Trauma occurs when individuals are overwhelmed by circumstances or events and counters them with extreme horror, fear, and helplessness. Excessive stress overwhelms an individual’s coping capacity. Trauma can stem from exposure to abuse, discrimination, neglect, violence, and accidents (Shalaby & Agyapong, 2020). This paper seeks to describe populations with traumatic experiences and an intervention to address the concern and discuss factors that influence health management.
Population’s Demographics and Health Concerns
According to the National Council for Behavioral Health (NCBH), 70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced a traumatic event at least once. Almost all children who observe a parental homicide or sexual assault will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Likewise, 90% of sexually abused children, 77% who school shootings, and 35% of youths exposed to community violence develop PTSD (NCBH, 2020). Trauma is associated with adverse effects on physical and mental health as well as social and occupational functioning. Physical effects include headaches, excessive sweating, palpitations, altered bowel patterns, and being easily startled. Mental impact includes fear, anxiety, depression, emotional swings, increased alcohol and drug use, and sleeping difficulties (Mikhail et al., 2018). Furthermore, individuals socially isolate themselves due and have diminished interest in activities.
Proposed Evidence-Based Intervention
The proposed intervention incorporates peer support in trauma-informed care to accelerate the recovery process. Peer support involves having persons from diverse backgrounds sharing common trauma experiences (Shalaby & Agyapong, 2020). The intervention uses peer support workers, individuals with lived trauma experiences, and who have received special training to be part of the care team. Based on their similar experiences and the shared understanding, patients may trust their peer support worker and be more willing to engage in treatment.
Incorporating peer support supports Healthy People 2020 goal of improving mental health through prevention and ensuring access to appropriate, quality mental health services. The intervention will improve the mental health outcomes of persons with trauma experiences. It will help prevent mental health issues such as anxiety, PTSD, depression, and alcohol and substance use disorders.
Comparison of the Intervention to Previous Practice or Research
Previous practice in trauma-informed care entailed using behavioral health counselors. Crisanti et al. (2019) compared cognitive behavioral therapy intervention groups guided by certified peer support workers with groups led by behavioral health counselors for trauma survivors with PTSD. At six months after baseline, persons in the peer-led sessions had a higher therapeutic alliance and stronger connection than those in the counselor-led sessions. The study shows that peer support can increase patient engagement and ultimately accelerate the recovery process.
Expected Outcome for the Intervention
Incorporating peer support is expected to increase patients’ engagement in treatment and thus accelerating their recovery. Since patients will share their trauma experiences with peer support workers who have experienced similar experiences, it will promote a shared understanding and increase patients’ trust (Shalaby & Agyapong, 2020). Peer support is expected to help patients overcome social isolation caused by trust issues by creating trust between patients and the peer workers.
Time for Implementation and Evaluation of the Outcome
The intervention will be implemented within six months. Patients will be randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group. The intervention group will be assigned to a peer support worker, while the control group will be provided the usual trauma-informed care without peer support. Evaluation will be conducted six months after the implementation of the peer support care. The recovery scores of patients in the intervention group will be compared to those of the control group to evaluate the difference in recovery and outcomes.
Synthesis of Nursing Science, Determinants of Health, and Epidemiologic, Genomic, and Genetic Data in the Management of Population Health
Nursing science is applied to support patients with trauma experiences in line with the principles of safety, respect, and trust. Nursing science is also applied in delivering patient-centered care to improve patient engagement and the quality of trauma-informed care (Fleishman et al., 2019). Social determinants such as living in under-resourced or racially segregated neighborhoods and experiencing food insec
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