Staff Perceptions Of Support Research Articles

Athlete and Support Staff Perceptions of Training Modalities for the Development of Surfing-Specific Manoeuvres: A Concept Mapping Approach

This study aimed to explore the perspectives of surfers and support staff on the relevance and practicality of various surfing training modalities to enhance surfing-specific maneuvers. Employing the Concept Systems groupwisdomTM platform, data were collected from 29 participants (18 support staff and 11 surfers) using concept mapping, a method known for capturing context-specific insights. The participants generated 101 statements regarding training modalities, then refined to 58 and categorised into four clusters through multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis: education and mindset, physical preparation, in-water training, and dry-land training. The clusters were rated based on importance and feasibility on a 10-point scale. The findings revealed that the education and mindset cluster was considered the most crucial (mean = 7.5) and feasible (8.1), while dry-land training was viewed as the least important (mean = 5.9) and feasible (mean = 6.0). A notable discrepancy was observed in the perceived importance of dry-land training between surfers (mean = 6.48) and support staff (mean = 5.61), indicating differing viewpoints. The study concludes that training programs should prioritise education and mindset, physical preparation, in-water training, and dry-land training, in that order. It also suggests the need to consider diverse opinions on dry-land training and recommends a constraints-led approach to training design, acknowledging the unique challenges in surf training. This research provides novel insights into the design of effective training environments for skill-based surfing maneuvers.

“It’s starting to weigh on me”: Exploring the Experiences and Support Needs of Harm Reduction Staff in Connecticut using the Social-Ecological Model

BackgroundThe experiences and perceived support needs of harm reduction workers in the USA have been understudied. While previous research has explored staff burnout and role-related stress, there is a research gap around potential supports for staff wellbeing and individual longevity in their roles. This is especially critical given the growing overdose crisis and the need for sustainable harm reduction programming. Thus, we sought to describe the experiences of harm reduction staff and identify the perceived support that could empower harm reduction staff to successfully navigate their roles.MethodsPurposive sampling methods were used to recruit harm reduction staff working in Connecticut. Seventeen semi-structured, one-on-one interviews were conducted between December 2022 and March 2023. Participants were asked about their experiences with role-related stressors and supports. Informed by the Social-Ecological Model, transcripts were coded using both inductive and deductive codes, and themes were developed using thematic analysis approaches.ResultsStudy participants described their experiences working in harm reduction and the numerous ways they already are or could be receiving support in their roles. These experiences were organized into eight themes according to the levels of the Social-Ecological Model. At the individual level, participants explained that support could help them navigate the variability of the physical environment, boundary setting, and self-care. Relationships between clients and co-workers were both identified as means of support at the interpersonal level, helping participants navigate difficult situations and feelings of stress. At the organizational level, study participants explained how they look to their organization to provide sufficient support by way of training, staffing, compensation, and benefits. Additionally, participants stressed the importance of having supervisors who valued their work and provided emotional support. Lastly, at the community level, participants discussed how support was needed to help them navigate complex systems while working with a stigmatized population in an often-stigmatized field.ConclusionsTo best support harm reduction staff in their day-to-day roles, our findings underscore the need for support on multiple levels. Future research could explore how the provision of support to harm reduction staff impacts not only staff perceptions of support but also the success of clients accessing harm reduction services.

Staff perceptions of support for early menarche in Australian primary schools: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT The age of the onset of menstruation, termed menarche, has been declining for decades worldwide. Approximately 12% of Australian girls reach menarche between eight to 11 years of age. Current health and physical education subject guidelines from the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority state that puberty education should be introduced to students between year levels five to six (ages 10–12) when many have already begun puberty. To explore how girls experiencing early menarche are currently supported in Australian primary schools, semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 15 primary school staff from separate schools, including teachers, principals, a school services officer, and a school counsellor. Thematic analysis identified three main themes, (1) the prevalence of deficit models of early menarche and children’s capacity to know; (2) gendered gatekeeping of menstruation knowledge; and (3) systemic barriers and inconsistencies in menstruation education. Our analysis complements but extends recent calls for improvements to menstruation education in Australian schools. Affirmative menstrual support practices and facilities are needed in primary schools to normalise and encourage conversations with students about menarche and menstruation irrespective of age, gender, class or culture.

