# Evaluation of Trauma Center-Based, Technology-Enhanced Stepped Care Intervention for Adolescent Traumatic Injury Survivors

> **NIH NIH R01** · MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA · 2021 · $650,771

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Pediatric traumatic injury (i.e., injury of sudden onset and severity requiring immediate attention) is the leading
cause of death and morbidity among US adolescents and are associated with mental health and health risk
outcomes. Pediatric traumatic injuries are associated with medical and societal costs of $87 billion and
elevates risk for a wide range of health risk consequences that affect quality of life, physical recovery, social
functioning, and return to previous activities. The prevalence of PTSD and depression is high among pediatric
traumatic injury patients; however, most pediatric trauma centers don’t have the resources to implement
models of care that address mental health following injury. Current guidelines by the American College of
Surgeons (ACS) Committee on Trauma strongly recommend screening and addressing emotional recovery in
traumatic injury patients. The ACS Committee on Trauma has identified this as a priority and likely will begin to
mandate mental health programs in Level I and II pediatric trauma centers nationally. It is therefore critical that
policy and practice is guided by the implementation and evaluation of scalable and sustainable models of care.
In 2015 our team launched the Trauma Resilience and Recovery Program (TRRP), a scalable and sustainable,
technology-enhanced, multidisciplinary stepped model of care – one of the few in the US - that provides early
intervention and direct services to improve access to evidence-based mental health care after traumatic injury
for children, adults and families. We have found this model of care to be feasible and acceptable to adolescent
patients (ages 12-17) at each level of service. TRRP includes 3 major steps: (1) in-hospital education, brief risk
reduction session, and tracking patients’ emotional recovery via an automated text-messaging system, (2)
conducting a 30-day screen via telephone to identify patients who are good candidates for psychological
treatment, and (3) providing referral to best-practice telehealth-based or in-person assessment and treatment.
We have partnered with three accredited Level I and II pediatric trauma centers and propose a multi-site hybrid
1 effectiveness-implementation trial with 300 adolescent (ages 12-17) traumatic injury patients to: 1) assess
the extent to which TRRP promotes improvement in quality of life and emotional recovery and 2) gather
preliminary data on the potential for TRRP to be implemented in other Level I trauma centers. Directly in line
with NICHD’s Pediatric Trauma and Critical Illness Research and Training (PTCIB) Strategic Research and
Training agenda, this study will provide valuable data on the efficacy, preliminary effectiveness and potential
for implementation of an innovative, cost-effective, sustainable technology-enhanced intervention designed to
address the unique needs of adolescent injury patients and mitigate short- and long-term impact of injury on
mental health, quality of life,...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10295320
- **Project number:** 1R01HD102336-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
- **Principal Investigator:** Tatiana Margarita Davidson
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $650,771
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10295320

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10295320, Evaluation of Trauma Center-Based, Technology-Enhanced Stepped Care Intervention for Adolescent Traumatic Injury Survivors (1R01HD102336-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10295320. Licensed CC0.

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