It is also known that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have a role to play in adult behaviour patterns, and many people experiencing homelessness have experienced these.
Pathway encourages the integration of trauma informed approaches to care into inclusion health policies, procedures and practices, to prevent the replication of traumatic experiences or dynamics among clients and staff.
Rather than following a prescribed set of policies and procedures, a trauma-informed approach adheres to key principles:
- Safety – Physical settings are made as safe as possible and interpersonal interactions promote a sense of safety.
- Trustworthiness – all organisational processes are conducted with transparency and the goal of building and maintaining trust among staff, clients, and family members of clients.
- Collaboration – There is true partnering and levelling of power differences between staff and clients wherever possible.
- Empowerment – client skills and strengths are recognised, built on, and validated and built on as necessary.
- Choice – The organisation aims to strengthen the staff’s, clients’ and their family members’ experience of choice and recognise that every person’s experience is unique and requires an individualised approach.