Sample Strategies to Enhance Employee Support and Engagement

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.


Advocacy Education and Support Project: Advocates with a personal history of violence or trauma

Description: This resource, hosted on the site of the US VTT, is a detailed outline of an 8-session curriculum for peer support among staff in trauma work who have personally experienced violence or trauma. Alongside education around Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS; another term for vicarious trauma), this resource provides self-care and organisational strategies for workers, and includes clear activities in handouts. 

The curriculum is divided into eight sessions, as follows:

  1. Introductions
  2. Defining terms, Understanding Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS)
  3. Impact and Strategies
  4. Professional identity and professional boundaries
  5. Consultation
  6. Consultation
  7. Organisational consultation
  8. Moving forward



What's the evidence base for this resource: While there is no published evaluation of this curriculum or the resources it contains, the resource was created by advocates and clinicians at the Center for Violence Prevention and Recovery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. 



Potential uses and limitations: This resource is intended as the curriculum for an 8-session peer support and training group for workers who have experienced violence and trauma. This resource may be useful for supervisors as inspiration for conversations during supervision, or for any worker to consider the impacts of their personal identities and/or histories upon their professional role working with clients who experience trauma. The resource provides several tools for self-assessment and reflection.

While the curriculum includes sessions for participants to brainstorm organisational changes, it is not itself a primary resource. 



Where it comes from: This resource is designed by the Advocate Education and Support Project, which is part of the Center for Violence Prevention and Recovery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The resource was uploaded to the US Vicarious Trauma Toolkit's Compendium of resources.


Supervision Guidelines for a Vicarious Trauma-Informed Organization

Description: Created specifically for the US Vicarious Trauma Toolkit, this resource provides succinct guidelines for supervision in organisations where employees are exposed to vicarious trauma. Its recommendations for vicarious trauma-informed supervision fall under the following categories:


What's the evidence for this resource: The resource was developed by the Institute on Urban Health Research and Practice (now the Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research) at Northeastern University, a reputable university in the United States. References are provided, though not every recommendation has a citation.


Potential uses and limitations: This resource provides brief, clear guidelines for supervision in a vicarious trauma-informed organisation.

Due to its brevity, this resource does not give instructions on how to achieve its recommendations. For example, one guideline is to "Design a workplace that is safe, fosters collaboration, demonstrates respect for diversity, and acknowledges the importance of addressing VT on a regular basis" (p. 1). Managers and other readers may need to find other resources for further guidance on achieving these recommendations.


Where it comes from: The resource was developed for the US Vicarious Trauma Toolkit by Northeastern University's Institute on Urban Health Research and Practice (now the Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research), in collaboration with the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.


The CPSU gratefully acknowledges the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime, for allowing us to reproduce. in whole, the Supervision Guidelines for a Vicarious Trauma-Informed Organization. This article was prepared by the Office for Victims of Crime.



Peer Support Guidelines

Description: This resource provides guidelines on forming and maintaining a peer support program for public safety employees in the United States, but may be of use to any organisation considering developing a peer support program.

The sections include:

  1. Purpose
  2. Definitions
  3. Administration
  4. Selection/Deselection
  5. Consultation Services from Mental Health Professionals
  6. Confidentiality
  7. Role Conflict
  8. Training

The guidelines list the following examples of applicable activities for a peer support person, including but not limited to:


What's the evidence for this resource: This is not an academic resource and no evidence is provided. However, the resource was ratified by the Police Psychological Services section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). 


Potential uses and limitations: These guidelines are a practical, detailed resource for organisations considering implementing a peer support program. While detailed, its ratification in the United States suggests that some of the legal information contained within may not be immediately applicable to the Australian context. Further, the guidelines stand alone without evidence of its suggestions working well in practice.


Where it comes from: These guidelines were ratified by the Police Psychological Services section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) in 2011.


The Safeguard Program

Description: This document describes the Safeguard Program implemented by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the US. The Safeguard Program is a model for protecting and providing support to staff who view objectionable material in the workplace.

The Safeguard Program aims to assist staff members in developing the healthy coping skills necessary to maintain a positive work/life balance, using four main cornerstones: 1) the hiring procedure; 2) mandatory participation in the program; 3) use of an outside consultant; and 4) off-site staff support.


