A patient-oriented research approach to assessing patients’ and primary care physicians’ opinions on trauma-informed care

OBJECTIVE: To gather patients’ and primary care physicians’ (PCP) opinions on trauma-informed Care (TIC) and to investigate the acceptability of recommendations developed by patient, family, and physician advisors. DESIGN: Cross-sectional research survey design and patient engagement. SETTING: Canada, 2017 to 2019. PARTICIPANTS: English-speaking adults and licensed PCPs residing in Canada. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants were given a series of questionnaires including a list of physician actions and a list of recommendations consistent with TIC. RESULTS: Patients and PCPs viewed TIC as important. Both patients and PCPs rated the following recommendations as helpful and likely to positively impact patient care: physician training, online trauma resource centres, information pamphlets, the ability to extend appointment times, and clinical pathways for responding to trauma. PCPs’ responses were significantly more positive than patients’ responses. CONCLUSION: TIC is important to patients and PCPs. Patients and PCPs believe changes to physician training, patient engagement, and systemic factors would be helpful and likely to positively impact patient care. Future research needs to be conducted to investigate whether these recommendations improve patient care.