Healthcare Policy Analysis Healthcare Program: Vicarious Trauma Program
Healthcare Policy Analysis
Healthcare Program: Vicarious Trauma Program
“Compassion Fatigue”
Authors Name:
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Table of Contents
1.0. Introduction 4
1.1. Thesis/Problem Statement: 5
1.2. Research Questions: 5
2.0. Toolkit Model: Vicarious Trauma Toolkit (VTT) 6
3.0. Vulnerability or Risks of Vicarious Trauma 7
4.0. Negative Reactions/Effects of Vicarious Trauma 8
5.0. Planning, Implementation and Evaluation of Vicarious Trauma Programs in the US 9
5.1. Planning for Vicarious Trauma Programs: VT-ORG 10
5.2. Implementing the Vicarious Trauma Programs: Compendium of Resources 11
5.2.1. Sector wise/Field Resources: 12
5.2.2. Existing Literature/Research 12
5.2.3. New Tools in the Field: 12
5.2.4. Videos, Podcasts and Websites 13
6.0. Evaluation of Vicarious Trauma Programs: 13
7.0. Conclusion: 14
8.0. References: 14
1.0. Introduction
Vicarious trauma is a term that is used to refer to the wearing out of the human soul as a result of compassion or too much caring. It is an occupation mental health condition that emanates from conducting daily activities with fear that vividly depicts the horrific images of fear. According to the (Office of Justice Programs, n.d.), vicarious trauma may be viewed as an occupational health challenge affecting the individuals who are either volunteering and working in the various fields of victim related services for instance; fire services, medical professional services, emergency response team, law enforcement and other allied occupations.
Vicarious trauma emanates from their frequent exposure to the violence and the victims of trauma related incidences. This occupational related trauma (Vicarious trauma), may effectively transpire from experiences like responding to the incidence of mass violence, responding or hearing about the respective aftermath of violence related incidences, reviewing violence and victim case files, evaluating or reviewing videos showcasing children who were exploited and exposure to other traumatic experiences.
Ideally, the (Office of Justice Programs, n.d.) indicates that most professionals uniquely respond to vicarious trauma in varied or different ways and that in the event of the mass violence of frequently being exposed to the traumatic experiences they are definitely bound to ultimately change their worldview. Some of the victims of vicarious trauma may end up either being more fearful or cynical about the current situation or scenario others often depict content tendencies as they eventually become more appreciative of everything they have in life. The respective responses to the vicarious traumatic experience vary significantly from person to person especially in the case of prolonged exposure to the occupational health related challenge.
1.1. Thesis/Problem Statement:
Compassion is a term that is perfectly coined to refer to the desirable traits and character that is obtained when one chooses noble occupations or professions for instance: the fire men, medical professionals, working in emergency response teams, law enforcement officers among other compassionate occupations. Additionally, vicarious trauma or compassion fatigue is an occupational health mental or psychological challenge that affects individuals working in compassionate professions in the UK or persons who are frequently exposed to victims of trauma. Therefore, the main objective of this research study is to provide a comprehensive and candid evaluation of the planning, implementation and evaluation activities that went into the design of vicarious programs in the US.
1.2. Research Questions:
This paper will focus on providing comprehensive answers to the following study questions:
What is the Vicarious Trauma toolkit model
Who are the vulnerable members of the society who are victims of Vicarious Trauma?
What are some of the negative effects of Vicarious Trauma?
Explore the planning, implementation and evaluation in the design of Vicarious Trauma Programs in the US
2.0. Toolkit Model: Vicarious Trauma Toolkit (VTT)
Vicarious trauma model Retrieved from (Office of Justice Programs, n.d.)
Vicarious trauma is a term that is used to refer to the negative effects resulting from the exposure to trauma. Ideally vicarious trauma generally includes a range of different psychological symptoms for instance; STS also secondary traumatic stress, CF (compassion fatigue), burnout and CIS (Critical incident stress). According to the vicarious trauma model retrieved from the (Office of Justice Programs, n.d.), the vicarious neural reactions signify to the respect ways in which individuals generate the desired level of resilience , coping up with the occupational traumatic experience, support and manage the traumatic experience encountered at the workplace. Moreover, vicarious transformation and resilience are concepts in the vicarious trauma model that reflect on the positive effects of the occupational trauma. (Lepore, Kocj, Sanford & Cosden, 2016).
Vicarious resilience, results from the unique ability of individuals drawing their inspiration from the strengths of the victims of violence using their emotional and mental fortitude. Compassionate satisfaction refers to the sense of purpose or meaning that is derived or gained from working as a first responder, as part of the emergency response team or working in the service or field of victims. Finally, compassionate satisfaction is a positive scenario that may eventually motivate the victims and protect them against any undesirable negative experiences or outcomes of vicarious occupational trauma (Lepore, Kocj, Sanford & Cosden, 2016).
