Beyond Stabilization: Addressing Meaning in Life in Humanitarian Trauma Care and Resource-Limited Contexts

Background/Objectives: Humanitarian trauma care has traditionally focused on immediate physical stabilization and the reduction of acute psychological symptoms. However, survivors of physical trauma—such as amputations, burns, or spinal cord injuries—often face significant disruptions to their sense of identity, purpose, and coherence. Meaning in life has been consistently linked to resilience, psychological adjustment, and post-traumatic growth, yet its integration into trauma care, particularly in low-resource settings, remains underexplored. This review identifies and synthesizes existing literature to highlight critical gaps and emerging opportunities for meaning-centered trauma care among physically injured populations in humanitarian contexts. Methods: This narrative review draws from interdisciplinary research across trauma psychology, global mental health, and palliative care. A targeted literature search was conducted focusing on meaning-making, physical trauma, humanitarian emergencies, and psychosocial support in resource-limited environments. Conceptual frameworks such as the Meaning Maintenance Model and Park’s model of meaning-making were applied to interpret findings. Results: Three key gaps were identified: (1) the neglect of existential dimensions in trauma care, (2) the scarcity of research on meaning-making processes in low-resource or non-Western settings, and (3) the limited integration of meaning-centered interventions into widely used humanitarian mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) toolkits. Emerging strategies for addressing these gaps include culturally adapted, community-delivered interventions and narrative-based approaches, though empirical validation remains limited. Conclusions: Addressing meaning in life is essential for holistic trauma recovery, especially for physically injured individuals in humanitarian and low-resource contexts. Integrating culturally sensitive, meaning-centered approaches into trauma care and research can enhance psychological resilience, identity reconstruction, and overall well-being.