Teaching Staff and Student Perceptions of Staff Support for Student Mental Health: A University Case Study

Background: There are significant concerns for student mental health in higher education. New factors affect student mental health, and campus counselling services are overwhelmed. Struggling students turn to ideally placed familiar teaching staff for support. This qualitative study, conducted in an East of England university, aimed to explore student and staff perceptions of support offered by teaching staff to students grappling with their mental health. It is unique, combining both staff and student perceptions, many of which overlapped. Methods: A thematic analysis was conducted of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a small number of self-selecting staff/students. Findings (results): Staff felt inadequate in several aspects, and students agreed to give useful suggestions for their preferred support. Conclusions: It was cautiously established that staff training in mental health literacy (knowledge, skills, attributes, and understanding) was required. Specific training was recommended in pastoral care for personal tutors and for staff pedagogy on health professional programmes. Finally, teaching staff needed support when supporting students with poor mental health. Such training and support can be integrated into a preventative, university-wide, holistic policy for student mental health commensurate with the University Mental Health Charter. Embedding such supportive practice into the curriculum is preferable to add-on services and/or interventions.

Exploring Therapeutic Risk in the Recovery Process of Adolescents at Risk of Self-harm: A Thematic Analysis of Support Staff Perceptions

Background and Objective: The high prevalence of adolescent self-harm within mental health services presents considerable management concerns, exacerbated by a lack of clear evidence regarding therapeutically effective approaches. This shortfall perpetuates traditional risk-averse practice, despite likely inadequacies in mitigating self-harm through failing to address underlying psychological mechanisms. Therapeutic risk, defined as an approach whereby clinicians support individual risk-taking, may be an alternative that yields improved recovery outcomes. However, related research is adult-focused and provides limited detail on its features, practical delivery and impact on recovery. Consequently, the current study explored the experiences of professionals delivering a therapeutic risk ethos, including their conceptualisation of it and its impact on young people. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven mental health support workers employed by a residential healthcare provider, which promotes a therapeutic risk approach. The provider supported service users aged 15 - 20 experiencing complex psychopathology who, following inpatient discharge, presented a high risk of self-harm and suicidality. Interview data was thematically analysed. Discussion and Conclusion: Staff participants provided their understanding of a therapeutic risk approach, suggesting risk is viewed as positive and beneficial to recovery, alongside the promotion of service user freedom and flexible therapeutic risk management. The perceived therapeutic risk incorporates both permission and support, which facilitate the exploration of underlying feelings and alternative actions. Additionally, therapeutic risk promotes positive recovery outcomes due to empowered service users having increased control over their lives. They argued this can reduce psychological distress, encouraging the development of emotional regulation and adaptive coping strategies.

Hospital Nursing Staff Perceptions of Resources Provided by Their Organizations During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background:The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has profoundly impacted the health and psychological well-being of hospital nursing staff. While additional support is needed to better cope with increased job stressors, little is known about what types of hospital resources have been provided and how nursing staff perceive them. This study addressed this gap by describing nursing staff perceptions of resources provided by hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.Methods:Registered nurses and nursing assistants who were working in hospitals during the pandemic were recruited to an online survey via social media posts and emails between May and June 2020. A total of 360 free-text responses to an open-ended survey question were analyzed using content analysis.Results:Over half of participants reported being provided with hospital resources. “Basic needs” resources that included food on-site, groceries, and childcare support were the most frequently reported compared with four other types of resources (personal health and safe practice, financial support, managerial support, communication). Four themes emerged related to staff perceptions of support: community support, unequal benefits, decreasing resources, and insufficient personal protective equipment.Conclusion:Our findings can assist organizational leaders in the planning and allocation of different types of resources that are meaningful to nursing staff and thus ensure sustainability, optimal performance, and worker well-being during crises.

