Trauma is a pervasive human experience, yet 
trauma-informed care (TIC) is a skill that 
is underutilized in health care organiza?tions.Traumatic events are those associated with 
actual or threatened risk of serious injury, death, 
or sexual violence that are experienced directly, 
indirectly (by witnessing them), or vicariously 
(through the experiences of a close friend or loved 
one).1
 Such events affect people of all ages, eth?nicities, religions, vocations, socioeconomic back?grounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities 
throughout the world when there is war, disaster, 
social upheaval, family dysfunction, adverse child?hood events, or chaos.1, 2
Responses to traumatic events vary widely, as they 
are influenced by a person's sociocultural history, a 
person's interpretation of the events, the meaning a 
person ascribes to the events, and the associated 
physical and psychological effects of the events.2, 3
Although the stress that follows traumatic events 
affects each person differently, it often produces last?ing emotional, mental, physical, social, or spiritual 
upheaval, altering the person's ability to function.2
 
THE ENDURING EFFECTS OF TRAUMATIC STRESS 
Over the past 20 years, biomedical research has 
shown that a wide range of chronic diseases, poor 
mental health outcomes, early deaths, and trans?ABSTRACT: Over the past 30 years, researchers have found that childhood trauma and its subsequent 
stress have a strong and cumulative effect on health in adulthood.Trauma in childhood often leads to 
mental health problems, skeletal fractures, and early death from conditions such as heart disease, cancer, 
lung disease, and liver disease.