Application of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to Facilitate Delivery of Trauma-Informed HIV Care

Background: The high prevalence of trauma and its negative impact on health among people living with HIV underscore the need for adopting trauma-informed care (TIC), an evidence-based approach to address trauma and its physical and mental sequelae. However, virtually nothing is known about factors internal and external to the clinical environment that might influence adoption of TIC in HIV primary care clinics. Methods: We conducted a pre-implementation assessment consisting of in-depth interviews with 23 providers, staff, and administrators at a large urban HIV care center serving an un-/under-insured population in the southern United States. We used the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to guide qualitative coding to ascertain factors related to TIC adoption. Results: Inner setting factors perceived as impacting TIC adoption within HIV primary care included relative priority, compatibility, available resources, access to knowledge and information (ie, training), and networks and communications. Relevant outer setting factors included patient needs/resources and cosmopolitanism (ie, connections to external organizations). Overall, the HIV care center exhibited high priority and compatibility for TIC adoption but displayed a need for system strengthening with regard to available resources, training, communications, cosmopolitanism, and patient needs/ resources. Conclusions: Through identification of CFIR inner and outer setting factors that might influence adoption of TIC within an HIV primary care clinic, our findings begin to fill key knowledge gaps in understanding barriers and facilitators for adopting TIC in HIV primary care settings and highlight implementation strategies that could employed to support successful TIC implementation.