Staff Support Groups Research Articles

Optimizing Workplace Support for Breastfeeding in Female Worker; A Narrative Review

Introduction: The increasing participation of women in the labour market has led to a growing trend of female employment. This has a significant impact on women’s roles as mothers, particularly breastfeeding mothers. Objective: This review aims to discuss the benefits and challenges of breastfeeding faced by female workers in the workplace and how to counter itDiscussion: Breastfeeding in the workplace has several advantages for mothers, which may act as an incentive to combine breastfeeding and work. The advantages include reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, and decreased turnover rates. However, breastfeeding in the workplace presents several challenges, including the lack of research on the topic, the lack of support from employers, distance between home and work, the lack of lactation facilities on-site, and reduced milk production during work hours. This situation drives the development of a lactation promotion model that can support breastfeeding in the workplace. The lactation promotion model, comprised of seven major components, can be implemented in the workplace to increase exclusive breastfeeding and boost female worker productivity. Conclusion: It is recommended to give workers with under-6-month children the option of working part-time or returning home earlier and for companies to provide lactation support staff, educational materials, and peer support groups to help working mothers breastfeed at work. The role of company occupational doctors takes a very important place in this lactation promotion model to achieve high breastfeeding rate in female workers.

RETRACTED: Humanitarian mental health: Establishing an integrated psychosocial care pathway in a Kyrgyzstan Cancer Screening Project.

In 2022 Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), established, ab initio, a cancer screening project in Kyrgyzstan, outside the capital Bishkek. In line with the MSF strategic vision of increasing the salience of mental health care into all its projects, we developed a psychosocial care programme integral to the project from the outset. In this paper we describe the strategy, execution, and delivery of a psychosocial care pathway to support patients along the cancer pathway. We conducted semi-structured interviews of 40 patients with end stage cancers at the Kyrgz Republic National Oncological Institute, in their native language to establish the degree of pyschosoial need to assist in predicting demand for psychosocial support and staffing requirment within the Chui project. Patients were unfamiliar with concepts of psychosocial professional support relying instead on family and friends, but once explained, it was appreciated. Family and friends faced a considerable psychological burden, as did staff who reported feeling burnt out and requested a staff support group. Establishing a cancer screening project posed many unexpected challenges. Psychosocial support is novel and culturally alien in Central Asia, but was rapidly accepted following initial resistance by staff and patients. Ethical challenges included differential drug costs between MSF and non MSF patients, providing a superior service to patients in the MSF project whlilest trating them alongside patients with similar degrees of need, and working alongside a paternalistic state healthcare system where patients are frequently given little or no information about their condition.

Connecting the Digital Dots: Engaging Diverse Older Adults Through Virtual Outreach

According to the Administration on Aging in 2018, 34% of older adults are racial and ethnic minorities. The median income of older adults was ∼$25K, with 18.9% of older Non-Hispanic (NH) Blacks, 11.7% of older Asians, and 19.5% of older Hispanics living below the poverty level (compared to 7.3% NH Whites). With a growing cohort of older adults ≥75 years old, 50% report difficulty in physical functioning. At the intersection of race/ethnicity, income inequality, age and frailty; many older adults face challenges to receiving high quality mental health care and access to clinical trials. 40% of homebound older adults have a psychiatric or cognitive disorder but have limited access to mental health services. Despite increased illness burden, both racial/ethnically diverse and homebound older adults are underrepresented in clinical trials.The Montefiore Home Care Geriatric Psychiatry Program (MHC-GPP) and the Montefiore Hudson Valley Center of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease (CEAD) have extensive experience serving a culturally and economically diverse patient population since 2004 and 2014, respectively. Both programs have collaborated to provide older adults with comprehensive assessments of psychological symptoms, cognitive and psychosocial needs across varied cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. These assessments have connected patient/caregiver dyads with community supports and clinical trials. In 2016, the MHC-GPP and the CEAD secured two funding opportunities to provide problem based psychosocial interventions in the home. Over ¾ of the patients served by these programs are NH Black or Hispanic older adults, most of which have less than 12 years of education.However, in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic presented new barriers to reaching frail and cognitively impaired patients in this diverse community. In order to address these complex needs, the MHC-GPP social work team began proactively calling patients admitted to a Certified Home Health Agency (CHHA) during the first quarter of the pandemic. This provided a unique opportunity to address the concrete and mental health needs of those most vulnerable to COVID-19. In addition, the MHC-GPP psychiatric team pivoted to telehealth evaluations that would still provide comprehensive assessment and management of psychological and cognitive symptoms. The MHC-GPP team also conducted virtual support groups for the CHHA staff. At the same time, the CEAD team converted the community engagement studio framework to a virtual format to engage a cohort of older predominately NH Black woman to discuss recruitment and retention of participants to a future clinical trial.During this session, the presenters will describe how telehealth interventions were implemented throughout the pandemic to engage diverse older adults in community. Presenters will describe how the MHC-GPP social work team developed a telephone assessment to proactively identify both concrete and mental health needs during the first quarter of the pandemic. Presenters will describe how the MHC-GPP in home psychiatric assessment was adapted to telehealth, while still continuing to provide behavioral and cognitive assessment in English and Spanish, to initiate treatment, to refer to clinical studies, and to provide a training site for fellows and residents. Finally, presenters will share results from a virtual community engagement studio, which was conducted to improve the recruitment and retention of under-resourced populations in a future clinical trial. The chair will also facilitate discussion of case examples and lessons learned.

