Pulling together: building a community debriefing team.

1. Research shows that many emergency workers are affected physically and emotionally by critical incident stress. 2. Debriefings conducted by trained team members are an effective method to mitigate the impact of critical incident stress. A debriefing is a structured, time-limited group intervention. 3. Cooperation among community agencies is essential for the development and effective functioning of a critical incident stress debriefing team. 4. Several teams in Illinois have organized to form a Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Network. The Illinois network is part of an international organization composed of critical incident stress debriefing providers.     

Using Critical Incident Stress Debriefing to Mediate Organizational Crisis,Change and Loss

This article provides an overview of the development of critical incident stress debriefing and suggests its utility for both traditional and nontraditional purposes, by employee assistance practitioners. Both crises and traumas are defined and a brief history of the development of CISD is offered. The critical incident stress debriefing process is explicated and examples of how CISD's has been used by EAPs is shared. Case studies are then offered of both traditional and nontraditional situations where a CISD process was used by an internal EM, including a homicide, an operating room fire, an organizational change and multiple losses of employees by a work unit.     

The Role of Managers in Critical Incident Stress Management Programmes: A Qualitative Study of New Zealand Social Workers

This paper reports part of a larger exploratory research study of social workers' preferred models of critical incident stress management and experiences of critical incident stress debriefing. Social workers were invited to contribute to the research through an advertisement in the national association's newsletter for Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers. Using a qualitative methodology involving in-depth interviews with 13 social workers, participants were asked about their experiences of critical events encountered within their workplaces over the last five years. Interviews were recorded by audiotape with consent and analysed using thematic analysis. Four main themes emerged: the importance of preparation for critical incidents, the role of relationship between line managers and social workers, specifically the line manager's support immediately after the critical incident, and the availability of peer/colleague networks. An unexpected finding was that social workers interviewed noted that the pre-existing relationship with the line manager influenced their experience of the debriefing process itself. The more engaged and emotionally aware the manager was seen, the more the social worker claimed the debriefing process had been successful from their perspectives. The implications for social workers and their employing agencies are discussed.     

Trauma Related Critical Incident Debriefing for Adolescents

Events like the tragedy at Columbine High School and the terrorists attacks on New York City in 2001 have highlighted the need for mental health practitioners to become familiar with interventions that are designed to assist young people who have survived extremely stressful events. Mental health professionals often see people who have experienced car accidents, severe abuse, rape, or other victimization, as well as survivors of natural and man-made disasters during the first critical stages of the recovery period. This article describes the process of critical incident de-briefing and provides a step-by-step primer for its application. The process is short-term (four sessions or less) and provides an intervention designed to reduce the frequency and severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Adolescents are particularly at risk because of issues surrounding identity formation, self- esteem, and developmental differences in coping mechanisms. Therefore, those who work with an adolescent cohort should be familiar with debriefing methods and how to apply them to the teenager.     

Factor interaction influences on human performance in air traffic control: the need for a multifactorial model

In air traffic management (ATM) knowledge of the impact of human factors on performance is critical to address safety incidents. Previous research has largely focused on the effects of single factors on performance which has resulted in a comprehensive understanding of single factor effects. In current control environments however, the residual threats for incidents often result from the interaction of multiple human factors and the resulting cumulative impact on performance. This research uses a literature review, an analysis of over 400 European aviation incident reports and finally a survey of ATM professionals to assess the need for a multifactorial model of performance. Literature findings suggest that Human Factors approaches are fundamentally single-factor in nature, which is out of step with real ATM working contexts. An incident report analysis, supported by a survey of air traffic experts, suggests that multiple factor incident causation exists. This discrepancy suggests the need for a new approach to looking at how incidents occur, and their factors managed, on a day-to-day basis. The proposed solution is a multifactorial model of human performance.     

Responding in Times of Crisis— An Exploratory Study of Employer Requests for Critical Incident Response Services

Summary

Increasingly, employers play an active role in assisting their employees in dealing with crisis. This exploratory study conducted analyses using a large national database to examine how companies representing various industry types differed in the frequency of requests for critical incident response services, the types of incidents that evoked the requests, the types of interventions utilized, and the delay time between the request and provision of services. Results demonstrated substantial variability in the types of incidents and frequency of service utilization. However, some consistent patterns were noted. For example, over half of all critical incident response services across industry types were delivered in response to a death impacting the workforce. A different pattern was evident for the Finance/Insurance/Real Estate industry, where robberies were most prevalent and the delay time between the incident and the critical incident response delivery date was shortest. There appeared to be an inverse relationship between the size of the company and the use of critical incident response services. This study has implications for further research regarding the training of practitioners administering critical incident response services and determining themost effective crisis interventions for the situation and recipient population.     

