{"id":13421,"date":"2022-10-07T08:38:44","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T06:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medri.uniri.hr\/?page_id=13421"},"modified":"2023-04-28T08:44:21","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T06:44:21","slug":"trauma-informed-practice-for-workers-in-public-service-settings","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/medri.uniri.hr\/en\/projects\/trauma-informed-practice-for-workers-in-public-service-settings\/","title":{"rendered":"Trauma-Informed Practice for Workers in Public Service Settings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Funding: European Commission
Project duration: 2021\u20132023
Total funding: EUR 225,555.00 <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

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PROJECT CONSORTIUM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project consortium consists of a multidisciplinary team that includes legal, social and medical and research organisations, experts in teaching and media literacy and a professional institution for ICT communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coordinator:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN, Leuven Institute of Criminology, Belgium<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partners:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONNEXIONS, Information Communication Technologies for Education and Social Impact, Greece<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INSTITUTO POLIT\u00c9CNICO DO PORTO, Escuela Superior de Sa\u00fade, Portugal<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INTEGRA, Institut Za Razvoj Clovekovih Potencialov Velenje (Institute for Development of Human Potentials), Slovenia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

QUALED, Ob\u010dianske zdru\u017eenie pre kvalifik\u00e1ciu a vzdel\u00e1vanie (QUALification and EDucation), Slovakia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNIRI, Sveu\u010diliste u Rijeci, Medicinski fakultet (University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine), Croatia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WIN, Wissenschaftsinitiative Nieder\u00f6sterreich (Science Initiative Lower Austria), Austria<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Project manager:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Assoc. Prof. Marina Letica Crepulja, MD, PhD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associates:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Tanja Fran\u010di\u0161kovi\u0107 , MD, PhD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asst. Prof. Aleksandra Stevanovi\u0107, MA, PhD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Project description <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The project will build upon the successful Erasmus+ project \u201cPost-traumatic Integration \u2013 Low-level Psychosocial Support and Intervention for Refugees\u201d. This project had been met with great interest and received the distinction as a best practice project. During their dissemination activities, several partners had been asked if the project could be extended to serve as support for various professionals who are in their work in contact with clients or people who suffer from post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) but do not have professional training. The number of persons in Europe suffering from PTSS is likely to increase in the years to come. Migration from war-torn countries will continue, and the current Covid-19 pandemic has not just negative physical but also negative mental health consequences because of psychotraumatisation. People who suffered from serious COVID-19 illness and potential death; family members and healthcare workers who have witnessed others\u2019 suffering and death; those who have learned about the death or risk of death of a family member or friend due to the virus or those who have experienced extreme exposure to aversive details (volunteers, social workers, journalists etc.). In other words, increased numbers of people have been exposed to COVID-19-related traumatic events and represent a group exposed to the specific traumatic experience in need of adequate recognition and response to their trauma on all levels. Based on a thorough needs analysis, we found that especially in the public sector many professions are confronted in their work with clients who have PTSS: labour office advisers, social benefit workers, housing department officers, lawyers, debt counsellors, just to name a few. All these professionals have their specific professional experience but no medical or psychiatric training on how to deal with a person who suffers from PTSS. Consequently, they frequently misjudge their clients because they are likely to interpret their behaviour as selfish, inappropriate, or arrogant. The trauma-informed approach recognizes the presence of trauma symptoms and acknowledges the role that trauma has played in an individual\u2019s life and requires a change in paradigm from one that asks, \u2018What\u2019s wrong with you?\u2019 to one that asks, \u2018What has happened to you?\u2019\u201d Implementing trauma-informed counselling would help service professionals, who are medical and psychiatric non-professionals, to recognize, understand and appropriately respond to the effects of trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The general objective of this project is to raise awareness about the occurrence of PTSS and to equip professionals working in the public sector with skills that can help them to identify PTSS among their clients, to promote their inclusion, to reduce barriers linked to discrimination and, as a consequence, to improve their respective service or counselling work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To achieve these objectives, the specific objectives are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n