Adaptation and Implementation of a Trauma-Informed Approach in a Community Organisation Serving Young Mothers: A Mixed-Methods Case Study

Community organisations can play a key role in supporting trauma-impacted young mothers. Trauma-informed care (TIC) can be vital to support service providers in their work with trauma-impacted young mothers and can improve the well-being of all actors within an organisation. This mixed-methods case study used a collaborative approach to implement TIC within a small community organisation supporting young mothers. It assessed the impact of several TIC implementation strategies (e.g., educational videos, workshops) on service providers' well-being and attitudes towards TIC (n = 15), and explored their experiences (qualitative interviews; n = 6) during TIC implementation. Educational videos were associated with changes in the service providers' attitudes towards TIC. An increase in burnout was also observed throughout the TIC implementation that unfortunately occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, informants agreed that TIC influenced the way the organisation conceptualises trauma, but some disagreement remained on the extent of its impact on practice. Reported barriers (e.g., staff turnover, pandemic) helped contextualise the findings. TIC is a promising approach for small community organisations, and several strategies can help facilitate its implementation. However, organisational and contextual challenges were identified, highlighting the need to collaboratively devise a clear and structured plan to maximise TIC implementation efforts.