Mark My Words! Service User and Carer Involvement in Social Work Academic Assessment

This paper discusses the involvement of service users in academic assessment as part of a second year module for social work undergraduate students at Canterbury Christ Church University in the UK. The three main tasks undertaken in partnership are detailed: designing an assessment form, assessment of student group presentations and assessment of a written reflective essay. The paper starts by identifying key questions raised by the assessor team before providing a critical commentary on the process, and identifying challenges and learning points. The experience emphasises the need for a more critical and searching approach towards service user involvement in social work education in academic assessment. Moreover, the team's experience suggests that such work is best achieved in the context of collaborative working relationships based on trust, with opportunities for team reflection and supported by training in academic assessment.     

Researching youth culture and popular music: a methodological critique

In this article I argue the need for critical evaluation of qualitative research methodology in sociological studies of the relationship between youth culture and popular music. As the article illustrates, there is currently an absence of critical debate concerning methodological issues in this field of sociological research. In the first part of the article I begin to account for this absence by illustrating how early research on youth and music rejected the need for empirical research, relying instead on theories and concepts drawn from cultural Marxism. The second part of the article illustrates how the legacy of this early body of work in youth and music research manifests itself in current research which, although empirically grounded, is characterized by an almost total lack of engagement with methodological issues such as negotiating access to the field, management of field relations and ethical codes. Similarly problematic is the uncritical acceptance on the part of some researchers of their insider knowledge of particular youth musics and scenes as a means of gathering empirical data. In the final part of the article I focus on the issue of insider knowledge and the need for critical evaluation of its use as a methodological tool in field-based youth and music research.     

Effects of critical incident tasks on the intercultural competence of English non-majors

ABSTRACT

In this internationalised world, graduate employability in terms of intercultural communication skills needs to be taken into account in higher education. The present study aims to explore the effects of critical incident task instruction on English non-majored undergraduates’ intercultural competence. One group of students received ten weeks of instruction with one critical incident task per week and another group received standard English classes. Data were collected from the students’ pre- and post-test. The results showed a significant and strong effect of the intervention with critical incident tasks. Implications for educational practice are presented for further teaching with critical incident tasks.     

Parents of psychiatrically hospitalized children: A decade of changing perceptions

Psychiatric hospitals for children have changed dramatically during the last decade. The lengths of hospitalizations have been shortened; the psychopathology of children qualifying for admission is more severe, often with neurological or biochemical components. In some hospitals, there has been an increasing emphasis on research. All of these changes have affected the staff's perceptions of the children's parents; these changes appear to have resulted in a more supportive, less critical attitude toward these parents. This may be significant in increasing parents' confidence in coping with their child's illness and their family's stress. The need for empirical, longitudinal research is emphasized.The research mentioned in this article was funded by the American Cancer Society.     

Organisationsentwicklungsorientierte Potenzialeinsch?tzung �C Pr?missen und Gestaltungsprinzipien

While common potential assessment is perceived as a human resource task, today??s organizations need to integrate organizational and human development. The concept of organizational design suggests a conceptual framework to align strategy, structure, processes, human resources, and reward systems to help organizations be innovative and responsive to changes. However there is also a need to innovate potential assessment processes themselves. Thise paper illustrates the interactions among potential assessment and organizational development. This requires understanding the relevance of dynamic roles and distributed leadership, and their impact on the growing need of meta-competences of members of the organization to successfully profile their roles as well as to add value to the entire organizational design. A critical issue pertains to the professional use of tests, including principles of multiple diagnoses and acknowledging the psychodynamic and cultural influences on how to take a test. Thise paper provides practical guidelines on how to design assessment processes, incorporating learning for all participants in team settings, self assessment and shifting from judging towards exploring relationship among managers, participants and assessors. This way of practicing potential assessment turns out to be a powerful approach for both, potential development on the individual level as well as core competence development on organizational level.     

Part II. Work hardening for warriors: Training military Occupational Therapy professionals in the management of combat stress casualties

The purpose of this article is to describe the training of military occupational therapy personnel in a unique application of their professional skills. Ergonomic principles of training for stressful environments were implemented to ensure training effectiveness and transfer of skills to combat situations. Training schedules, casualty role-play scenarios, critical incident stress debriefing principles and scenarios, unit survey guidelines, and premises for training persons to function under stressful conditions are provided. Comparisons with civilian applications are drawn, and suggestions for future roles and training for Occupational Therapy professionals are given.     

The reflecting team as a reflection of second order therapeutic ideals

The reflecting (R.T.) team is examined within its theoretical, therapeutic and training contexts. A distinction is made between the reflecting team technique (R.T.T.) and the reflecting team process (R.T.P.), in order to explore whether or not the practice of team reflection is consistent with the requirements of the second order family therapies, the theoretical development which supported the R.T.'s emergence and subsequent popularity. The critique of the R.T.P. suggests that although this therapeutic process does represent attempts towards increasing acceptance of complexity, reduced attempts to control, collaboration, interconnectedness and contextual respect, there is little room for complacency either theoretically or practically.     

