Doyle
SCRANTON — The Wright Center for Community Health was recognized with a state award for employees’ research about how properly identifying and addressing trauma in patients can lead to more effective support by community health workers (CHWs) and other care team members.
Nicole Sekelsky, director of needs-responsive outreach, engagement, and enrollment; Kathleen Doyle, director of patient-centered services; and Kari Machelli, associate vice president of integrated primary health services, presented their work at the third annual Pennsylvania Community Health Worker Conference at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center in State College. The conference was hosted by the Eastcentral and Northcentral Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center (PA AHEC). Sekelsky and Doyle accepted the EPIC Award, which stands for Emphatic, Powerful, Intelligent, and Courageous, for a poster on the research.
Using their knowledge of local resources, CHWs help people meet various basic needs, including housing, utility bills, nutritious foods, clothing, insurance, transportation to and from medical appointments, and more. The employment of CHWs across the United States is projected to grow by 12% between 2021 and 2031 – much faster than the average for other occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Many of the people served by community health workers have experienced trauma many times over,” said Sekelsky, an employee at The Wright Center since 2022. “Properly identifying and addressing trauma is a struggle The Wright Center recognizes. We want to find solutions so we can better help patients.”
Ensuring patients complete trauma screening and assessment tools, including the Adverse Childhood Experiences Test, commonly known as ACEs, and the Trauma Screening Questionnaire, commonly called the TSQ, can help CHWs and other members of the patient care team be aware of a patient’s trauma and be better equipped to respond.
Sekelsky said The Wright Center’s work to implement the Sanctuary model, which acknowledges the impact of trauma on individuals, organizations, and systems delivering services in a manner that avoids re-traumatization while addressing underlying traumas that prevent progress, has also helped CHWs and other care team members gain a better understanding of the effects trauma can have and how to improve responses to it.
Based on the project’s findings, The Wright Center will emphasize training for all CHWs, front desk staff, and medical assistants to improve recognition of and response to signs of trauma in patients. Eventually, such training will be offered to all employees who treat patients.
“Community health workers who have a deeper understanding of trauma and how to recognize signs of it in patients will be able to support patient needs more effectively,” Sekelsky said.
For more information about The Wright Center for Community Health and the whole-person primary health services it offers in Northeast Pennsylvania, go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-230-0019.
