A scoping review of trauma-informed care in reproductive healthcare settings: implications for healthcare education, training, and practice

Philadelphia, PA

The experience of trauma is highly prevalent and results in physiological and psychological consequences. Trauma-informed care (TIC) has emerged in recent years as a patient-centered culture of care delivery that emphasizes physical and psychological safety for all in the healthcare setting. Even though the research on TIC shows positive outcomes for patients, and healthcare professionals desire more education on TIC, there are few standard curriculums at the undergraduate, postgraduate, and residency levels of healthcare education. Utilizing a TIC framework could be especially impactful in reproductive healthcare settings due to the invasiveness of certain examinations and the way trauma presents itself in these settings. We used a scoping review framework to examine the existing knowledge on TIC in reproductive healthcare settings and assess implications for healthcare provider training and education on TIC. Eligible articles were located by searching databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar, and then relevant articles were reviewed and categorized by three coders. This project summarizes the current literature on trauma-informed care, emphasizing reproductive healthcare settings. This project also identifies gaps in healthcare education that perpetuate our current shortcomings in care delivery. Implications of this project are relevant for healthcare students and faculty, practicing clinicians and healthcare providers, and patients both with or without a trauma history.