3.0. Vulnerability or Risks of Vicarious Trauma
It is prudent to confirm that the individuals or persons employed and working with the victims of violence and survivors of traumatic or painful experience are more vulnerable and they risk experiencing the negative effects or challenges of vicarious trauma (Lepore, Kocj, Sanford & Cosden, 2016). The individual occupational factors that force the volunteers or employees working with the survivors of trauma and victims of violence to vicarious trauma include but not limited to the following: (1) if the individuals have prior practical experiences with the torture or traumatic event, (2) social isolation while on or off their job, (3) increased tendencies to withdraw, (4) avoid getting feelings or assigning blames to other persons during situations that are stressful, (5) people who have difficulties in expressing their unique feelings, (6) those who lack supervision, training, orientation or unprepared to perform their supervision tasks or jobs, (7) if they are new employees with less experience on working with victims of trauma, pain and emergency situations, (8) intense and constant exposure to various traumatic experiences with little to no variations in the tasks and work. Finally (9), individuals who lack supportive and effective processes of evaluating or discussing the individual traumatic experiences are also prone to vicarious trauma.
4.0. Negative Reactions/Effects of Vicarious Trauma
It is prudent to inform that different people experience the resultant effects of vicarious trauma in different ways. Some of the negative effects or reactions to vicarious trauma include: some experience a lot of difficulties in managing their emotions, increased emotional numb feeling or frequent shut down, difficulties in sleeping, a lot of sleepiness and increased fatigue, physical complaints or problems for instance decreased resistance to diseases, increased pains, aches and complaints, increased distractions that results in the more risks for the professionals experiencing accidence while on duty, feeling of hopelessness, loss of the right sense of meaning in life events, withdrawing from family and friends, avoiding intimacy, increased interpersonal feuds or conflicts.
Other worrying negative side effects of vicarious trauma include feeling more vulnerable, more violent, explosive and aggressive behaviors, coping up with destructive addictive behaviors, a sense of decreased participation in enjoyable activities, avoiding interactions with the client, failure to attend work and finally, a combination of various symptoms of mental health challenges for instance PTSD also post traumatic stress disorder (Lepore, Kocj, Sanford & Cosden, 2016).
Vicarious Trauma Examples
Types of Vicarious Traumas
Categories
Examples
Personal Vicarious Trauma
Physical, emotional, behavioral, spiritual, cognitive and relational
Headaches, rapid breathing, guilt, anxiety. Loss of purpose and meaning in life, traumatic imagery, reduced interest of intimacy
Professional Vicarious Trauma
Performance, morale, relational behavioral
Task avoidance, decreased confidence, withdrawn or detached from co-workers, poor communication, irresponsibility among others.
Tabular representation: showing the examples of Vicarious Trauma Data retrieved from (Office of Justice Programs, n.d.)
5.0. Planning, Implementation and Evaluation of Vicarious Trauma Programs in the US
According to the (Office of Justice Programs, n.d.), it takes a lot of strength and courage for professionals to work with and help the adult or children victims of fires, mass violence, terrorism activities, survivors of traumatic experiences and victims of sexual abuse. It also takes a lot of passion and commitment for these professionals to expedite their daily duties despite the mental, emotional, and physical and persona impact. As part of the major planning process of the vicarious trauma programs, the VTT also Vicarious Trauma Toolkit was developed by the Office of Victims of Crime by basing on the fact that the exposure to the individual traumatic situations and experiences (situation known as vicarious trauma) is an occupational challenge that is inevitable for professionals in field of victim response or services, law enforcement, fire services, medical practice and emergency services (Lepore, Kocj, Sanford & Cosden, 2016).
The vicarious trauma toolkit includes the respective resources and tools that are tailor-made or customized to these professional fields and in averting the effects of stress witnessed by professionals in these fields. It achieves this by providing skills and knowledge that is necessary enough to enable the organizations in these fields of compassion to effectively address the needs of the victims affected with vicarious trauma (Boulanger, 2018).
5.1. Planning for Vicarious Trauma Programs: VT-ORG
The (VT-ORG) also Vicarious Trauma Organizational Readiness is the commencing point for the firms and individual organizations that require to include the vicarious trauma activities or being informed on the effective measures aimed at proactively addressing all of the impacts of the daily occupational exposure to the traumatic experiences of victims fire, emergency, catastrophe, mass disasters among others. The organizations willing to implement, include or inculcate the vicarious trauma programs into their operational processes and activities should initially start with VT-ORG also Vicarious Trauma Organizational Readiness (Boulanger, 2018).
Additionally, organizations may also utilize the VT-ORG to effectively evaluate and assess the resulting impact of their employees exposure to the traumatic experiences of other victims. Using VT-ORG, organizations may also be able to evaluate the current potential and existing capacity of the institution and prioritizing the individual needs of their employees in relation to the traumatic experiences witnessed while working. Additionally, these organizations may also utilize the VT-ORG in identifying the existing limitations, weaknesses and gaps and ultimately addressing all of occupational traumatic needs of the professionals and employees who experience trauma (Boulanger, 2018).
