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Evaluation ViewAttendees 1

System Stakeholder Issues
Symposia

Symposium 125 - Working with Community Systems That Serve Trauma Patients: Innovation in Community Engaged Research and Advocacy

Sunday, November 17, 2024
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
Location: Grand Ballroom B, Level 5, Downtown Marriott
CE: 1.5

Keywords: Trauma, Community-Based, Implementation
Level of Familiarity: Basic to moderate
Recommended Readings: Wallerstein, N., Oetzel, J. G., Sanchez-Youngman, S., Boursaw, B., Dickson, E., Kastelic, S., ... & Duran, B. (2020). Engage for equity: A long-term study of community-based participatory research and community-engaged research practices and outcomes. Health Education & Behavior, 47(3), 380-390.,   Hahn, C. K., Shapiro, M., Rheingold, A. A., Gilmore, A. K., Barber, S., Greenway, E., & Moreland, A. (2023). Perceived barriers and facilitators to treatment for alcohol misuse among survivors and victim service professionals following sexual assault and intimate partner violence. Violence and victims, 38(5), 645-663.,   Helseth, S. A., Peer, S. O., Are, F., Korell, A. M., Saunders, B. E., Schoenwald, S. K., ... & Hanson, R. F. (2020). Sustainment of trauma-focused and evidence-based practices following learning collaborative implementation. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 47, 569-580.,   ,  

There is convincing evidence that a) prevalence of exposure to potentially traumatic events among both children and adults is high; b) trauma exposure is associated with mental health difficulties; and c) while effective treatments exist, many people exposed to trauma and have mental health needs do not report using mental health services. These observations have motivated many researchers to partner with agencies serving trauma victims such as, child advocacy centers, rape crisis centers, justice/legal systems, and schools, to improve implementation of evidence-based services.

Academic-community partnerships can be challenging under any circumstances, but partnerships with agencies that serve trauma-exposed clients can be especially fraught. Agencies may mistrust researchers’ motives, may have competing priorities, and may want to protect their clients from any exploitative situations.

This symposium focuses on a group of projects that feature either community-based participatory research (CBPR) or academic-community partnerships aiming to advance the implementation of evidence-based services for trauma-exposed adults and children. First, Rancher et al. will present their CBPR with a local child advocacy center. The focus of the project is the collaborative development of an evidence-based, practical assessment protocol to identify needs of children and caregivers. Second, Soffer et al. will describe their efforts to overcome barriers to treatment engagement among trauma-exposed children in schools. Their presentation focuses on their training program to improve school staff knowledge of family barriers to treatment engagement. Third, Tilstra-Ferrell et al. describe their work to prepare for implementation of the evidence-supported Start By Believing (SBB) public awareness campaign for victims of sexual assault. Their CBPR team assessed law enforcement; victim advocacy; forensic nursing; mental health; college victim services and Title IX; legal, and military service readiness and used those data to plan for the SBB launch. Finally, Woodard and colleagues will present their findings from a community engaged research project that evaluated clinical uptake and clinician dropout from training across different evidence-based treatments for child trauma-related behavioral health problems.

Overall, these presentations provide a broad look at effective ways that academic research teams can partner with trauma-focused community agencies, assist in the development of evidence-based intervention programs, and advance our knowledge of implementation. Presentations will incorporate both qualitative and quantitative methods reflecting input from community providers, families and trauma victims, and treatment providers representing racially and ethnically diverse populations. In addition, each presentation will include the perspective of at least one of the community partner organizations that was involved in their work, presented in person or via video recording. These perspectives will add significant value to the presentation, as our audience will hear not only the academic psychologists’ views about the collaborative challenges, but also the community partner’s.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Describe 5 common barriers to collaboration between researchers and trauma-facing organizations, such as CACs and rape crisis centers.
  2. Identify three effective partnership strategies for working with agencies who serve traumatized children and families
  3. Describe two possible roles for academic psychology in assisting trauma-serving organizations to implement evidence-based services.
  4. Describe three strategies for identifying and making effective outreach to community organizations that serve trauma victims.
  5. Describe an effective process for evaluating community readiness for trauma-focused public awareness campaigns.

Presentations:

  • 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
    (SYM 125) Stakeholder Perceptions on the Implementation of a Caregiver Assessment Service at a Child Advocacy Center

    Speaker: Caitlin Rancher, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Medical University of South Carolina

    Co-author: Faraday Davies, MA (she/her/hers) – MUSC

    Co-author: Robyn Blake, MA (she/her/hers) – Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center

    Co-author: Kathy Quinones, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center

    Co-author: Daniel W. Smith, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – Medical University of South Carolina

  • 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
    (SYM 125) Effectiveness of a Workshop on Evidence-based Engagement Strategies for School-based Providers

    Speaker: Russi Soffer, Psy.D. (she/her/hers) – St. John’s University

    Co-author: Maddi Gervasio, M.A. – St. Johns University

    Co-author: Tanya Sharma, M.A. – St. John’s University

    Co-author: Elissa Brown, Ph.D. – St. John’s University, Child HELP Partnership

  • 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
    (SYM 125) Outcomes and Process of a Community Needs Assessment of Sexual Assault Investigations and Services: A Community-based Participatory Research Project to Prepare to Launch a Start by Believing Campaign

    Speaker: Emily L. Tilstra-Ferrell, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Medical University of South Carolina

    Co-author: Selime Salim, PhD – Medical University of South Carolina

    Co-author: Alex Brockdorf, M.A., – Medical University of South Carolina

    Co-author: Aurelia Sands-Belle, M.A. – Medical University of South Carolina

    Co-author: Lyn Maples, B.A. – Title IX; Charleston Southern University

    Co-author: Christine Hahn, PhD – Medical University of South Carolina

  • 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
    (SYM 125) Clinician Enrollment, Dropout, and Completion of Learning Collaborative Trainings in Child Welfare Agencies Varied Based on Evidence-based Treatment for Trauma Being Implemented

    Speaker: Grace S. Woodard, M.S. (she/her/hers) – University of Miami

    Co-author: Grace S. Woodard, M.S. (she/her/hers) – University of Miami

    Co-author: Elizabeth C. Lane, B.A. – University of Miami

    Co-author: Dominique Phillips, B.S. – University of Miami

    Co-author: Elizabeth Casline, Ph.D. – Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

    Co-author: Zabin Patel-Syed, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Northwestern University

    Co-author: Vanessa Ramirez, Psy.D. – Community Mental Health Agency

    Co-author: Amanda Jensen-Doss, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – University of Miami