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Trauma-Informed Research for Post-Collision Care

We recognise that the work we do is rooted in people’s experiences of traumatic and often life-changing events. 

This means that researching lived experiences of post collision care is essential. It is only by seeking to understanding these experiences, that we can improve outcomes for patients, support emergency service personnel, and strengthen post-collision care.

We believe research should be both rigorous and kind, generating powerful insights while protecting and valuing the people who share their experiences.

At IMPACT, we deliver robust, high-quality evidence while ensuring that everyone who takes part in our research is treated with care, dignity, and respect.

Every stage of our work is grounded in trauma-informed principles and designed to improve post-collision care in meaningful, practical ways.

What We Prioritise

We design and deliver research that puts people first by prioritising:

Emotional and psychological safety
Our methods recognise the effects of trauma and are carefully designed to reduce the risk of re-traumatisation.

Choice and control
Participants can choose how they take part. We see them as partners in research, not subjects.

Respect for lived experience
We make participation accessible and, wherever possible, beneficial for those involved.

Transparency and trust
We work collaboratively with participants, providing information that is clear, honest, and easy to understand.

Real-world impact
We focus only on studies that improve post-collision care and lead to practical recommendations for policy, systems, and frontline practice.

Our Approach

We focus on:

  • Sensitive and flexible research methods, delivered by researchers trained in trauma-informed practice.
  • Co-design with people directly affected by collision, including those who are injured, bereaved, witnesses, and first responders.
  • Ongoing consent, with clear opportunities for participants to pause or withdraw at any stage.
  • Accessible pathways to support if it is needed.
  • Findings that lead to real service improvement by translating knowledge into policy, process and practice. 
  • Evaluating the impact of research participation to strengthen research practice and better understand how taking part may be beneficial.
  • A vicarious trauma informed research culture that recognises and responds to the emotional impact of post-collision research on researchers themselves.

 

Leading Trauma Informed Research Practice 

In 2025, we appointed Dr Nicola Lester to lead our commitment to trauma informed research practice. Nicola’s role oversees each of our studies to ensure that we integrate a trauma informed approach from the initial idea to the completion of the research and how we translate our findings into practice. A key part of our commitment sees us go beyond integrating a trauma informed approach to our research practice to establish a vicarious trauma informed organisational culture to address and protect the wellbeing of our research team.