Trauma-Informed Care Questions
Trauma-informed care can combat unconscious bias in medical systems by increasing empathy with patients, improving rates of providers believing patients’ experiences of pain, and driving better patient outcomes.
The five principles of trauma-informed care are:
Safety
Choice
Collaboration
Trustworthiness
Empowerment
In order to build an environment of safety where your patients have choices, you can build rapport and provide trauma-informed care by asking questions like this:
How can I make this more comfortable for you?
Would you like to bring a friend to your appointment?
Do you have any more questions for me?
What would you like to do next?
Would you like more information on the topic?
Would you like me to explain things in a different way?
Would it be helpful to write your questions down?
Can I call you later to follow up?
How can I do an even better job of serving you?
If a client shares a story of discomfort or pain, you can build trust and empower them by affirming that you’ve heard them. You can do that by saying the following phrases:
That sounds really hard
I can imagine that this might be surprising/overwhelming
I would feel that way too
I hear you
I believe you
I’m with you
I’m here if you need me
I’m sorry that happened to you
Here is a link to a pdf version of this tool, for download and use with your team.
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