Professional quality of life of adult protective service workers

Abstract

Adult Protective Services (APS) workers are exposed to substantial occupational hazards and job stress, but these stressors are underdocumented. Therefore, we sought to describe APS workers' work environments and responses to occupational hazards and stressors, including compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. Survey data were gathered with closed-ended questionnaires administered to APS workers in an urban setting. Virtually all workers (97%) reported exposure to one or more environmental hazards in their work, and 80% reported hazard exposure in the past month. Workers also reported mixed responses to their work environment and to experiences with supervision. A sizable minority (22.7%) was at high risk for burnout, 24.6% were at risk for secondary traumatic stress, and 19.9% reported low compassion satisfaction. The results document multiple stressors in APS work. The APS partner is committed to ongoing efforts to better support its staff, and these findings can inform future efforts to enhance supervisor support and worker self-care, to minimize burnout and secondary traumatic stress.

Adult Protective Services Training: Insights from California Caseworkers

“…Focus group participants reported demonstrated benefits in their knowledge and associated skills from training on their work, ability to help clients, and feelings of safety in the field. Ghesquiere et al (2018) reported APS caseworkers were exposed to substantial occupational hazards and stressors that were often undocumented, and our findings supported the importance to train caseworkers on responding to them. Another important finding was that heavy caseloads, access to training, and local protocols and relationships with other service agencies were key obstacles to practice change.…”

Reducing burnout, vicarious trauma, and secondary traumatic stress through investigating purpose in life in social workers

“…Adult/elder protective services (some states use adult protective services, whereas others use elder protective services, to refer to adults 18-64 and older adults 65þ) social workers are the first responders to any incidents involving adults at-risk of being abused (Ghesquiere, Plichta, McAfee, & Rogers, 2018). Adult/elder protective service workers serve older adults and those who suffer from neurocognitive disorders, adults (18þ) with disabilities, or those who are at risk of eviction (e.g.…”

“…Adult/elder protective service workers serve older adults and those who suffer from neurocognitive disorders, adults (18þ) with disabilities, or those who are at risk of eviction (e.g. Ghesquiere et al, 2018;Leon, Altholz, & Dziegielewski, 1999;Stiegel, 2006). Child protective services workers have similar duties, but their clients are under age 18.…”

“…Compassion fatigue, alongside STS and VT is well documented in child protective service workers (Bride et al, 2007;Conrad & Kellar-Guenther, 2006;Drake & Yadama, 1996;Lizano & Mor Barak, 2012). However, research examining these psychological sequelae in adult/ elder protective service workers is limited, though one recent study found adult protective service workers to be at risk for compassion fatigue, burnout, and STS, with rates in this population being triple that of child protective service workers (Ghesquiere et al, 2018).…”

professional Quality of Life and its Relation to Self-Care in Mediation Professionals

“…Mediators were found to have high levels of distress at work, suggesting they were at risk. As in the studies by Cuartero-Castañer and Campos-Vidal (2019) and Ghesquiere et al (2018), self-care positively affected compassion satisfaction and helped reduce burnout and compassion fatigue. Our study confirms that self-care practices ultimately and positively impact the professional quality of life of those who engage in them.…”