The Business of Healing: Focus Group Discussions of Readjustment to the Post-9/11 Work Environment Among Employees of Affected Agencies

North, Carol S.; Pfefferbaum, Betty; Hong, Barry A.; Gordon, Mollie; Kim, You Seung; Lind, Lisa; Pollio, David E.

doi:10.1097/jom.0b013e3181e48b01

Cited by 24 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…For example, a supportive leader may provide the employees with both path-goal clarifying and supportive information [17] that may help employees to cope [35]. Studies of organizations’ responses to terrorism and political violence argues that providing information is beneficial [36] and may even be considered a mental health intervention [37]. This may be especially important when sudden events occur in naive organizations who have low probability for such events, and who were not able to prepare or plan for the event.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between Work Environment and Psychological Distress after a Workplace Terror Attack: The Importance of Role Expectations, Predictability and Leader Support

et al. 2015

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Experiencing terrorism is associated with high levels of psychological distress among survivors. The aim of the present study was to examine whether work environmental factors such as role clarity and predictability, role conflicts, and leader support may protect against elevated levels of psychological distress after a workplace terrorist attack. Data from approximately 1800 ministerial employees were collected ten months after the 2011 Oslo bombing attack which targeted the Norwegian ministries. The results show that after a traumatic event, lower role conflicts, higher role clarity, higher predictability, and higher leader support were independently associated with lower psychological distress. These findings suggest that the workplace environment may be a facilitator of employees’ mental health after stressful events.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between Work Environment and Psychological Distress after a Workplace Terror Attack: The Importance of Role Expectations, Predictability and Leader Support

et al. 2015

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“…The first two themes are the focus of the current paper; the other three themes are described in detail in a previous publication (North et al, 2010). Sub-themes of the topic of transition back to work contain material relating to participants’ experiences in reconnecting with the workplace and peer support.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Workplace response of companies exposed to the 9/11 World Trade Center attack: a focus‐group study

North

Pfefferbaum

Hong³

et al. 2012

Disasters

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The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 (9/11) left workplaces in pressing need of a mental health response capability. Unaddressed emotional sequelae may be devastating to the productivity and economic stability of a company’s workforce. In the second year after the attacks, 85 employees of five highly affected agencies participated in 12 focus groups to discuss workplace mental health issues. Managers felt ill prepared to manage the magnitude and the intensity of employees’ emotional responses. Rapid return to work, provision of workplace mental health services, and peer support were viewed as contributory to emotional recovery. Formal mental health services provided were perceived as insufficient. Drawing on their post-9/11 workplace experience, members of these groups identified practical measures that they found helpful in promoting healing outside of professional mental health services. These measures, consistent with many principles of psychological first aid, may be applied by workplace leaders who are not mental health professionals.

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“…The Institutional Review Boards of the participating academic institutions approved this research. Further details of the sampling methods are available in other published articles [20–22]. …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A focus group study of the impact of trauma exposure in the 9/11 terrorist attacks

North

Barney²,

Pollio

2014

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol

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Purpose Much of the mental health research that has emerged from the September 11 (9/11) attacks has been focused on posttraumatic stress disorder and its symptoms. To better understand the broader experience of individuals following a disaster, focus groups were conducted with individuals from affected companies both at Ground Zero and elsewhere. Methods Twenty-one focus groups with a total of 140 participants were conducted in the second post-9/11 year. Areas of identified concern were coded into the following themes: Disaster Experience, Emotional Responses, Workplace Issues, Coping, and Issues of Public Concern. Results Discussions of focus groups included material represented in all five themes in companies both at Ground Zero and elsewhere. The emphasis and the content within these themes varied between the Ground Zero and other companies. Content suggesting symptoms of PTSD represented only a minority of the material, especially in the company groups not at Ground Zero. Conclusions This study’s findings revealed an array of psychosocial concerns following the 9/11 attacks among employees of companies in New York City that extended far beyond PTSD. This study’s results provide further evidence that trauma exposure is central to individuals’ post-disaster experience and focus, and to individuals’ adjustment and experience after disaster.

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The Business of Healing: Focus Group Discussions of Readjustment to the Post-9/11 Work Environment Among Employees of Affected Agencies

Abstract: Recommended risk communication procedures were applied but not systematically. Little direction was available for balancing workplace productivity and employees' emotional needs or for strategic management of postdisaster workspace, suggesting areas for future disaster workplace research.

Cited by 24 publications

References 24 publications

Associations between Work Environment and Psychological Distress after a Workplace Terror Attack: The Importance of Role Expectations, Predictability and Leader Support

Associations between Work Environment and Psychological Distress after a Workplace Terror Attack: The Importance of Role Expectations, Predictability and Leader Support

Workplace response of companies exposed to the 9/11 World Trade Center attack: a focus‐group study

A focus group study of the impact of trauma exposure in the 9/11 terrorist attacks

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