Trauma- and Violence-Informed Public Health Practice: Language Matters

Name: Trauma- and Violence-Informed Public Health Practice: Language Matters
Start: 2023-05-10T09:30:00-04:00
End: 2023-05-10T10:30:00-04:00

This is an archive of a past event.

Promoting equity in health and health care means targeting care improvements to people most structurally disadvantaged – by poverty, racism and other forms of discrimination and stigma. This requires trauma- and violence-informed (TVI) approaches because people who are structurally disadvantaged experience high levels of violence and trauma, and requires culturally safe approaches because racism and trauma are intertwined. As racism is often coupled with substance use stigma and violence with heavy substance use, TVIC, Cultural Safety and efforts to reduce substance use stigma are necessary to promoting equity. How health care providers approach people, including what they say and how (both verbally, non-verbally and on forms and signs) can increase peoples’ comfort and confidence with healthcare, reduce stigma and enhance care experiences for both providers and those they serve. This session will focus on shifts in language and practice that can powerfully improve care, and the organizational conditions that can support equity.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

Identify 3 strategies to promote TVIC to try out in their own practice
Identify one tool they will explore to use in practice or share with a colleague
Commit to one action toward more effective organizational support for TVIC and equity

Presenter(s)

Dr. Colleen Varcoe, RN, PhD is a professor Emeritus in the University of British Columbia School of Nursing. Her clinical background is in Emergency and Critical Care. Her work aims to decrease inequity and violence including interpersonal and structural forms of violence such as racism and stigma related to poverty and substance use. Her research includes studies of the risks for and health effects of violence and promoting health for women who experience violence, especially Indigenous women, and promoting equity-oriented healthcare at the organizational level.

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