and Arran

Abstract

The Scottish Government has pledged to make the entire Scottish Workforce ‘trauma informed’ and is working in collaboration with NHS Education Scotland (NES) to support the implementation of this vision.With initial funding from NES and subsequent funding support from the Ayrshire & Arran Health and Social Care Partnerships’ Mental Health Innovation Fund, training has been developed and delivered at the trauma informed, trauma skilled and trauma enhanced practice levels (NES, 2019) across Ayrshire and Arran. The training has been created for staff working within services for people with intellectual disabilities.This article describes the process, feedback, challenges and succession plans for creating a trauma informed intellectual disability workforce across Ayrshire and Arran.The Scottish Government wants to make sure that everyone knows how to help people who have experienced psychological trauma.We know that people with an Intellectual Disability are more likely to have had traumatic experiences, such as physical, emotional or sexual abuse, during their lives.NHS Ayrshire and Arran have created and delivered training packages about how best to support people with an Intellectual Disability who have experienced trauma in their livesStaff in services for people with an Intellectual Disability have been given this training. Everyone who has attended has been very positive about it. We hope that more people working across Scotland will be trained in the same way as staff in Ayrshire.