scholarly journals The development of a model for dealing with secondary traumatic stress in mental health workers in Rwanda

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean D. Iyamuremye ◽  
Petra Brysiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Secondary Traumatic Stress ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Mental Health Workers ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Physical Consequences ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level

Introduction: Mental health workers who listen to stories of fear, pain and distress of traumatised clients may develop deleterious emotional, cognitive and physical consequences (Cairns, 2007). This phenomenon has been called secondary traumatic stress (STS) (Perez, Jones, Englert, & Sachau, 2010). Rwanda is well-known for the 1994 genocide, with the death of hundreds of thousands of people in a planned campaign of violence. Numerous mental health workers operating in Rwanda were also victims of the violence and it has been suggested that there is a high level of STS in mental health workers in Rwanda (Iyamuremye & Brysiewicz, 2008).Aim: To develop a comprehensive model to manage the effects of STS in mental health workers operating in Rwanda.Method: An action research project was initiated to develop this model and data for the model was collected through individual interviews with mental health workers (nurses, doctors, psychologists, trauma counsellors and social workers) as well as a quantitative tool measuring secondary traumatic stress (Trauma Attachment Belief Scale) in these health workers.Results: The Intervention Model to Manage Secondary Traumatic Stress (IMMSTS) was synthesised from these findings and includes preventive, evaluative and curative strategies to manage STS in mental health workers in Rwanda at the individual, social and organisational levels.Conclusion: The model will offer mental health professionals an effective framework for addressing the issue of STS.

Referrals from General Practitioners to Psychiatrists and Paramedical Mental Health Professionals

1989 ◽  
Vol 154 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
General Practice ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Mental Health Workers ◽  
The Individual

The literature on referral of patients by GPs to psychiatrists and mental health specialists is examined. Referrals to psychiatrists account for 3% of all those made by GPs, but the individual rates vary widely. The proportion of patients referred to psychiatrists and paramedical mental health workers in general practice is unknown, but probably substantial.

Secondary Traumatic Stress and Related Factors in Australian Social Workers and Psychologists

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-130
Author(s):  
Samantha Rayner ◽  
Cindy Davis ◽  
Matthew Moore ◽  
Tamara Cadet
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Secondary Traumatic Stress ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Mental Health Workers ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Trauma History ◽  
Personal Trauma

Abstract Secondary traumatic stress (STS) is an indirect form of trauma affecting the psychological well-being of mental health workers. This study examined STS and related factors of empathetic behavior and trauma caseload among a purposive sample of 190 social workers and psychologists. Participants completed an online questionnaire comprising demographics, the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale, and the Empathy Scale for Social Workers. A moderated moderation model was used to evaluate the hypothesized relationship between the amount of trauma in clinician caseload and STS, as moderated by empathy and personal trauma history. Approximately 30 percent of participants met the criteria for a diagnosis of STS. Results indicated that although caseload trauma was not an independent predictor of STS, there was a significant interaction between caseload trauma and personal trauma history on STS. Similarly, empathy alone was not directly related to changes in STS, yet the trauma in caseload effect on STS was moderated by empathy, and that relationship was moderated by personal trauma history. This overall effect was shown to significantly predict STS. The current study highlights the importance of developing evidence-based risk strategies for mental health workers working in the area of trauma and at risk of developing symptoms of STS.

Secondary traumatic stress: An investigation of Canadian mental health workers.

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 272-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marla Buchanan ◽  
John O. Anderson ◽  
Max R. Uhlemann ◽  
Erika Horwitz
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Secondary Traumatic Stress ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Mental Health Workers

Transcultural issues in the dynamics of a Balint clinical reflection group for community mental health workers

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 366-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Leggett
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Group Process ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Clinical Work ◽  
Reflection Group ◽  
Mental Health Workers ◽  
Community Mental Health Workers

The author presents transcultural issues in the content, process, and group dynamics of consecutive meetings of a Balint clinical reflection group for community mental health workers at Inala, Australia. Balint work and the context and evolution of the group process are briefly described, as is the consultative research methodology. The process of a Balint group meeting is reported in detail, following the author’s consultation with group members. The collaborative work of a culturally diverse team of mental health professionals is examined in the context of discussion of a practitioner–patient relationship in which transcultural, gender, and family conflicts were the focus of affective and cognitive dissonance. For mental health workers engaging with communities of cultural diversity, Balint reflection groups can facilitate insight into cultural countertransferences that adversely affect clinical work. The group served to support the caseworkers’ engagement with patients of different cultures, and provided a safe environment for the creative consideration and exploration in fantasy of the emotional pressures and complex ethical dilemmas related to boundaries in transcultural client–practitioner relationships, including those in which open discussion would otherwise be avoided.

Culturally competence care of moroccan migrants

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 2229-2229
Author(s):  
D. Moussaoui
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Cultural Sensitivity ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Mental Health Workers ◽  
Transcultural Psychiatry ◽  
Teaching Program ◽  
Traditional Beliefs ◽  
The North ◽  
Entire Country

About 15% of all Moroccans live abroad (4 and a half million), mostly in Europe and North America. For historic reasons, migration of Moroccans went essentially to France, Belgium, Holland, and more recently to Spain. Many of these migrants are well integrated, but many others do suffer from social bad integration. Those with mental disorders are probably those who are most at risk of non-integration.Mental health workers are not always aware of the cultural background of the Moroccan migrant, including family structure and interactions, religious and traditional beliefs. In France and Holland, and recently in Spain, a few teams are highly interested in transcultural psychiatry and provide care to the migrants and teaching to other mental health professionals. Their number and resources are however far from being sufficient to cover all the field in the entire country. One of the solutions is to develop a teaching program for post-graduates in psychiatry on "Cultural sensitivity" in all departments of psychiatry. A collaboration between mental health workers from the North and the South of the Mediterranean Sea is highly desirable in this respect. This is why the Euro-Med Network on Migration and Mental Health was created in 2007.

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