Facilitators and Barriers in the Implementation of Trauma-Informed Approaches in Schools: A Scoping Review

The impact of trauma on the development and educational performance of school children and the benefits of trauma-informed practices have become more evident to both scientists and educators. Creating an effective and sustainable trauma-informed approach in schools, however, proves to be a challenging, time-consuming and complex process. This scoping review examined facilitators and barriers in the implementation of school-wide trauma-informed approaches and school-based trauma-specific interventions by carrying out a thematic analysis and framework synthesis based on 57 sources. The NIRN implementation drivers framework was used to guide the discussion of the findings. Five main themes were established: professional development (competency driver), implementation planning (organizational driver), leadership support, engaging stakeholders (leadership driver) and buy-in. A synthesis of these five themes helps guide the implementation process of trauma-informed approaches in schools. Findings of this review stress the need for identification and concrete operationalization of key elements and activities of trauma-informed educational approaches. Related to this, more empirical research is needed on how and to what extent implementation factors affect implementation success and effectiveness of trauma-informed educational approaches, taking into account implementation fidelity.