Description: This resource from Rose Brooks Center (the largest domestic violence agency in Missouri, USA) is a sample of key practices in 10 areas used to "engage staff, build strength, collective resilience, and at the same time improve services for survivors" (pg. 1).
The headings for the key practices are as follows:
1- Hiring process
Organised and thoughtful hiring process
Staff onboarding and new hire training
2- Staff/employee performance evaluation
3- Support to address trauma exposure (secondary trauma)
Staff wellness
Organisational response to vicarious trauma
Flexibility/work-life balance
4- Compensation
Salary
Leave time
Benefits
5- Staff development
Meaningful and challenging development plans
Training
6- Leadership strategies
Integrate staff retention into agency policy, formal practices, and resource development
Staff involvement and feedback to inform staff retention strategies
Leadership conducts annual evaluation of factors impacting staff retention, quality of services, and sustained agency operations
7- Workplace environment and culture
Space
Employee feedback/input
8- Communication
Management transparency
9- Organisation staff meetings
10- Clear mission and values
Sense of purpose in the workplace
What's the evidence base for this resource: This resource is a sample of Rose Brooks Center's policies and procedures, and does not provide any evidence itself. However, the agency is recognised by accrediting bodies as adhering to best practice standards and has won awards for its services.
Potential uses and limitations: This resource is a useful high-level map of organisational strategies to enhance employee support/engagement and address vicarious trauma. It does not provide detailed guidance for any particular issue, but may serve as inspiration or generate ideas on organisational and workplace strategies.
Where it comes from: This resource was presented as a handout within the webinar 'Strategies to Enhance Employee Resilience and Engagement within Survivor-Serving Organizations' hosted by Futures Without Violence in May 2020. Rose Brooks Center's Chief Operating Officer was one of three presenters in the webinar.
Rose Brooks Center is the largest domestic violence agency in the American state of Missouri. The agency has 100 employees and reaches approximately 15,000 individuals annually.
Description: This resource describes how a police department in the United States implemented a yoga program that contained a mindfulness component. Anecdotal evidence in the resource suggests participants reported positive benefits. The resource shows an example of how a yoga and mindfulness program can be implemented in a department, endorsed by upper management and approved by Human Resources, resulting in "a shift in [workplace] culture".
What's the evidence for this resource: The resource does not show evidence to support its anecdotal claims that participants benefited from the program.
Potential uses and limitations: This resource is an example of how programs aimed at increasing staff resilience can be implemented in an organisation, and therefore may provide inspiration to managers considering implementing programs at their own workplace. However, it lacks proper statistical evaluation regarding the positive benefits on staff. Further, it does not address change at the organisational level and thus does not count as primary prevention.
Where it comes from: This resource comes from a 2014 issue of The Police Chief magazine. It is co-written by an employee of the Falls Church Police Department and the Director of the Master of Science in Yoga Therapy at a nearby university.
Description: Mindful is an online magazine that offers insight, information and inspiration to help people live more mindfully. It includes articles and videos on how to meditate, how to practice mindfulness at work, and has tips for managers and leaders. There is also a directory of mindfulness professionals that can be filtered by country.
What's the evidence base for this resource: While not an academic resource itself, Mindful is partnered with centres for mindfulness at well-regarded academic institutions including Stanford University, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Potential uses and limitations: This resource is only directed at individual level mindfulness and meditation practices. There is no relevance for organisational change (primary prevention) strategies.
Where it comes from: https://www.mindful.org/
Description: Presentation of a PhD study (slides and notes in pdf format) into the relationships between Job Demands (e.g. workload), Job Satisfaction, Job Control, Organisational and External Support (e.g. effective supervision, family networks), and Burnout.
The research was via a survey with 167 Forensic Interviewers whose role is to interview children that have made disclosures of abuse.
See p39 of the document for the summary.
Key points:
Burnout and Job-Satisfaction can co-exist, however higher levels of Job Satisfaction predict lower Burnout.
The higher level of Job Control, the higher the level of Job Satisfaction.
The more support (both external and organisational), the less Burnout is reported.
What's the evidence base for this resource: The study was accepted for a PhD dissertation through West Chester University, Graduate Social Work Dept.
Potential uses and limitation: Specific focus on forensic interviewers in North Eastern States of USA. While the findings are useful, the study is not intended to prescribe detailed interventions that can be implemented.
Where it comes from: PhD Candidate, Christina M. Chiarelli-Helminiak. West Chester University, Graduate Social Work Dept.
Description: A collection of relaxation exercises, mindfulness exercises, and stress management routines.
What's the evidence base for this resource: Developed by a team of clinical practitioners with significant experience working in the field of mental health and trauma.
Potential uses and limitation: Only directed at individual level self-care.
No relevance for organisational change (primary prevention) strategies.
Where it comes from: https://www.helpguide.org/
Description: Systematic review of Randomised Control Trials. The objective of the review was to evaluate the effectiveness of work‐ and person‐directed interventions compared to no intervention or alternative interventions in preventing stress at work in healthcare workers.
Authors' conclusions
There is low‐quality evidence that CBT and mental and physical relaxation reduce stress more than no intervention but not more than alternative interventions. There is also low‐quality evidence that changing work schedules may lead to a reduction of stress. Other organisational interventions have no effect on stress levels. More randomised controlled trials are needed with at least 120 participants that compare the intervention to a placebo‐like intervention. Organisational interventions need better focus on reduction of specific stressors.
What's the evidence base for this resource: As this is a Cochrane Systematic Review, it is considered to be of the highest standard of evidence.
Potential uses and limitation: Discusses the findings of evaluations studies of a range of stress-prevention interventions in health-oriented workplaces, from individual level to organisational level. You can follow up by finding the original studies of interventions that may be relevant for your workplace if required.
Where it comes from: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD002892.pub5/full
Ruotsalainen, J. H., Verbeek, J. H., Mariné, A., & Serra, C. (2014). Preventing occupational stress in healthcare workers. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (11).
Description: Chapter about how organisations can foster a culture of self-care and compassion. While highlighting the importance of individual self-care, equal emphasis is placed on the role of organisational practices in supporting staff to do so. Supporting staff in this way is viewed as a component of providing high quality services to client, rather than a competing demand.
What's the evidence base for this resource: The chapter is an excerpt from the book TheUC San Francisco Trauma Recovery Center Model: Removing Barriers to Care and Transforming Services for Survivors of Violent Crime. Edited by Stacey Wiggall, LCSW & Alicia Boccellari, Ph.D. Produced in collaboration with Allen/Loeb Associates (Version 1: March15, 2017)
Potential uses and limitation: Is aimed at Trauma recovery/crisis response services. However the suggestions about organisational practices to support staff self-care are relevant to a range of service types.
Where it comes from: The UC San Francisco Trauma Recovery Center.