An exploration of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) staff experiences of attending pre-brief and debrief groups surrounding a patient's death or redirection of care

This paper presents the findings of a service evaluation project exploring staff experiences of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit staff support groups. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at a local regional hospital, developed and provided staff support groups before (pre-brief) and after (debrief) a death of an infant on the ward. These groups were run between December 2018 and July 2019. Content analysis was used to understand and summarise patterns and themes within the data. Frequency data was used to identify how these themes linked with staff ratings of the groups. The majority of staff had a positive experience of the group and recommended expanding the support groups to wider intensive care units. A subgroup of staff felt vulnerable in the groups and recommendations were put forward to promote the group's psychological safety. Directions for future service evaluations are discussed.

Identifying Associations between Quality Initiatives and Quality Measures among Home Health Agencies: Findings from a National Study.

Home health performance gained visibility with the publication of Home Health Compare and the Home Health Value-Based Payment demonstration. Both provide incentives for home health agencies (HHA) to invest in quality improvements. The objective of this study is to identify the association between quality initiatives adopted by HHAs and improved performance. A 2018 national survey of 7459 HHAs, yielding a sample of 1192 eligible HHAs, provided information about 23 quality initiatives, which was linked to 5 composite Super Quality Measures (SQMs): ADL/pain, self-treatment, timely care, hospitalizations, and patient experience. Exclusions for missing data and outliers yielded a final analytical sample of 903 HHAs. Regression models estimated associations between quality initiatives and SQMs. The relationships between sixteen of the SQM/quality initiative pairs were positively associated with improvement and 7 were negatively associated. Web-based technologies for staff and care-givers improved performance but deteriorated patient experience. Web support-groups for staff and review of HHC rankings reduced hospitalization rates. While this study offers insights for quality improvement, a limitation may be a lack of sensitivity to the nuances of quality improvement implementation. Therefore, this study should be viewed as hypothesis-generating concerning initiatives likely to have the greatest potential meriting further investigation.

Librarians Across Institutions: Establishing Outreach Programs

The data used for this study was collected from Librarians Across Institutions: Establishing Outreach Programs, a study to gather data from academic outreach librarians across the United States to find what factors contribute to effective outreach programs. Conversely, the study also collects data on factors that hinder outreach programs. This study examines support for the most effective and least effective outreach programs carried out by outreach librarians in five support areas: support from other librarians, support from staff, support from faculty, support from students, and support from volunteers. The results collected from the survey contains data from 75 outreach librarians across the United States in 2020.The analysis was completed using dependent sample (t-tests) using Stata software V.16.1.
 The target group was identified by the creation of a comprehensive list from LinkedIn profiles of academic librarians whose profiles contained outreach in their job title or had outreach experience listed on their profiles. The data shows there is a difference in support levels for library outreach programs of the most effective in contrast with the least effective programs. In the most effective programs’ category, (80%) of the respondents had librarian support and (60%) from the least effective programs had librarian support. The results also revealed that there were significant statistical differences in librarian, staff, and student support groups. In conclusion, results from the study suggest that outreach librarians are innovative and use communication and collaboration techniques to outsource support from librarians, staff, faculty, students, and volunteers to create effective outreach programs.

