Published July 2020

Trauma impacts the health and wellbeing of many people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Community trauma, such as a pandemic or earthquake can exacerbate people's own experiences of trauma and adversity. How we respond can help enable whānau to regulate and restore their wellbeing.

A trauma-informed approach is about understanding the pervasive nature of trauma and how it affects people’s lives. It recognises the potential of people to heal despite traumatic experiences.

“With good social support, human beings are resilient.”

Trauma-informed healthcare is a resource jointly developed by Werry Workforce Whāraurau, Te Pou and Le Va for health practitioners supporting children and whānau in primary care settings. It describes the impact of trauma on physical health and wellbeing, and people’s engagement with services. It provides guidance on how health services can become trauma-informed when supporting children and whānau.



Being trauma-informed is about creating a culture of service delivery that promotes healing and empowerment and works to avoid inadvertently re-traumatising people. A trauma-informed approach shifts our focus from what is wrong with a person, to understanding what has happened to a person and how this impacts them.

The benefits of creating trauma-informed environments include safer spaces for staff, improved clinical decision-making and building collaborative care networks to help address the needs of the whole person and whānau.

This resource includes information on further training and is part of a series of resources developed by our national centres for mental health workforce development. (From the website). Record #6819