Ultimately, the firms also have the ability of utilizing the VTT also Vicarious Trauma Toolkit to locate the individual resources that will go a long way in helping the organizations to effectively take up important measures and steps aimed at addressing the weaknesses and gaps. Whether organizations belong to law enforcement organizations, fire services, EMS and victim services they have the ability of utilizing the VTT to access the appropriate resources and capabilities within the VT-ORG that are important in improving the operations of the organization or agency (Boulanger, 2018).
Additionally, the Compendium of existing resources are vital because they contain about 500 tools available for organizations and which may be used by firms when planning to implement the vicarious trauma programs into their operational activities. The compendium resources generally include vital customized resources in handling or mitigating the effects of vicarious trauma for instance: videos, podcasts, URL links to websites, new strategic tools for individual sectors, intervention research studies, the risk factors, the impact, existing literature on the prevalence of the issues revolving around the concept of vicarious trauma, practices, procedures and reliable policies on vicarious trauma. Moreover, the vicarious trauma toolkit also contains bibliography, glossary terminologies and research on informative articles located within the compendium of all resources (Boulanger, 2018).
5.2. Implementing the Vicarious Trauma Programs: Compendium of Resources
Organizations willing to include the vicarious trauma programs into its daily operational activities should focus on utilizing the compendium of resources which is a listing of about 500 different vital informational resources on how the firms may effectively learn and develop programs that will help the employees in the organization to effectively address the adverse effects of vicarious trauma on their employees. The list of compendium resources generally includes the general description, developer or author, sources and titles that are organized and classified into different CDC codes, topics, organizational program or strategies, discipline and categories. Moreover, the organizations have the ability of searching for the resources using the category utility or tool which are classified into the following categories:
5.2.1. Sector wise/Field Resources:
This includes various materials and resources that are critical in improving the operations of the company for instance; training, programs and practices, operating guidelines and procedures gathered through data collection procedures and used in addressing the vicarious trauma programs (Boulanger, 2018).
5.2.2. Existing Literature/Research
The information or materials in this section of the compendium resources is effective in presenting the clinical and research for all interested organizations on the intervention, risk factors, increased prevalence and overall impact of vicarious trauma. The materials were uniquely selected from social sciences, organizational and clinical psychology, criminal justice, social work, psychiatry law, medicine and public health. Finally, organizations or institutions wishing to implement the vicarious training program will be able access existing information that relates to their field (Boulanger, 2018).
5.2.3. New Tools in the Field:
There are sixteen new other tools that were included in the Vicarious Trauma Toolkit (VTT) with the objective of addressing the existing gaps and weakness in the implementation of the vicarious trauma program. Other materials present in this section include the VT-ORG, helping managers with initiatives of addressing various cases of vicarious trauma using employee assistance initiatives, peer support programs, human resources and family support programs to help professionals suffering from vicarious trauma (Boulanger, 2018).
5.2.4. Videos, Podcasts and Websites
Finally, the materials and links present in this section generally include links to informative resources, blogs, and websites among other material that is available for organizations wishing to train, empower or setup a vicarious training program that will help their employees tackle the adverse effects of vicarious trauma. These websites are included as part of the tools in the VTT and they have the ability of educating, empowering and informing organizations on the steps towards implementation of a vicarious program (Lepore, Kocj, Sanford & Cosden, 2016).
6.0. Evaluation of Vicarious Trauma Programs:
Vicarious trauma is a mental health challenge which affects the psychology and well-being of the professionals. The organizations have the ability of evaluating the impact of the vicarious trauma programs by comprehending the stress levels of their employees. Through monitoring patterns and employee trends, the managers are able to measure the significance of the individual initiatives (Lepore, Kocj, Sanford & Cosden, 2016).
7.0. Conclusion:
The main objective of this paper was to focus on evaluating the occupational mental health challenge vicarious trauma that occurs among the professionals working in the following sectors: fire services, emergency response teams, disaster management experts, medical professionals, law makers among others.
This paper has mainly focused on reviewing the following: The vicarious trauma toolkit, identifying the members within the organization who are vulnerable and risk experiencing vicarious trauma, understanding the negative effects of vicarious trauma, the planning, implementation and finally, evaluation of vicarious training. Organizations could plan for the vicarious training program using the VT-ORG and implement the respective initiatives using the compendium of resources which includes: field resources, literature, new tools videos and podcasts.
8.0. References:
Boulanger, G., (2018). When is Vicarious trauma a necessary therapeutic tool? Psychoanalytic Psychology. Retrieved from https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-26310-001
Lepore, E. C., Koch, M., L, Sanford, A., & Cosden, M. (2016). Vicarious trauma and vicarious posttraumatic growth among substance abuse treatment providers, 37(4), 619-624. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/08897077.2016.1181695
Office of Justice Programs., (n.d.). THE VICARIOUS TRAUMA TOOLKIT. Retrieved from https://vtt.ovc.ojp.gov/what-is-vicarious-trauma