Person-Centered, Trauma-Informed Care Lab
Dedicated to advancing person-centered, trauma-informed (PCTI) care through research, education, and service.
Mission
The PCTI lab is grounded in the understanding that trauma—including ageism, systemic inequities, and personal life events—shapes the human experience across the lifespan. Therefore, person-centered, trauma-informed approaches require an understanding and appreciation of the aging process and how
For elders and family members and aging services staff, who build community together, trauma-informed care can build bridges toward trust so that safe, purposeful, and creative living can be shaped and supported. aging is influenced by adversity and resilience at the individual, community, and societal levels. In everyday times, trauma-informed care offers a way and means of connecting with and understanding each other more deeply. In trying times of scarcity and loss, of certain crisis and uncertain future, person-centered, trauma-informed care provides a set of pliable, reliable skills by to find healing and growth after suffering. Trauma-informed approaches are as necessary as hand hygiene, as essential to health and safety as universal precautions, offering a framework to prevent and protect from harm, when possible, and opening pathways for healing and recovery for elders, loved ones, volunteers, and staff.
The trauma-informed movement is a rising force for organizational change and community health and wellness – an approach that is only recently being integrated within aging services. Over the last decade, the federal government has issued important policy directives requiring aging services and long-term care providers to incorporate person-centered, trauma-informed practices. Taken together, these guidelines constitute important administrative and legislative policymaking from the Administration for Community Living (2018), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2016), and the United States Congress via the Supporting Older Americans Act (2020 Reauthorization).
Our work uplifts positive social connection and narrative approaches as essential to healing and recovery. By centering the lived experiences of older adults and their loved ones and care professionals, we seek to replace ageism as a barrier to well-being with elderhood as a process of meaning-making. The Lab promotes care practices that are trauma-informed and healing-centered.
The PCTIC Lab collaborates with the Ageism and Elderhood and Abuse in Later Life Labs, as well as local, state, and national partners. In partnership, we aim to expand the reach and impact of PCTI approaches and to build a future where aging is valued as a time of resilience, growth, and connection. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, community partnerships, and innovative research, we hope to integrate PCTI principles into policy, practice, and education—ensuring that all people, regardless of age, can live with safety, autonomy, connection, and purpose.
News and Media
New Trauma-Informed Toolkit First Specifically for Nursing Homes
Fostering a Culture of Safety and Belonging, Voices in Leadership Leading Age Virginia
The Trauma-Informed Care Toolkit has launched! Check out our resource for nursing homes: Click Here
Trauma-Informed Care and Nursing Homes, Aging for All
Projects
Nursing Home Quality Improvement Initiative, Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services
Person-Centered, Trauma-Informed Care Training for Adult Protective Services, Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services
Social Health Connector Analysis, Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services
Elder Justice Shelter Initiative, Administration for Community Living
Home and Community-Based Services Capacity Building, The Span Center:
- Poetry on the River: Supporting Caregivers in Non-Demanding Environments
- Home is Everything Oral Housing Histories with Centenarians
- Strength, Courage, & Wisdom: Growing Our Capacity to Serve Elders Conference
- Six Dimensions of Health Access
- Outcomes Evaluation
- Ageism Train the Trainer
Trauma-Informed Care Culture Change, Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services
Trauma-Informed Nursing Facility Workforce, Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services
People
Morgan Carr
Publications and Presentations
Yousef, C.C., Farooq, A., Amateau, G., Abu Esba, L.C., Burnett, K., & Alyas, O.M. (2024). The effect of job and personal demands and resources on healthcare worker’s wellbeing: A cross-sectional study. PLoS One.
Gendron, T., Camp, A., Amateau, G., & Iwanaga, K. (2024). Internalized ageism as a risk factor for suicidal ideation in later life. Aging & Mental Health, 28(4), 701–705. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2023.2271870
Amateau, G., Gendron, T.L., Rhodes, A. (2022). Stress, strength, and respect: Viewing direct care staff experiences through a trauma-informed lens. Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics Education.
Amateau G., Gendron, T., & Rhodes, A., (2021) Direct Care Worker Wellness and Trauma Informed Care Practices [Paper Presentation]. Presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Southern Gerontological Society, April 2021.
Amateau, G. & Gendron, T.L., Trauma and Resilience for Agencies Serving Older Adults, [Arizona Adult Protective Services Conference] June, 2021
Amateau, G., & Rhodes, A. (2021, April 20-23). Trauma and Resilience Across the Lifespan [Paper presentation]. Southern Gerontological Society 2021 Conference.
Amateau, G. & Gendron, T.L., Trauma and Resilience for Agencies Serving Older Adults, [Montana Health Care Association] March, 2021.
Keynote, Social Connection and Well-Being. [Virginia Department of Social Services Winter Conference] February, 2020
Amateau, G. & Gendron, T.L., Trauma and Resilience for Agencies Serving Older Adults, [Northwest region Long Term Care Association] August, 2019
For more information contact:
Gigi Amateau, PhD
Assistant Professor
Director, Person-Centered, Trauma-Informed Care Lab
We welcome new partnerships and student engagement with this important work!