Trauma can be anything that overwhelms a person’s capacity to cope. While a common experience, people can respond to trauma in different ways. Trauma-informed care (TIC) recognizes the prevalence and effects of trauma and values creating environments and relationships that are built on five principles: safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, and empowerment.
At IWK Health, your experiences matter to us. We want our patients, families, and staff to feel safe and supported at every point of care. Becoming more trauma-aware and responsive is an ongoing journey as we learn from those we serve and take action to create change. Rooted in evidence, we are always evolving our environments, policies, and practices.
The Trauma Informed Care team is committed to:
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Normalizing trauma through increased awareness and clear communication
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Creating a culture where everyone feels physically, psychologically, culturally and intersectionally safer and supported in their environments and interactions with IWK Health
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Building skills with clinicians and staff through education, training, and direct consultation
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Supporting staff to do their job well while staying well with strategies and resources to improve wellness and address burnout, vicarious/indirect trauma, and compassion fatigue/empathic strain
Your ideas are encouraged.
If you have thoughts and ideas surrounding creating safe and supportive environments at IWK Health, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to our team at experiencesmatter@iwk.nshealth.ca.
Are you a helping professional? We’re here to support you.
To access our lens tool, environmental checklist and other helpful resources, visit yourexperiencesmatter.com.