The role and use of staff support groups: A response to Bledin (2019)

The role and use of staff support groups: A response to Bledin (2019)

Support for staff support groups: A role for group analysts

Clinical psychologists in NHS settings are often called upon to facilitate ‘staff groups’. A survey of psychologists’ self-reported experiences of facilitating such groups indicated average levels of relevant training, moderate levels of confidence, but only average levels of effectiveness. The value and validity of quantitative evaluations of this kind are discussed. The findings suggest that more group therapies-related teaching and training are needed in clinical psychology training courses and in clinical environments in the NHS and other clinical settings. Group analysts are well placed to encourage, support and provide teaching and training opportunities such as these.

Reigniting compassion in healthcare: Manaakitia Reflective Rounds.

The reported levels of staff stress and burnout at all levels of training and disciplines is significant and recognised to impact on the care of patients and families. We present an initiative to support staff at Auckland City Hospital based on the Schwartz Center Rounds. To evaluate the efficacy of monthly case-based, staff support reflective rounds to discuss complex emotional and psychosocial issues that arise in caring for patients and families. At Auckland City Hospital, a pilot programme called Manaakitia Reflective Rounds was conducted between April 2014 and September 2015. These were facilitated 1-h, monthly, case-based, staff support groups to discuss complex emotional and psychosocial issues in caring for patients. Staff evaluations and feedback were collated. A total of 12 rounds was conducted exploring a range of challenging issues, from difficulty in achieving a patient's wish to die at home to coping with the 'heart sink' patient. There were 276 attendees in total, with an average attendance of 23 participants per round. A total of 218 evaluations was returned (79%) with rounds being rated as either exceptional or excellent by 87.5% of participants. Attendees reported positive benefits, such as gaining knowledge to help them care for patients (94%), working better with colleagues (87%) and gaining insight into how others think and feel in caring for patients (97%). Attendees reported a sense of having a 'shared experience' with better understanding of each other's professional perspectives and acknowledgement of the limitations (practical and human) in caring for patients and families. Evaluations of the rounds indicate a need for staff to have a safe and supportive space to explore the emotional aspects of their work. Staff particularly appeared to value having a 'shared understanding' with the recognition that they are 'not alone' when managing challenging situations.

Creating a vital healing community: A pilot study of an art therapy employee support group at a pediatric hospital

The purpose of this pilot study was to survey participants in an art therapy pediatric hospital staff support group to assess their sense of wellbeing in the workplace. The primary goal was to explore the value of using the ProQOL measure to evaluate outcomes of art therapy engagement for staff. Art therapy is an effective application of holistic wellness to combat stress and provide the powerful rewards of respite, personal growth, and emotional support while building a healing community in the workplace; it also helped with improving focus and productivity despite the strain of providing care to complex and challenging patient and families. Potentially the encouraging outcomes of this study can be used to improve availability of art therapy services for healthcare system employees.

Structure, process, and impact of a staff support group in an oncology setting in a developing country.

Background:Health-care staff working in oncology setting experience excessive stress, which if unrelieved can lead to burnout. Staff support groups have been found beneficial.Aims:This study aims to evaluate the structure, process, and impact of a staff support group conducted for field workers involved in cancer screening in an urban tertiary cancer center in a developing country.Settings and Design:Retrospective analysis of staff support group conducted in a tertiary care cancer center.Methodology:Prospectively maintained data with structured notes for documenting the process of the support group sessions for the field workers was analyzed. Impact was analyzed through a feedback questionnaire designed for the purpose completed by participants at 4 months, 1, and 2 years following session completion.Statistical Analysis:Descriptive statistics for reporting the overall structure and participants' profile and content analysis for identifying the support group process and themes expressed by the participants were used.Results:Eleven participants attended the support group consisting of 8 structured sessions. The processes identified were planning, implementation, and supervision of the lead therapist conducting the group. Work overload, target completion, feeling demoralized, interpersonal conflicts, and importance of team support were the main issues identified. Cognitive behavioral approaches were learnt for stress management. Eight, nine, and all 11 participants found the support group moderately to very useful at 4 months, 1 year, and 2 years, respectively.Conclusions:The support group followed a planned structure, with good implementation, recording of content and supervision, with both short-term and sustained positive impact.

Factors associated with retention in HIV care at Sediba Hope Medical Centre.

