The Four R’s of Trauma-Informed Care

In the United States, 61 percent of men and 51 percent of women report exposure to at least one lifetime traumatic event. Nursing homes are required by regulation F699: 483.25(m) to provide trauma-informed care to trauma survivors.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration describes trauma-informed care with four R’s:

• Realization
• Recognize
• Respond
• Resist

Realization means that all people at all levels of the organization or system have a basic awareness about trauma and understand how trauma can affect families, groups, organizations, and communities as well as individuals

Recognize means people in the organization or system are also able to identify the signs of trauma.

Respond means the facility responds by applying the principles of a trauma-informed approach to all areas of functioning. All staff change their language, behavior, and policies to consider how traumatic experiences of residents.

Resist means the organization seeks to resist re-traumatization from unintentionally interfering with the recovery of clients, the well-being of staff, and the fulfillment of the organizational mission.

Is your facility delivering trauma-informed care? If you are looking for more information on trauma-informed care, SSD Online Training offers an Introduction to Trauma-Informed Care for Nursing Home Staff.