Relationship between Healthcare Provider’s Perception about Patient Safety and Patient Safety Implementation in The Emergency Department

The Emergency Department (ED) is a hospital service unit that provides the first service for patients with disease conditions that threaten their lives or can cause disability for 24 hours. Implementation of patient safety in the ED should be applied to minimize the risk of error handling for the patient. ED staff perceptions related to the implementation of patient safety is a factor that directly-related to his behavior in applying the implementation of patient safety. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between perceptions of staff ED and patient safety by implementing patient safety at the Regional Hospital Emergency Department Cirebon. This study was a correlational study with the cross-sectional approach of 99 emergency staff with total sampling at Cirebon. Collecting data used questionnaires of patient safety. Based on the results of the univariate analysis showed that the majority (80%) of respondents either category on the implementation of the sub-variables of patient safety team collaboration and communication, only a small proportion of respondents less category (20%) on the implementation of the sub-variables of patient safety team collaboration and communication. In addition, less than half (49.5%) category lacking in implementing patient safety, only half (50.5%) categories, both in the implementation of patient safety. Based on the results of the bivariate analysis showed that the relationship implementation of patient safety with all the variables, namely teamwork (p-value = 0.000), communications (p-value = 0.005), the concept of patient safety (p-value = 0.005), and perception (p-value = 0.005). Based on the results of the study, the researchers concluded that the relationship between staff perceptions of the emergency department (ED) on patient safety by implementing patient safety at the Regional Hospital emergency department (RSD) Cirebon. IGD support staff perceptions of patient safety, but still found lacking in the category of health workers implementation of patient safety, so the need for patient safety education and training with simulation methods to illustrate the approach in the implementation of patient safety.

Support staff's perceptions of discontinuing antipsychotics in people with intellectual disabilities in residential care: A mixed-method study.

BackgroundAlthough there is little evidence on their efficacy regarding challenging behaviour, antipsychotics are the most used psychotropic drugs in residential intellectually disabled people. Discontinuation is possible for some residential clients with intellectual disabilities. This study aimed to gain insight into support staff's perceptions of discontinuing antipsychotics in residential clients with intellectual disabilities.MethodFour focus groups were conducted in this mixed‐methods study, followed by a survey.ResultsA large majority of support staff perceive antipsychotics to be effective in controlling challenging behaviour. Support staff regarded themselves as willing to contribute to the discontinuation of antipsychotics, but were more confident about achieving reductions.ConclusionsThe attitude of the majority of support staff towards discontinuation provides a good basis for regularly reviewing antipsychotics use. A reduction plan should include preliminary steps, methods of monitoring and evaluating the process, and establishing measures for dealing with possible crises.

Why ‘science for all’ is only an aspiration: staff views of science for learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Teacher and support staff perceptions of science learning, and specifically engagement with science outreach, by pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) were ascertained through questionnaires. The responses indicated that science is seen as serving distinctive learning purposes when undertaken by learners with SEND. Staff who accompanied SEND pupils to science outreach events expressed more positive views about separate outreach events for SEND pupils than other respondents, in line with current policy expectations of differentiated classroom practice. The desire for different provision for SEND learners also appeared to be associated with the staffs’ pastoral concerns about their pupils and their reluctance to let their pupils ‘fail’. The data suggests that, despite policy and legislative reform in the UK, curriculum science is still viewed primarily as a means to career progression for an able minority, rather than as an educational and cultural entitlement for all.