Managing Care and Joined Up Thinking in the Curriculum

This paper discusses the curriculum development of a level three undergraduate course in managing care. It was produced and is presented by The Open University. The course is aimed at frontline managers in health and social care. The course team made consultation with service users, carers and managers a priority in developing the curriculum. The paper discusses this consultation process and the learning gained from it. A major contribution was to clarify debates about how far the course should have one core curriculum and how far it should offer specialist options for managers in different settings. Service users and carers had strong views on the need for better co‐ordination of services and recognition of individual needs rather than divisions into service‐led categories. Managers stressed the importance of reflecting the reality of frontline management. This helped the course team to develop a framework that stresses the commonality in the work and the importance of ‘practice‐led’ management. Service users and managers were involved as critical readers of course texts to ensure that the consultation process continued through the course development. A second strand is the need for the course to be accessible to those not yet in management positions, and extracts from an interactive CD‐ROM which presents case study material demonstrate the innovative joined up and accessible approach taken to student learning needs.     

Enhancing the safety of children in foster care and family support programs: automated critical incident reporting

The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 has made child safety an explicit focus in child welfare. The authors describe an automated critical incident reporting program designed for use in foster care and family-support programs. The program, which is based in Lotus Notes and uses e-mail to route incident reports from direct service staff to supervisors and administrators, facilitates timely clinical oversight and risk management and ensures the security of clients' protected health information. The authors present data collected using the program to illustrate how it can be used to monitor abuse and neglect allegations in a foster care program. A survey of users found that the program saved time, was easy to use, and helped manage critical incident reports.     

Stress and Performance Standards: A Dynamic Approach to Time Spent in Housework

Daily logs collected over a 10‐week period from a small, nonrepresentative sample of young, childless married couples were examined. Housework was conceptualized as a daily decision predicated upon personal standards, social rhythms, and stress variables that shape the perception of need for housework. Findings indicate that home‐based stress, stress from outside the home, and standards are independent, additive predictors of housework time. In addition, stress and standards interact in ways suggesting that stress modifies the meaning of performance. High home‐based stress and low imported stress lead to more critical evaluations of ones' own performance and more monitoring of one's spouse's contributions. Husbands do more when wives do more, but only when wives import little stress from outside the home or perceive high demand for housework. Results are interpreted in terms of patterns of meaning and obligation.     

The whistle blower and the whistle-blowing profession

A recent whistle-blowing incident in a public child welfare service generated considerable political fallout, widespread press converage, and surfaced a number of critical ethical issues. The case history of the incident provides a substantive base for exploring these ethical issues in light of current ethical assessment alternatives. Guidelines are suggested for professional social workers in whistle-blowing situations.This paper was originally presented at Simmons College School of Social Work on October 4, 1984.     

Understanding a non-causality crisis response: Examining the Florida Panthers response to Hurricane Irma

Much of the crisis response literature focuses on an organization deemed to be responsible for the occurrence of the crisis. For a crisis without a singular organization causality, such as a natural disaster, any organization can proactively initiate actions to address the situation. This article contributes to the understanding of a non-causality crisis response by identifying the capabilities that an organization needs to effectively assist with the response. An organization must possess the requisite resources, have developed key stakeholder relationships, and be driven by its own values and sense of responsibility. A sports team is well-positioned to assist with a non-causality crisis response. A sports team creates a feeling of community identity, has a vast array of resources, and has many critical stakeholder relationships. This article examines the NHL’s Florida Panthers relief efforts in response to Hurricane Irma, a storm that created a complex community crisis with residents in need of essential supplies and assistance.     

The role of self-care on compassion satisfaction,burnout and secondary trauma among child welfare workers

Child welfare workers are routinely exposed to multiple traumatic events when working with children and families, and are at an increased risk of experiencing burnout and secondary trauma. Self-care is often recommended as a restorative or protective activity against the negative effects of working with traumatized individuals, although few studies have examined the benefit of self-care empirically. Trauma-informed self-care (TISC) includes being aware of one's own emotional experience in response to exposure to traumatized clients and planning/engaging in positive coping strategies, such as seeking supervision, attending trainings on secondary trauma, working within a team, balancing caseloads, and work–life balance. Compared with generic personal care activities, TISC is likely to be especially relevant for child welfare workers. This study examined the role of TISC on compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary trauma which was assessed by administering surveys to a sample of 104 child welfare case managers and supervisors. Almost one third of the sample reported high levels of burnout (29.8%) and secondary trauma (28.8%), and low levels of compassion satisfaction (31.7%). Results suggested that workers who engaged in higher levels of TISC experienced higher levels of compassion satisfaction and lower levels of burnout, although there was no relationship with secondary trauma. Findings provide preliminary evidence that TISC may be a beneficial practice to reduce risk of burnout and preserve workers' positive experience of their job, however workers experiencing secondary trauma are likely to need additional specialized intervention to assist them with their recovery.