Restorative Community Building Practices: A Train-the-Trainer Workshop for Medical Students, Staff, and Faculty

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Organizational Psychology
• Community Health

Background:

• Restorative practices (RPs) are emerging methods for building and managing relationships in organizations and communities.
• The medical field is increasingly adopting RPs to foster better professional environments.
• Academic medical institutions can benefit from structured training in RPs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and implement a day-long training workshop on community-building restorative practices.
• To assess the impact of the training on participants' understanding and application of RPs.
• To provide a model for other institutions interested in establishing RP practitioners.

Main Methods:

• A day-long workshop was developed for medical students, staff, and faculty.
• Training included lectures, interactive activities, and group discussions.
• Pre-, post-, and 3-month follow-up surveys were used, with quantitative and qualitative data analysis.

Main Results:

• Participants showed significant improvements in defining, applying, and designing RPs (p < .01).
• Qualitative feedback indicated enhanced connectedness and trust among participants.
• Follow-up data revealed sustained positive perceptions and increased confidence in applying RPs.

Conclusions:

• The workshop successfully built restorative practice capacity among participants.
• Participants demonstrated sustained confidence and skill application post-training.
• Future research should focus on longitudinal training models and long-term efficacy.