Trauma-informed care training for staff supporting people with an intellectual disability: a scoping review

People with an intellectual disability are disproportionately affected by trauma, yet care services often lack appropriately adapted trauma-informed approaches. This scoping review mapped existing evidence on key elements of trauma-informed care (TIC) training for staff supporting people with an intellectual disability and summarised how such training could be designed, implemented and subsequently evaluated including gaps for future research. A systematic search identified 12 empirical studies related to TIC within intellectual disability services. Using a narrative analysis, five broad categories were mapped out as important elements for trauma-informed care training: Generic awareness of trauma-informed care; Adapted trauma-informed content for people with an intellectual disability including individualised content; Integrating TIC within a wider treatment context; Supporting direct care staff within a trauma-informed context; and Barriers to training and transfer to practice. Collectively, these categories illustrate how TIC training has been conceptualised within current research and highlight areas where evidence remains limited, particularly regarding evaluation of outcomes. This review provides an overview of the scope, nature and gaps of existing literature and identifies priorities for future research to inform the development and implementation of trauma-informed training in intellectual disability services.