In the Business of Trauma: An intersectional-materialist feminist analysis of ‘trauma informed’ women’s refuges and crisis accommodation services in Sydney and Vancouver

Developing coping and self-care strategies has always been important for social work students as they prepare for work that can take a psychological, emotional, mental, and physical toll and adversely impact their health and well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in its impact on social work education as it forced students to quickly transition to online learning and leave field sites abruptly to do remote activities. The degree to which and how social work students effectively coped with these changes has not been adequately studied, despite recognition that understanding how personal experiences and affective reactions influence professional judgment and behavior is a critical social work competency. To help fill this void, a mixed-methods study was conducted using video narratives and survey data to assess the coping and self-regulation skills of a cohort of undergraduate social work students. Findings indicate that these students experienced multiple stressors in all aspects of their biopsychosocial functioning due to COVID-19. Many coping skills learned for use with clients were demonstrated by students themselves. Self-sufficient, avoidant, and socially-supported coping mechanisms were frequently used and relied on by students. Use of self-distraction and active coping increased, while denial decreased within the first month after transitioning to remote learning. Implications of the findings for social work education, practice, and research are discussed.

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Using Mixed Methods to Assess the Coping and Self-regulation Skills of Undergraduate Social Work Students Impacted by COVID-19.

Background Organizations supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are challenged with maintaining a viable workforce of direct support professionals (DSPs). Amid multiple factors, organizational culture based on trauma-informed care may promote DSP retention through increased satisfaction and decreased fatigue. Method An online survey was used to gather data from DSPs (n = 380) across seven agencies and two online social media groups. Data were analysed using stepwise regression to identify the relationship between trauma-informed organizational culture and professional quality of life (i.e., satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress). Results Trauma-informed organizational culture was associated with increased DSP psychological wellness. Regression models explained 7.3%-40.5% of the variance in professional quality of life. Conclusions Although trauma-informed initiatives have lagged in IDD services, this study provides preliminary evidence to bolster its justification, highlighting it as a possible partial response to the current workforce challenges.

Promoting satisfaction and reducing fatigue: Understanding the impact of trauma-informed organizational culture on psychological wellness among Direct Service Providers.

It is perhaps surprising that we lack complete national information about why children enter foster care. While the annual Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS) report is info...

What Proportion of Foster Care Children Do Not Have Child Protective Services Reports? A Preliminary Look.

Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a systemwide approach that emphasizes organizational practices based upon principles of safety, choice, collaboration, empowerment, and trustworthiness. It is intended to influence an entire organization, with implications for clients and the workforce. The present study explored the extent to which IDD organizations utilize practices that align with TIC with their DSP workforce. Through an online survey, 380 DSPs (84% women; 82% white) responded to a trauma-informed organizational culture measure. Results demonstrated variability across items and significant differences between TIC principles with safety most strongly scored, and collaboration least strongly scored. Perception of organizational practices differed by ethnicity, with non-white DSPs having more favorable responses. Current practices with DSPs align with TIC, however, increased attention through explicit trauma-informed initiatives is warranted.

From the DSP Perspective: Exploring the Use of Practices That Align With Trauma-Informed Care in Organizations Serving People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a widely adopted organizational approach to health and human services. The current study occurred within a residential addiction treatment agency and has two aims: To ...

Trauma-Informed Care Outcome Study:

For students new to social work, self-care is a strategy for addressing potentially negative impacts of the profession. Curiously, however, participation in a university’s self-care program has been chronically low. The purpose of this study is to explore social work students’ perceptions of self-care and to create a database for supporting changes in social work education. Qualitative data were collected via an online survey from MSW students. The findings revealed 5 categories for student perceptions of self-care, including health, time, activities, balance, and professionalism, and 3 categories for self-care and the social work program, including academic program experiences, resources, and modeling. Implications of the study in developing and tailoring a self-care program to students in MSW programs are discussed.

Perceptions of Self-Care Among MSW Students: Implications for Social Work Education

A student-alumni mentor program that combines aspects of academic and workplace mentoring was developed and implemented in a school of social work. Foundation-year MSW students (mentees) were match...

Mentoring Connections: Implementing a Student–Alumni Mentor Program in Social Work

Trauma Talks: Rising from the Ashes is a podcast series developed by The Institute on Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care (ITTIC). The series aims to present a variety of personal audio narratives that...

Trauma Talks: Exploring Personal Narratives of Trauma-Informed Care through Podcasting

Alumni mentoring in social work allows students to connect with experienced practitioners in a nonevaluative context and for alumni to strengthen university connections. This study describes and ev...

Josal Diebold

Papers

Trauma-Informed Care Outcome Study:

Perceptions of Self-Care Among MSW Students: Implications for Social Work Education

Mentoring Connections: Implementing a Student–Alumni Mentor Program in Social Work

Trauma Talks: Exploring Personal Narratives of Trauma-Informed Care through Podcasting

Formalizing Alumni Mentoring in Social Work Education: Lessons Learned From a Three-Year Program Evaluation