In the medical field, there is the concept of universal precautions. Universal precautions were created to prevent the exposure of healthcare workers to diseases. This includes viruses, bacteria, or anything else harmful (for example, HIV, hepatitis B). Healthcare workers take these precautions with all patients. They aren't used only when there is suspicion of infection.
A familiar example would be medical gloves. Healthcare workers and others exposed to blood, such as athletic trainers, use gloves. The CDC encourages all who may come into contact with blood or other bodily fluids to wear gloves.
Note that if you go to have blood taken, there’s no invasive conversation or disclosure required. No healthcare person asks you, “Do you have a disease I need to worry about? Should I put on these gloves?” They just put on gloves when interacting with anyone. It’s a preventative action to keep healthcare workers safe and the patients safe. Medical gloves are used with ALL patients to protect ALL parties.
Universal design precautions?
I propose we develop a similar concept in trauma-informed design research.
We can’t predict who might have a strong emotional response to our questions and how they might react. Trauma responses can be triggered by thoughts, images, music, smells, and other things. Some of these things are out of our control. But are there universal precautions we can take for items that are often problematic for people? We need to do this so we don’t harm anyone inadvertently.
To apply in many situations, we would use research to develop trauma-informed universal precautions. We would want to avoid speculation or anecdotal evidence. Research is better than guessing.
To develop any precautions, first, we could look at related research in other fields. The social work, medical, and psychology fields could offer us direction. But we also need to conduct our own research as well to fill in gaps, particularly around tech and design.
Universal precautions in trauma-informed design research might include things like:
Having a care provider present or on-call during all research sessions. This is helpful if trauma response occur in a research participant. It could be a therapist or someone trained in support for those with traumatic backgrounds.
Making sure that our research participant never has their back to the door. Some trauma survivors have said they always prefer to face the door to avoid any surprises.
Debriefing with teammates and/or a care provider after research sessions. This helps process information to avoid vicarious trauma or secondary traumatic stress. These are potential impacts of indirect exposure to the difficult and disturbing stories of others.
These are just a few ideas that designers have started to use that I know about. It's excited that more and more people working in tech want to be more trauma-informed.
We need MORE research!
We may discover from conducting research, that there aren’t many truly universal precautions. Perhaps there is a lot of variance between cultures, demographics, or psychographics. Different precautions to offer trauma-informed care for various groups may be needed.
Also, keep in mind that trauma-informed care needs to be intersectional. We must remember people's various identities such as race, class, gender, and more. These identities affect our exposure and experience of trauma. Historical trauma and generational trauma also need consideration.
There’s not yet much research, academic or otherwise, at the intersection of tech and trauma. Few people have been doing trauma-informed design work for a really long time. Combining design principles and activities with trauma-informed care principles is fairly new. (I could find nothing on it when I was scouring the internet and talking with others about it in 2015.) Since then, the interest in it has risen tremendously, which is excellent.
If you are interested in this area, there are lots of opportunities to contribute to our tech field. What can you add to the growing body of knowledge? Help us make tech more trauma-informed and if universal precautions are advisable.
Want to learn more?
See more resources to be more trauma-informed in your design and research.