New Manual Equips Healthcare Providers To Treat Trauma Holistically Across Diverse Populations

PHOENIX, Aug. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- After relocating from New York to Arizona ten years ago to serve women in the Native American / Alaska Native community as a healthcare professional, Luana Rodriguez encountered startling health disparities and a healthcare system unable to adequately address patient needs. Brave women shared stories of violence and trauma, often inflicted by those responsible for their care. Poverty and substance abuse led to coercion into sex trafficking, even by one's family members. Rape, abuse, and other atrocities routinely went unreported due to stigma and fear of exposure. And those who did seek care often found themselves isolated or re-traumatized in the process, making them unlikely to return.

Rather than cursing the many challenges, Rodriguez discovered an opportunity for frontline clinicians to take the lead in providing a more holistic approach to care. A social justice activist with a heart for systemic change, Rodriguez sought effective resources, interventions and training. As a result of her study and the successful application of her findings in clinical interactions, she has written a workbook for the frontline healthcare workforce called Orenda Dawn: A Transformative Approach in the Healthcare of Diverse Groups Affected by Trauma.

"Despite the good intentions of most providers, a lack of trauma awareness and cultural competence leads to care that fails to meet patient needs that are critical for true healing to occur," says Rodriguez. "Learning about culture gives clinicians a better understanding of how to connect with the survivors and appreciate the events of their trauma while supporting recovery, resilience, and empowerment. Further, patients benefit when providers understand and examine the meaning of their own identities and biases when considering the effects of trauma, and in planning healing strategies for the survivors."

Rather than prescriptive lists of do's and don'ts for interacting with patients from various cultural backgrounds, the author offers clinicians practical tools for discovering a patient's unique, culturally-influenced needs that would otherwise go unspoken and unmet. Uncovering such critical information enables more holistic and effective care.

At less than 120 pages, 'Orenda Dawn' can be read and digested in a single sitting. It serves as a reference, a tool for self-study, and even a ready-made curriculum for presentation and implementation within an organization.

The book draws heavily from the findings of research journals and scientific literature, yet remains accessible and applicable to even a lay audience. Anyone who may encounter culturally diverse persons and individuals exposed to trauma will find useful applications. Appendices provide tools and worksheets for both providers and patients and includes a helpful glossary of terms.

"Improved and equitable healthcare will evolve only when service providers understand trauma, recognize the survivors' perspective of their adverse experience in the context of culture, and begin to strategize collaboratively to address the acute and chronic health sequelae of violence," says Rodriguez.

"Only then, can we be certain that we are taking the right path to contribute to the healing, empowerment, and resilience of survivors."

Orenda Dawn: A Transformative Approach in the Healthcare of Diverse Groups Affected by Trauma is published in eBook format by eBookIt.com and is now available from popular online retailers, including Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and Apple's iBookstore.

About Luana Rodriguez
Luana Rodriguez is a Certified Nurse-Midwife and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner with over three decades of experience in both the public and private sector, now affiliated with the Indian Health Service in Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Rodriguez is actively engaged in culturally competent practices to implement trauma-informed care in supporting strength-based resilience in the survivors of domestic and sexual violence. As a social justice activist, she has a special interest in women's health and social issues, and is an active member in the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Consortium at Phoenix Children's Hospital, the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (ACESDV), and the LGBTQ consortium.

In addition, Dr. Rodriguez holds a certification as a Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) to educate healthcare practitioners and to support culturally guided mental health services for the survivors of trauma and their families. In light of the current evidence on the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Study, the neurobiology of sexual abuse and epigenetics, the intergenerational sequelae of trauma, the author feels strongly about supporting frontline clinicians to take the lead in providing a more holistic approach to care. Considering culture, its effect on short and long-term health and its principles are of utmost importance and should always be used as a guide for translation into clinical practice.

About eBookIt.com
Since 2010, eBookIt.com (based in Sudbury, Massachusetts) has helped thousands of authors and publishers get their books converted to ebook format, and distributed to all the major ebook retailers, including Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Apple iBookstore, Kobo, Scribd, Ingram Digital, and Google eBookstore.

SOURCE eBookIt.com