Linkages between Organization Climate and Work Outcomes: Perceptual Differences among Health Service Professionals as a Function of Customer Contact Intensity

The delivery of high-quality service, rendered by health service professionals who interact with customers (patients), increases the likelihood that customers will form positive evaluations of the quality of their service encounters as well as high levels of customer satisfaction. Using linkage theory to develop our conceptual framework, we identify four clusters of variables which contribute to a chain of sequential events that connect organization climate to personal and operational work outcomes. We then examine the perceptual differences of service professionals, grouped by intensity of customer contact, with respect to these variables. National data for this project were obtained from multiple sources made available by the Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA). Cross-group differences were tested using a series of variance analyses. the results indicate that level of customer-contact intensity plays a significant role in explaining variation in perceptions of support staff, clinical practitioners, and nurses at the multivariate and univariate levels of analysis. Contact intensity appears to be a core determinant of the nature of work performed by health service professionals as well as their psychological responses to organizational and customer-related dynamics. Health service professionals are important resources because of their specialized knowledge, labor expense, and scarcity. Based on findings from our research, managers are advised to survey employees’ perceptions of their organizational environment and design practices that respond to the unique viewpoints of each of the professional groups identified in this study. Such tailoring should help executives maximize the value of investments in human resources by underwriting patient satisfaction and financial sustainability.

‘What it takes’: perceptions of mental toughness and its development in an English Premier League Soccer Academy

The purpose of this qualitative study was to undertake an in-depth exploration of coaches’ and support staff perceptions regarding mental toughness and its development in the pressurised and distinctive sub-cultural milieu of an English Premier League (EPL) Soccer Academy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight key staff responsible for a range of different roles in the development of young players. From the analysis, four general dimensions emerged as salient to mental toughness: competitiveness with self and others, mindset, resilience and personal responsibility. To enhance mental toughness, coaches sought to foster in the young players two key characteristics: independence and resourcefulness, via a challenging but supportive learning environment. Importantly, attention to the psychological development of young players was reported to be inadequately addressed in comparison with other aspects of performance such as technical skill or physical conditioning. Although mental toughness was acknowledged to be a crucial factor in securing a professional contract in the EPL, coaches reported a relative lack of knowledge about effectively nurturing this quality in players.

Part of the team? The experiences of support staff in British hospices

BackgroundBritish hospices employ a wide range of support staff to provide services to patients and families. Support workers make an enormous contribution to the success of the organisation in which...

Pupil and staff perceptions of bullying in secondary schools: comparing behavioural definitions and their perceived seriousness

Background: How bullying is understood by members of the school community is important because differences in definitions could result in an inconsistent approach and affect the success of intervention work. Research evidence suggests that pupils and teachers may have different interpretations of what constitutes bullying. This evidence has, however, been largely obtained from investigations in which the two groups have been questioned in different ways. This means that some of the differences obtained could be functions of methodology, rather than functions of differing perceptions. In addition, the perceptions of support staff have been largely neglected in the literature to date. Purpose: This study examines the perceptions of bullying of pupils held by pupils, teachers and school support staff in English secondary schools by the use of identical questionnaires for each group. Sample: A total of 1302 individuals participated in the research from four urban secondary schools. These four schools came from the same Local Education Authority in North West England. The sample consisted of 685 Year 8 pupils aged 12–13 years (341 males, 324 females, 20 unspecified), 415 Year 11 pupils aged 15–16 years (212 males, 187 females, 16 unspecified), 144 teachers (59 males, 81 females, 4 unspecified) and 58 support staff (14 males, 37 females, 7 unspecified). Design and methods: The study utilised a survey design whereby written responses to scenario-based questionnaires were scored. The scenarios described a range of direct bullying, indirect bullying and ambiguous behaviours. Respondents were asked whether they thought the behaviour described was bullying and how serious it was if experienced by a male or a female pupil. Questionnaires were completed by pupils during supervised class time. Staff questionnaires were distributed to staff members individually and completed independently. Results: Indirect bullying behaviours were less likely to be defined as bullying and were regarded as less serious than direct bullying behaviours. Scenarios with a female victim were rated more seriously than those with a male victim, and female respondents rated the behaviours more seriously than males. Teachers and support staff considered a wider range of scenarios to constitute bullying compared to pupils and also rated these to be more serious. Differences between schools indicated that perceptions could be affected by school factors. Conclusions: The differences in perceptions of bullying between pupils and staff indicate that teachers need to invest more time in talking with pupils about the nature of bullying. Indirect behaviours in particular need more attention to ensure they are included in definitions of bullying, and taken seriously. Further research is needed to investigate how school factors may influence perceptions of bullying.