BackgroundLost to follow-up (LTFU) is a major challenge that hinders the success of antiretroviral treatment (ART).ObjectiveTo identify factors conducted to a low LTFU rate.MethodsWe conducted a two-part descriptive and quantitative study. Part 1 comprised interviews with clinic staff to determine their perspectives on LTFU and to establish the clinic’s follow-up procedures for patients on ART. Part 2 of the study was a retrospective review of clinic and patient records. LTFU patients were identified and those with contact details were contacted for telephonic interview to determine if they were still on ART and/or their reasons for becoming LTFU.ResultsA low LTFU rate (7.9%; N = 683) was identified. Work-related stress, and lack of transport and funds were reported reasons for LTFU. Monthly visits, non-adherent defaulters and LTFU patients were tracked by an electronic system (SOZO). Factors contributing to high rates of retention in care were: location of the clinic in the inner city, thus in close proximity to patients’ homes or work; clinic operating on Saturdays, which was convenient for patients who could not attend during the week; an appointment/booking system that was in place and strictly adhered to; a reminder SMS being sent out the day before an appointment; individual counselling sessions at each visit and referrals where necessary; and a stable staff complement and support group at the clinic.ConclusionAchieving a low LTFU rate is possible by having a patient-centred approach and monitoring systems in place.

Factors associated with retention in HIV care at Sediba Hope Medical Centre

Background: Lost to follow-up (LTFU) is a major challenge that hinders the success of antiretroviral treatment (ART). Objective: To identify factors conducted to a low LTFU rate. Methods: We conducted a two-part descriptive and quantitative study. Part 1 comprised interviews with clinic staff to determine their perspectives on LTFU and to establish the clinic’s follow-up procedures for patients on ART. Part 2 of the study was a retrospective review of clinic and patient records. LTFU patients were identified and those with contact details were contacted for telephonic interview to determine if they were still on ART and/or their reasons for becoming LTFU. Results: A low LTFU rate (7.9%; N = 683) was identified. Work-related stress, and lack of transport and funds were reported reasons for LTFU. Monthly visits, non-adherent defaulters and LTFU patients were tracked by an electronic system (SOZO). Factors contributing to high rates of retention in care were: location of the clinic in the inner city, thus in close proximity to patients’ homes or work; clinic operating on Saturdays, which was convenient for patients who could not attend during the week; an appointment/booking system that was in place and strictly adhered to; a reminder SMS being sent out the day before an appointment; individual counselling sessions at each visit and referrals where necessary; and a stable staff complement and support group at the clinic. Conclusion: Achieving a low LTFU rate is possible by having a patient-centred approach and monitoring systems in place.

Exploring loss to follow-up among women living with HIV in Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programmes in Côte d'Ivoire

The expansion of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) services globally has been accompanied by significant rates of loss to follow-up (LTFU). This study explored barriers and facilitators to participation in PMTCT programmes for pregnant and post-partum women living with HIV who had been LTFU at public sector antenatal care facilities in the Vallée du Bandama region of Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. Three types of interviews were conducted at seven health sites: (1) individual or small group interviews with health staff; (2) one focus group with women actively enrolled in PMTCT services; and (3) individual interviews with women who had been LTFU from PMTCT services. Ten main themes emerged and were classified within a modified social ecological model. The individual level barriers included discouragement and internalised stigma, while hope for self/child's health was a facilitator. The family/community level barriers were fear of stigma and gender inequities. The health system level barriers were unclear information and poor post-test counselling, while staff advice and support groups were facilitators. The structural level barrier was associated costs. Factors on all four levels of the social ecological model must be addressed in order to maximise adherence to PMTCT services.

What doctors feel: how emotions affect the practice of medicine.

What doctors feel: how emotions affect the practice of medicine.

WITHDRAWN: Preventive staff-support interventions for health workers.