What's the evidence base for this resource: The Safeguard Program was developed by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Licensed Professional Counsellor, both of whom have significant professional experience working with people who have experienced trauma. In 2010, an evaluation of the Safeguard program showed that employees benefited from the program.


Potential uses and limitations: The resource describes policies and procedures that encompass the recruitment stage, individualised support, peer support, psychoeducational training, and post-employment support. While aimed at staff members viewing objectionable material, the content may be relevant for any organisations where staff are exposed to vicarious trauma.

However, this document merely summarises the Program rather than going into depth describing the content of the policies and procedures. A further limitation is that, though an evaluation showed that staff members benefited from the Safeguard Program, many also felt overwhelmed by the amount of services it required.


Where it comes from: The program is run within The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the US. The resource was compiled by two employees experienced in trauma work.


Interventions That Help the Helpers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Interventions Targeting Compassion Fatigue, Secondary Traumatic Stress and Vicarious Traumatization in Mental Health Workers

Description: PhD (Social Work) thesis:  meta-analysis and systematic review of interventions to reduce compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and vicarious trauma. The key finding was the lack of quality evidence regarding 'what works' for those interventions designed to target symptoms of individual mental health workers.

What's the evidence base for this resource: As this was approved as meeting the requirements of a PhD dissertation, we can be confident the material is reliable. 

Potential uses and limitations: The author notes that "it was alarming that only two studies met the inclusion criteria". In other words, they found a lack of rigorously conducted evaluations of the effectiveness of interventions.

 Where it comes from: Loyola University, Chicago


What is PTSD? What it looks like across workplaces?

Description: This presentation describes the key clinical features of PTSD, including the current diagnostic criteria, accompanying clinical presentations, functional outcomes and common comorbid conditions that present with PTSD.

The talk presents data on the prevalence and presenting features of PTSD across varying workplace settings, including first-responders (paramedics, fire-fighters, police), defence, primary health care settings, drug and alcohol services, and forensic settings.

Prevalence rates and important issues for consideration are highlighted in relation to PTSD in these workplace settings and the heterogeneity of PTSD presentations are highlighted.


What's the evidence base for this resource: The presenter, Professor Kim Felmingham, is a recognised academic expert on workplace related mental health issues. We have a high level of confidence that the information presented is accurate and reliable.

 

Potential uses and limitation: Concise information on the prevalence of workplace trauma across a range of workplaces. Briefly summarises some of the evidence regarding organisational culture as a protective factor, and what organisations can do to support workers dealing with trauma exposure. 


Where it comes from: Recorded as part of WorkSafe Tasmania PTSD: "Mental Health Matters" Conference, 14th October 2019.


Content Warning:
These videos address issues relating to post traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions. Please be aware that presentations may contain content and imagery that may be confronting or cause distress.






Traumatic horror, injustice, embitterment and shame: The impact of moral injury in the workplace

Description: Fear based models of PTSD have dominated research and clinical approaches to PTSD since the 1990s. The role of overwhelming horror, injustice, embitterment and shame emerge as alternative pathways to traumatic stress injury and the role of such emotions in addition to exposure to ‘life threat’. This session will provide attendees with an overview of research in moral injury which aims to expand treatments for PTSD to better address role of these forms of traumatic stress injury.


What's the evidence base for this resource: Professor Zachary Steel is a recognized academic researcher at the University of New South Wales. We have a high degree of confidence in the information presented. 


Potential uses and limitations: Discussion starter on the under-recognized issue of moral injury. Useful for supervisors.

Does not provide any advice on how this could be addressed at an organisational/primary prevention level.

 

Where it comes from: Recorded as part of WorkSafe Tasmania PTSD: "Mental Health Matters" Conference, 14th October 2019


Content Warning: These videos address issues relating to post traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions. Please be aware that presentations may contain content and imagery that may be confronting or cause distress.






Proactive Wellbeing Supervision

Description:  Description of the Proactive Wellbeing Supervision (PWS) offered to School Principals and Acting Principals as part of the Principal Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

 What's the evidence base for this resource: This provides information on the service only. 

 Potential uses and limitations Example of a policy document and description of a supervision program model. It is not a clinical framework.

 Where it comes from Victorian Department of Education and Training.


