The Louisiana Department of Health announced that it will adopt a statewide approach to preventing and addressing trauma across all child-serving agencies.
Whole Health Louisiana is the state’s first attempt at addressing childhood adversity and trauma through the integration of trauma-informed and healing-centered approaches in the state’s systems that serve children, families, and communities.
LDH will continue to foster and develop private and public sector partnerships over the next five years in hopes of implementing and sustaining the plan long-term.
Trauma-informed care is intended to help care providers aid patients in identifying their trauma and understanding the significance of trauma in their lives. Usually, those who have experienced trauma do not draw connections between their trauma histories and their present problems, or they completely avoid the topic, according to the National Institute of Health.
Collaboration, awareness, prevention and healing, and workforce are priorities for the initiative.
LDH also looked at real-world evidence from other parts of the country that showed positive results of integrating trauma-informed approaches that focus on prevention. They list everything from juvenile diversion programs that decreased arrests in Philadelphia and decreased youth suicides in Cowlitz County, WA.