Co-design and evaluation of a youth-informed organisational tool to enhance trauma-informed practices in the UK public sector: a study protocol

Introduction A trauma-informed approach (TIA) means working with awareness that people’s histories of trauma may shape the way they engage with services, organisations or institutions. Young people with adverse childhood experiences may be at risk of retraumatisation by organisational practices in schools and universities and by employers and health agencies when they seek support. There are limited evidence-based resources to help people working in the public sector to work with adolescents in trauma-informed ways and the needs of adolescents have not been central in resource development. This study contributes to public sector capacity to work in trauma-informed ways with adolescents by codesigning and evaluating the implementation of a youth-informed organisational resource. Methods and analysis This is an Accelerated Experience-based Co-design (AEBCD) Study followed by pre–post evaluation. Public sector organisations or services, and adolescents connected with them, will collaboratively reflect on lived experience data assembled through creative arts practice, alongside data from epidemiological national data sets. These will present knowledge about the impact of adverse childhood experiences on adolescents’ mental health (stage 1). Collaboratively, priorities (touch points) for organisational responses will be identified (stage 2), and a low-burden resource will be codesigned (stage 3) and offered for implementation (stage 4) and evaluation (stage 5) in diverse settings. The study will provide insights into what adolescents and public sector organisations in the UK want from a TIA resource, the experience of services/ organisations in implementing this and recommendations for resource development and implementation. Ethics and dissemination The UK National Health Service Health Research Authority approved this study (23/WM/0105). Learning will be shared across study participants in a workshop at the end of the study. Knowledge products will include a website detailing the created resource and a youth-created film documenting the study process, the elements of the codesigned resource and experiences of implementation. Dissemination will target academic, healthcare, education, social care, third sector and local government settings via knowledge exchange events, social media, accessible briefings, conference presentations and publications.