Working with young people in the trauma space: vicarious trauma

Description: This Webinar is aimed at professionals in primary care, mental health and human services settings who work with young people who have experienced trauma and injustice at some point in their lives.

Rather than focusing on specific self-care strategies, it advocates for a framework of ‘self-care’ that includes the role of organisational responsibility in maintaining staff wellbeing in this space.

 

What's the evidence base for this resource: Mostly based on the clinical practice experience of the presenter, with references to relevant research and literature sources.

 

Potential uses and limitations: Discussion starter for staff, supervisors and mangers. There are specific suggestions for supervision practices and workplace measures, from about 46m30s.


Where it comes from: Orygen National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health.



Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and Vicarious Trauma

Description A Queensland Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma (QPASTT) Guidebook (2016)

The content is therapeutically informed, and addresses those providing direct support to people who have experienced torture and trauma. There is a clear message that VT is not a sign of 'personal weakness', but a natural human response to repeated exposure to human suffering. It is intended to be a resource for people who are affected by the stories and experiences of the refugee and asylum seekers who they work with.

 

What's the evidence base for this resource. Is essentially an accessible narrative summary of some of the key research and theory references in the trauma and vicarious trauma field.

 

Potential uses and limitations Focus is on individual level impacts and self-care. There is a brief discussion on the theme of Vicarious growth and satisfaction. Could be useful for supervisors. There is only a brief summary of organisational responsibilities but these are not detailed enough to provide any substantial guidance for primary prevention strategies.

 

Where it comes from: Queensland Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma


Preventing work-induced stress and trauma: 1800 RESPECT

Description:  Information page on prevention of workplace stress and trauma covers the topics:

What can I do if I'm experiencing work-induced stress or trauma?
Ask for help if you need it
Take a break
Have realistic expectations
Up-skill and seek support
Find balance and meaning
What managers and organisations can do

 

What's the evidence base for this resource Does not directly cite any research literature. However 1800 Respect is a well established, high profile organisation and the information presented is broadly consistent with the evidence on staff wellbeing.

 

Potential uses and limitations The information is presented as dot point summaries of key themes. There are specific strategies suggested for primary prevention in relation to vicarious trauma. May be useful as a discussion starter.

 

Where it comes from 1800RESPECT is the Australian national sexual assault, domestic and family violence telephone counselling service.



Confronting Vicarious Trauma

Description: Literature summary and discussion of key themes related to vicarious trauma.

Topics include:

Section one: Definitions
Some of the commonly used terms (e.g. vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, burnout) and the various definitions used in the literature on the subject.

Section two: Effects and impacts on workers
Some of the ways trauma can impact on workers’ lives, and some signs to look out for.

Section three: Caring practices
Steps can be taken to prioritise worker well-being and long term commitment in doing such important work.

Section four: Ethical dimensions and pain
An alternative or complementary framework for understanding these responses, which highlights the ethical dimensions of working in the face of injustice. This ‘second’ framework arises out of a concern with a limited individualistic and psychologically focused ‘vicarious trauma’ models, and instead invites workers to understand distress as an ethically founded response to the context of the work and the lives of people we engage with.


What's the evidence base for this resource: While intended to be accessible to workers in the field, this resource does include a reasonably thorough amount of referencing to credible research and academic literature.

 

Potential uses and limitations Offers a variety of perspectives, from clinical to ethics-centred, to generate discussion and reflection. There are some general suggestions regarding supportive organisational practices, as well as personal self-care practices. Some of the infographics at the end are not particularly useful or relevant. Is a relatively lengthy read, although sections can be read individually.


Where it comes from: Australian based website livingwell.org.au which provides support and information to men who have experienced sexual abuse.


Employee and Volunteer Assistance Program Guidelines

Description: This handout suggests some additional considerations to ensure Employee Assistance Programs are vicarious-trauma informed and ready to provide appropriate services to staff impacted by vicarious trauma. 

 

What's the evidence base for this resource:  Created by the Northeastern University team responsible for the US Vicarious Trauma Toolkit. Based on available (albeit limited) evidence.

 

Potential uses and limitations: These are general level recommendations. They provide suggestions and guidance for organisations to evaluate and enhance their existing EAPs.

 

Where it comes from: The handout was developed by the US Vicarious Trauma Toolkit team and can be downloaded directly from their website.