‘Beyond the pandemic: Strategic priorities for responding to childhood trauma’, is a new briefing by the UK Trauma Council (UKTC) which identifies three ways in which the COVID-19 public health emergency is impacting on the experience of childhood trauma:

• It increases the risk that more children will be exposed to trauma, including through sudden bereavement[i] or exposure to domestic violence;[ii]
• It increases the likelihood that those with prior experiences of trauma (for example, because of abuse) will experience significant difficulties; and
• It compromises the ability of adults and professional systems to identify a struggling child and mitigate the impact of trauma, including mental health problems.

The briefing makes four key recommendations:

1. Prioritise responding to trauma in national and local strategies;
2. Invest in specialist trauma provision for children and young people;
3. Equip all professionals who work with children and young people with the skills and capacity to support children who have experienced trauma; and
4. Shift models of help towards prevention, through research, clinical innovation and training.

 

Read the briefing