Adequacy of Inquiry About, Documentation of, and Treatment of Trauma and Adversities: A Study of Mental Health Professionals in England

This study aimed to ascertain how often staff in community mental health services in England ask about adverse experiences, how often those experiences are known about and documented by staff, and how staff respond when such experiences are known about and documented. The files of 400 people were reviewed. Only 13% of clinical records contained documentation of any adverse experiences. 1% showed clear evidence that clients had been asked about adversities. People with psychosis diagnoses were less likely to have adverse experiences documented in their file. Rates of responses to adversities that staff did became aware of were high, with 90% of records indicating some appropriate support following disclosure. Future research endeavours are recommended. Recommendations are made in relation to policy change, staff training and guidelines to improve routine enquiry about adversities. Ultimately, a move to ‘trauma-informed’ services, already underway in some areas, is required for all mental health services.

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Community Mental Health Journal. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-021-00916-4