Staff stress and people who have mental health needs living in new models of service

Exploring the experience of working relationships for support workers of adults with intellectual disabilities

BACKGROUND

Research suggests that a better awareness of how staff who directly support people with intellectual disabilities experience their working relationships, will contribute to understanding staff wellbeing and the quality of care they offer. This study aimed to gain insights into the lived experiences of support workers in supported living services in England.

METHOD

Six support workers participated in semi-structured interviews, about their working relationships with service-users and colleagues. Data was analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

RESULTS

Six interconnected themes emerged: The essence of good relationships; a trusting relationship as the vehicle for meeting service-users' needs; belonging to the support team; the organisational context of relationships; the social context of relationships; 'a fine balancing act'.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings provide insights into staff wellbeing, indicating that developing supportive, trusting relationships with both service-users and colleagues, plays an important role in delivering effective care. Potential implications for service providers are discussed.

From the DSP Perspective: Exploring the Use of Practices That Align With Trauma-Informed Care in Organizations Serving People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a systemwide approach that emphasizes organizational practices based upon principles of safety, choice, collaboration, empowerment, and trustworthiness. It is intended to influence an entire organization, with implications for clients and the workforce. The present study explored the extent to which IDD organizations utilize practices that align with TIC with their DSP workforce. Through an online survey, 380 DSPs (84% women; 82% white) responded to a trauma-informed organizational culture measure. Results demonstrated variability across items and significant differences between TIC principles with safety most strongly scored, and collaboration least strongly scored. Perception of organizational practices differed by ethnicity, with non-white DSPs having more favorable responses. Current practices with DSPs align with TIC, however, increased attention through explicit trauma-informed initiatives is warranted.

Students' attitudes towards individuals with an intellectual disability

The aim of the study was to investigate attitudes held by a British student population towards individuals with an intellectual disability. Students participated in focus groups addressing their attitudes, behaviours and perceptions of individuals with an intellectual disability. Thematic analysis was the method used to identify emergent themes. Results identified five main themes in relation to intellectual disabilities. The themes suggest that attitude scales fail to effectively measure the multidimensional nature of British student's attitudes towards intellectual disabilities. One out of the five emergent attitude themes from the current study is sufficiently represented in measures of attitudes towards intellectual disability. These results suggest a need to modify current attitude scales or develop new ones to measure the British population's attitudes towards intellectual disabilities. A lack of knowledge about intellectual disabilities was also identified. Participants recognized exposure through the media as a tool to increase knowledge.

How do staff psychological factors influence outcomes for people with developmental and intellectual disability in residential services?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

A broad range of organizational issues can have an impact on client outcomes in residential services for people with intellectual disabilities, and staff psychological factors are increasingly being recognized as important. This review explores some of the recent literature on staff attitudes, attributions, well being and other factors that may impact on outcomes for residents.

RECENT FINDINGS

Staff beliefs are associated with the relationship between challenging behaviour and burnout experienced by staff; resident outcomes such as placement breakdown may also be influenced by staff attributions. There is also a body of evidence emerging that suggests staff psychological factors may influence the quality of physical healthcare received by people with intellectual disabilities.

SUMMARY

Sufficient evidence exists to suggest that clinicians should routinely consider assessing and evaluating staff psychological factors in clinical interventions in order to assess their potential impact on client care. Further research is required, particularly, to evaluate the specific impact of staff psychological factors on resident outcome.