Exploring the Psychosocial and Wellbeing Needs of Staff Accessing Trauma Support in Forensic Mental Health Services in the UK: Relations with Demographic,Occupational and Trauma Event Characteristics

Abstract

Healthcare professionals in secure psychiatric services are frequently exposed to service user distress and aggression. Consequently, staff trauma services (STS) have been developed to mitigate the detrimental impact of these experiences. Whilst the increased focus on occupational wellbeing is welcomed, such services have typically evolved in the absence of robust investigations exploring the breadth of the trauma-related needs of healthcare professionals (HCPs). This study explored the profiles of staff referred to an STS and the sequelea of physical and psychological incidents, with a view to improving understanding of need and informing the provision of STSs. Retrospective analyses of demographic characteristics, incident details and psychosocial impacts were conducted. Participants were staff from a secure psychiatric hospital who had received 1:1 support from a dedicated STS. Overall, approximately 4.6% (n = 154) of the workforce accessed the STS. Both clinical (n = 142, 92.2%) and non-clinical staff (n = 12, 7.8%) received support for physical and psychological incidents, occurring in and outside of the workplace. Compared to the general UK population, people who were referred to the STS were less likely to have social support. Staff most frequently accessed the service for work-based physical (n = 65, 42.2%) and psychological (n = 63, 40.9%) incidents. Whilst staff referred following a psychological incident were less likely to be absent from work, they presented with significantly higher levels of psychological distress. This study provides novel insight into factors associated with adverse psychosocial outcomes following trauma exposure, in an understudied occupational population.