Care When It Counts: Establishing Trauma-Sensitive Care as a Preventative Approach for 0–3-Year-Old Children Suffering from Trauma and Chronic Stress
Adverse childhood experiences are an important societal concern. Children aged 0–3 are particularly vulnerable to unpredictable chronic stress due to the critical period for brain development and attachment. Trauma-sensitive care is a preventative approach to reduce the burden of stressful experienc...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Children |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/6/1035 |
| _version_ | 1797595489084899328 |
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| author | Serafine Dierickx Laura Malisse Elisa Bisagno Alessia Cadamuro Sarah Van Haeken Dorien Wuyts Zane Linde-Ozola Annija Kandãte Dorottya Morva Monika Rozsa Andrea Gruber Johanna M. C. Blom Laura Giovanna De Fazio Dima Bou Mosleh Dóra Varga-Sabján Anne Groenen |
| author_facet | Serafine Dierickx Laura Malisse Elisa Bisagno Alessia Cadamuro Sarah Van Haeken Dorien Wuyts Zane Linde-Ozola Annija Kandãte Dorottya Morva Monika Rozsa Andrea Gruber Johanna M. C. Blom Laura Giovanna De Fazio Dima Bou Mosleh Dóra Varga-Sabján Anne Groenen |
| author_sort | Serafine Dierickx |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Adverse childhood experiences are an important societal concern. Children aged 0–3 are particularly vulnerable to unpredictable chronic stress due to the critical period for brain development and attachment. Trauma-sensitive care is a preventative approach to reduce the burden of stressful experiences by committing to positive relationships. Professional caregivers are ideally placed to offer trauma-sensitive care; however, earlier research reveals that the tools they need to consciously apply trauma-sensitive care principles are missing. The current study organized living labs (co-creative research method) to present trauma-sensitive care as a preventative approach aimed at children aged 0–3. Two living labs were organized in Belgium and Hungary, where professional caregivers collaborated to create a protocol that offers guidelines on how to implement trauma-sensitive care. The resulting protocol included a theoretical foundation on trauma as well as a translation of these guidelines into practical recommendations. The protocol was evaluated by incorporating it into a training intervention delivered to 100 professional caregivers from childcare organizations across four European countries. The protocol received positive feedback from participants, with results indicating a self-reported increase in knowledge, attitude and practice of trauma-sensitive care principles. We conclude that this trauma-sensitive care protocol is a promising answer to the needs of professional caregivers working with children aged 0–3. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:37:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c7fc1f4615d0408a8a9cf3e150880b94 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:37:15Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Children |
| spelling | doaj.art-c7fc1f4615d0408a8a9cf3e150880b942023-11-18T09:50:40ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672023-06-01106103510.3390/children10061035Care When It Counts: Establishing Trauma-Sensitive Care as a Preventative Approach for 0–3-Year-Old Children Suffering from Trauma and Chronic StressSerafine Dierickx0Laura Malisse1Elisa Bisagno2Alessia Cadamuro3Sarah Van Haeken4Dorien Wuyts5Zane Linde-Ozola6Annija Kandãte7Dorottya Morva8Monika Rozsa9Andrea Gruber10Johanna M. C. Blom11Laura Giovanna De Fazio12Dima Bou Mosleh13Dóra Varga-Sabján14Anne Groenen15Expertise Centre Resilient People, University Colleges Leuven-Limburg (UCLL), 3000 Leuven, BelgiumExpertise Centre Resilient People, University Colleges Leuven-Limburg (UCLL), 3000 Leuven, BelgiumDepartment of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41121 Modena, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41121 Modena, ItalyExpertise Centre Resilient People, University Colleges Leuven-Limburg (UCLL), 3000 Leuven, BelgiumExpertise Centre Resilient People, University Colleges Leuven-Limburg (UCLL), 3000 Leuven, BelgiumDepartment of Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Latvia, LV-1586 Riga, LatviaCenter Dardedze, LV-1002 Riga, LatviaPressley Ridge Hungary Foundation, 1142 Budapest, HungaryPressley Ridge Hungary Foundation, 1142 Budapest, HungaryPressley Ridge Hungary Foundation, 1142 Budapest, HungaryDepartment of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41121 Modena, ItalyCentre for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41121 Modena, ItalyExpertise Centre Resilient People, University Colleges Leuven-Limburg (UCLL), 3000 Leuven, BelgiumPressley Ridge Hungary Foundation, 1142 Budapest, HungaryExpertise Centre Resilient People, University Colleges Leuven-Limburg (UCLL), 3000 Leuven, BelgiumAdverse childhood experiences are an important societal concern. Children aged 0–3 are particularly vulnerable to unpredictable chronic stress due to the critical period for brain development and attachment. Trauma-sensitive care is a preventative approach to reduce the burden of stressful experiences by committing to positive relationships. Professional caregivers are ideally placed to offer trauma-sensitive care; however, earlier research reveals that the tools they need to consciously apply trauma-sensitive care principles are missing. The current study organized living labs (co-creative research method) to present trauma-sensitive care as a preventative approach aimed at children aged 0–3. Two living labs were organized in Belgium and Hungary, where professional caregivers collaborated to create a protocol that offers guidelines on how to implement trauma-sensitive care. The resulting protocol included a theoretical foundation on trauma as well as a translation of these guidelines into practical recommendations. The protocol was evaluated by incorporating it into a training intervention delivered to 100 professional caregivers from childcare organizations across four European countries. The protocol received positive feedback from participants, with results indicating a self-reported increase in knowledge, attitude and practice of trauma-sensitive care principles. We conclude that this trauma-sensitive care protocol is a promising answer to the needs of professional caregivers working with children aged 0–3.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/6/1035trauma-sensitive caretraumachronic stresschildrenprofessional caregivers |
| spellingShingle | Serafine Dierickx Laura Malisse Elisa Bisagno Alessia Cadamuro Sarah Van Haeken Dorien Wuyts Zane Linde-Ozola Annija Kandãte Dorottya Morva Monika Rozsa Andrea Gruber Johanna M. C. Blom Laura Giovanna De Fazio Dima Bou Mosleh Dóra Varga-Sabján Anne Groenen Care When It Counts: Establishing Trauma-Sensitive Care as a Preventative Approach for 0–3-Year-Old Children Suffering from Trauma and Chronic Stress Children trauma-sensitive care trauma chronic stress children professional caregivers |
| title | Care When It Counts: Establishing Trauma-Sensitive Care as a Preventative Approach for 0–3-Year-Old Children Suffering from Trauma and Chronic Stress |
| title_full | Care When It Counts: Establishing Trauma-Sensitive Care as a Preventative Approach for 0–3-Year-Old Children Suffering from Trauma and Chronic Stress |
| title_fullStr | Care When It Counts: Establishing Trauma-Sensitive Care as a Preventative Approach for 0–3-Year-Old Children Suffering from Trauma and Chronic Stress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Care When It Counts: Establishing Trauma-Sensitive Care as a Preventative Approach for 0–3-Year-Old Children Suffering from Trauma and Chronic Stress |
| title_short | Care When It Counts: Establishing Trauma-Sensitive Care as a Preventative Approach for 0–3-Year-Old Children Suffering from Trauma and Chronic Stress |
| title_sort | care when it counts establishing trauma sensitive care as a preventative approach for 0 3 year old children suffering from trauma and chronic stress |
| topic | trauma-sensitive care trauma chronic stress children professional caregivers |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/6/1035 |
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