Abstract
While there has been a recent interest in trauma-informed design approaches, there is still a need for further research on its use in participatory design (PD). This paper discusses the methodology of a values-driven, trauma-informed PD project which explored how social care records could be redesigned to meet the needs and aspirations of young people (YP). Care-experienced people have often lived through traumatic experiences closely associated with their experiences of care, resulting in a lack of trust in social care professionals. While foregrounding the views of care-experienced people, this project also engaged with professionals, revealing systemic tensions which needed to be navigated through the approach. We discuss application of the trauma-informed methodology and tensions that arose. Our work demonstrates how trauma-informed values and methods can be used during participatory research where groups may have conflicting goals, and how this can enrich the design process.
Keywords
care; trauma; ethics; tension
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1031
Citation
Cummings, M., and Teal, G. (2026) “I didn’t choose to write my life”: Trauma-informed values in the design of social care records, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1031
Creative Commons License
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Included in
“I didn’t choose to write my life”: Trauma-informed values in the design of social care records
While there has been a recent interest in trauma-informed design approaches, there is still a need for further research on its use in participatory design (PD). This paper discusses the methodology of a values-driven, trauma-informed PD project which explored how social care records could be redesigned to meet the needs and aspirations of young people (YP). Care-experienced people have often lived through traumatic experiences closely associated with their experiences of care, resulting in a lack of trust in social care professionals. While foregrounding the views of care-experienced people, this project also engaged with professionals, revealing systemic tensions which needed to be navigated through the approach. We discuss application of the trauma-informed methodology and tensions that arose. Our work demonstrates how trauma-informed values and methods can be used during participatory research where groups may have conflicting goals, and how this can enrich the design process.