Supporting dyslexic Scottish university hospitality students: positive actions for the future?

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to explore the issues of dyslexia and the management of learning support within two Scottish suppliers of premier HE hospitality education: Napier and QMU universities of Edinburgh.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory, qualitative fieldwork outlines course managers', teachers' and disabilities support staff perceptions of dyslexia support. Students' views are noted, not interviewed. The paper describes the views of 12 of a sample of (eight female and four male) staff interviewees. Napier University and Queen Margaret University are post‐1990 “new” universities; Napier has a larger student/staff population than QMU.FindingsThe emergent findings in this paper highlight the fact that managers, teachers and support staff operate an under‐resourced and largely ad hoc system of dyslexic support, although Napier, with greater central funding, shows signs of more strategic insight with the appointment of a full‐time dyslexia coordinator with strategic potential. The findings pinpoint the strengths (personal attention) of decentralised support with ambiguity problems and the need for a generic centrally coordinated support system capable of codifying tacit experience into customised support packages for hospitality students.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is a small exploratory study of the views and perceptions of dyslexia of course managers', hospitality teachers' and support staff from two of Edinburgh's new universities. Both have decades of internationally respected work in hospitality education and elsewhere in higher education.Practical implicationsThe fieldwork draws attention to this situation and suggests ways to make concepts of dyslexia and disability more relevant to academic hospitality managers teaching in higher education and to those practising in the field.Originality/valueThe paper examines the proposition that, while dyslexia is a condition open to support and improvement, it is for many practitioners a vague concept. What emerges from the interviews is that disability and what to do about it seems to be an attitude of mind, a question of perceptions, frames of references, intangible properties: that the essence of enhanced dyslexic support is how to do things better. Napier and QMU give valuable ad hoc examples here on which to design future practice. What is needed is a systematic approach to design, implementation and sustainability, and an understanding of the tacitly held knowledge that underpins experience‐generated systems of knowledge. Bringing out such tacit and explicit notions of the complexity of perceptions of knowledge lies in future studies.

Bullying among support staff in a higher education institution

Purpose – Workplace bullying has been a subject of increasing study in recent years, particularly in the UK, Scandinavia and Australia. Health effects of workplace bullying are often cited as an undesirable outcome of being bullied, yet these health effects have not been studied systematically. This study was small and exploratory. The overall aims were to explore support staff perceptions of the nature and causes of bullying, and to examine the perceived relationship between bullying and self‐reported health complaints.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 100 self‐report questionnaires were sent via the internal mail system. Ten interviews were carried out with participants, who perceived that they had been bullied at work, to expand on the questionnaires.Findings – A total of 42 employees responded, 19 reporting experiencing one or more forms of bullying in the previous two years, while 17 had witnessed colleagues being bullied. The top four bullying tactics ranked in terms of frequency of reporting...

Ways of change: an acquisitions department in the 1990s

The evolutionary change that has occurred in the workflow, job assignments, and organization of the acquisitions department at the University Libraries of Notre Dame during the past four years is described. Many changes have occurred not through an administrative mandate but through staff initiative. Convergence is illustrated by the merging of functions through internal reorganization and by collaboration with other departments in carrying out critical functions. The means by which change occurred and the factors most influential in bringing it about are examined. The perceptions of support staff who have been the active agents of change are reported. Finally, the authors speculate about what such methods of meeting the challenge of a changing environment can contribute to academic libraries seeking their “preferred future.”