Transcript Alison Battley Principal Consultant at The Recovre Group

Building a Resilient Workforce
For Eastern Disability Steering Network (EDSN)
19th September, 2013
Introductions
Alison Battley
Principal Consultant at The Recovre Group
Registered Psychologist
T: 03 8689 4521
M: 0420 961 280
[email protected]
The Recovre Group
Medical
Training & Consulting
WHS & Rehabilitation
We make a difference by helping people
to be safe, healthy and productive at
work.
The Challenge...
“the challenge for health care organisations
lies in developing respect and care for their
employees in the same way that they required
their employees to care for patients.”
Peter Huggard – Senior lecturer, faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University
of Auckland
Key messages
How to identify mental health issues early
How to manage this proactively
What can you do to promote this in your business
Fast facts on psychological injury at work
• Stress claims are the most expensive form of worker’s compensation claims
• Caring professionals are in the top three occupational areas for stress, in both
men and women – why?
Safe Work Australia statistics show the top sub-categories of Mental stress are:
• Work pressure (33% of all Mental stress claims),
• Work-related harassment &/or workplace bullying (22%),
• Exposure to workplace or occupational violence (21%),
• Other mental stress factors (14%)
• 70% of workers who report they experienced work-related mental stress did
not apply for worker’s compensation
The case of Mary – 53 year old
Residential Support Worker
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15 years experience in the disability sector
History of depression ; unmarried and carer for her elderly mother
Team leader believes she can get “too attached to clients”
Mary rarely took annual leave and personal leave was only taken on days
where her mother was unwell
6 months before Mary lodged her claim a long term resident passed away
Team leader noticed Mary was more irritable and forgetful in the 2-3 months
leading up to her claim
One-off Incident occurred where another worker accused Mary of giving a
resident the wrong medication
Mary ceased work the following day and subsequently lodged her claim
Diagnosed with Adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depression
Doubts about her skills as a support worker, anxiety about seeing staff
member, fears she can no longer cope with role
Extensive time off work and high claim cost
A ‘typical’ profile in helping professions
• High levels of empathy
• Put others before
themselves - selfless
• Patient
• See the best in others
• Kind
• Caring
• Don’t complain
• Reduced awareness of own
needs & mental state
• Accommodating
• May have pre-existing mental
health issues
Common contributors to stress in the
helping professions
• Physically and/or cognitively demanding work
• Clients/patients with high needs
• Risk of exposure to verbal or physical aggression can be higher
• Critical incident or crisis situations can occur
• Grief following the death or transfer of clients/patients
• Work schedule (e.g., shift work, long hours)
• Organisational change (e.g. New programs)
So what do these factors tell us about the risk to
employees in helping professions?
Compassion Fatigue – what is it?
• The stress from helping or wanting to help a suffering person
• Those with enormous capacity for empathy are most at risk
• Compassion fatigue is common in the helping professions –
including the disability sector
• It is often identified by others before being
identified/admitted by the individual
• Skills, experience and longevity do not result in “immunity” to
compassion fatigue
What characterises compassion
fatigue?
• Feeling of being
overwhelmed
• Exhaustion
• Inability to focus
• Decrease in
productivity
• Unhappiness
• Self-doubt
• Isolation
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Poor sleep
Nightmares
Low mood
Irritability
Anger
Helplessness
Confusion
Loss of passion and
enthusiasm
Compassion Fatigue and Burnout
• Compassion Fatigue can be sudden onset and if
addressed early can have rapid and full recovery
• Burnout is mental exhaustion caused by long term
involvement in emotionally draining situations, and
can be pervasive with difficult recovery
• If left untreated, compassion fatigue may lead to
burnout and/or a diagnosable mental illness
Common diagnoses in helping
professions
• Post-traumatic stress disorder: may develop from an acute stress or
cumulative set of events, where there is a prolonged stress
response eg. physical assault, car accident etc
• Depression: depressed mood, loss of interest & pleasure in
activities, hopelessness, low energy & motivation, guilt, social
withdrawal, sleep disturbance, teary, poor self-care, self-harm
• Anxiety disorders: Fear of losing control, fear of the unknown,
avoidance, panic attacks, hypervigilance, physical symptoms
• Adjustment disorder: development of emotional and behavioural
symptoms in relation to a definable stressor(s). Symptoms in excess
of what might be expected and can result in withdrawal from
normal functioning. Anxiety and depression
symptoms may be present.
