P3.G129: Enhancing the Awareness of Trauma-Informed Care for Primary Care Physicians

Background: Pediatric training programs often lack formal training in Trauma-Informed Care (TIC), which are crucial skills to support families facing challenges and trauma and for promoting resilience. Puerto Rico has endured multiple traumatic events, including hurricanes, earthquakes, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a fiscal crisis, all of which directly affected children. The Puerto Rico Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (PRAAP Chapter) identified the need to educate and provide tools for Primary Care Physicians (PCPs) to promote relational care and TIC. The main goal was to enhance PCPs’ abilities to identify childhood trauma and address it by implementing TIC in their practices. A webinar introducing PCPs to TIC was developed, along with a social media campaign to raise awareness about the impact of trauma and strategies to mitigate it.

Methods: A curriculum on TIC and relational care targeted to PCPs entitled, "Mitigating the Mental and Physical Impacts of Trauma on the Children of Puerto Rico," was developed and offered to PCPs with continuing medical education credits. Webinar faculty discussed the neurobiology of trauma and child toxic stress symptoms, and provided PCPs with resources on identifying and managing trauma. The webinar was recorded and available on-demand for 2 months; participants completed a post-webinar evaluation. Three short videos targeting the general Puerto Rican population were created and published through paid ads on social media platforms to raise awareness about trauma's impact and recommend mitigation strategies for families. Social media messages were evaluated for messaging clarity by family representatives.

Results: The webinar successfully reached 144 participants, including pediatricians (54.7%), general physicians (29.2%), and others (16%, family physicians, subspecialists, child and adolescent psychiatrists, pediatric adolescent forensic gynecologists, and social workers). Participants reported increased awareness of TIC and its potential impacts; 95.6% strongly agreed that this activity increased their awareness about TIC; 98% agreed that learning about TIC will help them in their everyday practice; 83.2% stated they planned to change their practice to apply the TIC concepts learned. The social media ads reached a significant audience of 33,947, further promoting awareness of trauma's impact on children, TIC, and strategies to develop resilience.

Conclusion: The TIC training effectively reached PCPs, increasing awareness of trauma's effects on children. The vast majority of attendees reported intention to make changes in their practice as a result of training. Social media played a crucial role in disseminating information on these critical topics. Future efforts could involve incorporating relational care and TIC into pediatric training programs to ensure broader adoption.