Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating an Adapted Stress First Aid and Psychological First Aid Model in a Hospital...

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Psychology
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Healthcare workers experience high levels of occupational stress due to demanding work conditions.
• Existing psychosocial support programs like Psychological First Aid and Stress First Aid offer valuable interventions.
• Limited resources are available for organizations seeking to develop and implement such support programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To detail the development and implementation of an adapted peer-administered post-event psychosocial support program.
• To address the specific needs of a Mid-Atlantic Level 1 Trauma Hospital.
• To evaluate the program's effectiveness in enhancing healthcare workers' stress response capabilities.

Main Methods:

• Development of an adapted training program blending Psychological First Aid and Stress First Aid principles.
• Implementation within a Level 1 Trauma Hospital setting.
• Evaluation of the program's impact on healthcare workers' recognition and response to stress injuries.

Main Results:

• The adapted peer-administered program proved effective in improving healthcare workers' ability to identify and address colleagues' stress.
• Findings suggest successful adaptation of established support models to institutional requirements.
• The program enhanced the recognition and response to stress injuries among healthcare personnel.

Conclusions:

• Peer-administered psychosocial support programs can be effectively adapted to specific healthcare settings.
• The developed program demonstrates a viable model for mitigating occupational stress in high-acuity environments.
• Institutions can leverage existing frameworks like Psychological First Aid and Stress First Aid for tailored staff support.