The case of Mary
What could be some reasons for Mary not
coming forward?
What could be some reasons for management
not getting involved earlier?
Barriers for staff admitting to stress/fatigue
• Fear of being labelled weak or a whinger
• Fear it may affect employment or career prospects
• Think that stress is a normal part of their role or may not be aware of
how severe their stress / fatigue has become
• Bargaining with oneself – “if I just make it through the next month,
things should get easier”
• Unsure of options available to manage their difficulties or supports
available
Manager Myths – what holds us back?
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I’m not sure what to say / ask them
I’ll look silly / intrusive / awkward
They wont want to talk to me about it
If they’re off work they don’t want hear from me
They’ve been here for years, they’ve got it all worked
out
• I know there is stuff going on, I’m just giving them
space
• I don’t know what to do if they say there is a
problem
What are the costs if not addressed early?
• Direct costs to the employer
are only the tip of the
iceberg in terms of overall
costs of psychological injury
• Majority of costs are
indirect or hidden
What are the costs to the organisation if
mental health concerns are not addressed?
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Increased sick leave
Increase in lodgement of stress claims & workers
compensation premiums
Absenteeism
Poor work performance & potential risk of negligence
Reduced morale amongst staff
Loss of experienced & valued staff
Retraining
Effects to quality of service
Effects to trust & confidence of patients & families
Tarnished company image
Breaking through the barriers
How can organisations support staff and continue to
meet business needs?
Management/leading is a balancing
act
Supporting staff
Managing
team and
meeting
targets
Factors that can lower the risk of stress
& compassion fatigue
 Supportive work environment
 High Autonomy
 Manageable workload
 Utilisation of skills
 Job satisfaction
 Procedures for evaluating psychological work hazards
 Personnel trained in identifying symptoms of work
stress
 Training in adaptive coping strategies
 Early referral and intervention
Risk Assessments
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• Identify Risks – what are the potential stressors and “red flags” Eg.
understaffed, change in management, critical incident, death of a
resident.
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• Assess Risks – Eg. Conducting workplace “walk throughs” to check
in with staff, seeking staff feedback regarding change, absenteeism
rates, incident reports and EAP usage rates.
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• Control Measures – What can be implemented to support staff
and minimise risks identified eg. extra staff member onsite,
mandatory debriefing following incidents with clients, more
frequent supervision etc.
Support for staff
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EAP and Critical Incident Debriefing - are these utilised?
Engagement / opinion surveys & opportunities for feedback
Professional development opportunites and training
Opportunities for debriefing and discussion of challenging or high
needs clients with colleagues and/or management
• Resilience / stress management training for staff
• Policies and procedures around supporting staff who have
physical or mental health concerns – what can be put in place?
REPS: What managers can do
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Recognise the signs and symptoms
Encourage self-care practices
Provide variety and flexibility
Share the positives and success stories
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Role model positive behaviour
Encourage supportive workplace environment
Provide opportunities for staff to debrief
Seek help
How do we achieve this balance?
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Decisions made on facts
Fair & Consistent
Transparent processes
Explain decisions and impacts
Take onboard feedback and employee input
Use empathy
Understand and know the relevant policies
and legislation
What can I do right now?
• Regular promotion of the importance of
reciprocal communication between staff and
management
• Ensure strong policies around dealing with
workplace health (including mental) issues
• Ensuring staff and management are
adequately trained (and refreshed) on what to
look for and how to deal with potential mental
health issues
Summary
• Helping professions have a high occurrence of
psychological claims and are often the most costly
• Prevention is better than cure
• Early intervention can minimise issues and prevent
long term illness
• Prolonged stress and compassion fatigue are health
and safety risks and should be treated as such
• Strategies at the individual, management and HR
level need to be considered
Further resources
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WorkSafe Victoria www.worksafe.vic.gov.au
APS Website www.psychology.org
The Black Dog Institute www.blackdoginstitute.org.au
Beyond Blue www.beyondblue.org.au
R U OK day www.ruokday.com
If you would like to know more about us?
Visit: www.recovre.com.au
Recovre is an RTO and we deliver Community Health,
Workplace Health & Safety and Business
qualifications. Including Certificate III and IV in
Disability. Visit: www.recovretraining.edu.au
Call: 1300 550 276
Questions?