Engineering the mind-body medicine: making a case for a trauma-informed primary care system

This narrative study proposes an engineering framework to model a value-based, trauma-informed primary care system. It is based on the premise that effective patient outcomes could be achieved by screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The protocol involves the administration of the ACE survey and an in-person trauma evaluation by mental health professionals embedded within the primary care settings. The ACE evaluation is then followed by the collection of psychophysiological stress response data. Depending on the level of symptomatic somatization, patients are then referred to appropriate treatment modalities. An engineering-based robust design methodology is utilized to demonstrate a model of a trauma-informed primary care system. To be deployed, the proposed value-based systems model of medicine warrants further investigation with clinical and empirical studies.