Healthcare workers need to be supported to maintain sufficient levels of motivation and productivity, and to prevent the debilitating effects of stress on mental and physical well-being.To assess the effects of preventive staff-support interventions to healthcare workers.We searched The Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group (EPOC) Specialised Register (and the database of studies awaiting assessment), Biblioweb (searched 28 August 2008); The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library 2008, Issue 3) (searched 28 August 2008); MEDLINE, Ovid 1950 to August Week 2 2008 (searched 26 August 2008); CINAHL, Ovid 1982 to August Week 4 2008 (searched 26 August 2008); EMBASE, Ovid 1980 to 2008 Week 34 (searched 26 August 2008); PsycINFO, Ovid 1806 to July Week 5 2008 (searched 27 August 2008); Soc iological Abstracts, CBA 1952 to present (searched 28 August 2008).Randomised controlled trials of interventions to support healthcare workers in coping with work-related stress, preventing burnout and improving job satisfaction, without changing contractual conditions of service or physical work environment. Three types of interventions were included in this review: (1) support groups for staff; (2) training in stress management techniques; and (3) management interventions for supporting staff.Two authors independently performed study selection, quality assessments and data abstraction.Ten studies involving 716 participants met the criteria for inclusion. None assessed the effects of support groups for health workers. Eight studies assessed the effects of training interventions in various stress management techniques on measures of stress and/or job satisfaction, and two studies assessed the effects of management interventions on stress, job satisfaction and absenteeism.Three studies demonstrated a beneficial effect of stress management training intervention on job stress. Only one of these showed that this effect is sustainable over the medium-term. One study demonstrated the beneficial effect of a high intensity, stress management training intervention on burnout. Low and moderate intensity stress management training interventions failed to demonstrate benefit on burnout or staff satisfaction.Management interventions demonstrated increases in job satisfaction, but failed to show effect on absenteeism.Most studies had several methodological shortcomings leaving them vulnerable to potential biases.There is insufficient evidence for the effectiveness of stress management training interventions to reduce job stress and prevent burnout among healthcare workers beyond the intervention period. Low quality evidence suggests that longer-term interventions with refresher or booster sessions may have more sustained positive effect, but this needs to be rigorously evaluated in further trials.Low quality evidence exists to show that management interventions may improve some measures of job satisfaction. However, further trials are needed to assess whether this finding is replicable in other settings. There was insufficient evidence of the benefit of management interventions on staff absenteeism.Rigorous trials are needed to assess the effects of longer-term stress management training and management interventions in primary care and developing country settings.

EPA-0588 – Staff support groups in prevention of professional burnout syndrome

Numerous studies in the field of mental health of health professionals have shown that the medical profesionals and employees in other caring professions have a higher rate of psychological morbidity with high rate of anxiety and depressive disorders, suicide, alcohol and substance abuse as well as of the professional burnout syndrome (Tillet, 2003). One way of improving the functioning of both mediacal teams and individuals is the implementation of group support or psychological help for helpers. These groups promote the practice of open communications, provide safe place and time in which people can mutually exchange help and learn to express and discuss difficult emotional reactions and alow use of full range of emotional responses in order to improve the care of patientes and better functioning of the working teams(Hartley and Kennard, 2009). The aim of this paper is presentation of personal experience in the facilitator role of such a group, conducted during 8 weeks with medical professionals at the Clinical Hospital Center’Dr Dragi?a Mi?ovic-Dedinje’in Belgrade, and evaluation of effects this grup support interventions on level decrease of anxiety, depression, and burnout in high stressful work conditions. In research methodology we use measure instruments: relevant social and demografic data, Maslach Burnout Inventory, The Symptom Check list 90-R, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Self-Evaluation Questionnaire for quality of group interventions.

Department of Health invests £650 000 in support groups for healthcare staff

The Department of Health is investing £650 000 to expand a scheme that supports NHS staff in discussing difficult emotional and social issues that arise from patient care. Schwartz Center Rounds, developed by the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare in Boston, bring multidisciplinary staff together for an hour’s meeting each month to discuss a particular patient’s case and how the staff feel about the …

Neonatologists’ perspectives of palliative and end-of-life care in neonatal intensive care units

Determine palliative and end-of-life care practices, barriers and beliefs among US neonatologists, and relationships between practice characteristics and palliative care delivery. A descriptive cross-sectional survey with ordinal measurements. The survey was sent to 1885 neonatologists. There were 725 responses (38.5%) with 653 (34.6%) completing the survey. Of those, 58.0% (n=379) have palliative care teams and 72.0% (n=470) have staff support groups or bereavement services. Palliative care education was deemed important (n=623) and needed. Barriers include emotional difficulties, staff disagreements and difficulty forming palliative care teams. Palliative care teams or staff bereavement groups were significantly predictive of willingness to initiate palliative care and more positive views or experiences. Neonatologists believe that palliative care is important. Education and palliative care teams help provide quality care. Exploration of differing views of palliative care among team members is needed.

The role of groupwork in tackling organisational burnout

The issue of occupational burnout is a concern to managers as it impacts on the quality of client care. Burnout is said to comprise three elements. These are a high level of emotional exhaustion, a low sense of personal accomplishment and the development of an unfeeling, so-called depersonalised approach towards service users. In this paper, we describe two contrasting approaches that used groupwork to tackle the problem of staff stress and burnout in mental health workers. The first used three-day self-esteem workshops. The second used staff support groups that were run fortnightly over a five-year period. Both approaches have their merits. While the concept of burnout is essentially a negative one, there may be a role for developing alternative approaches based on positive psychology and attachment theory.