| Popis: |
The thesis aimed to establish a snapshot of service provision for people with a learning disability and to examine staff experiences of aggression in both community and specialist health services. Study 1 found differences in the professional composition of community learning disability teams within Scottish NHS trusts. Study 2 indicated that different professions have quite different work patterns within the same team, while study 3 illustrated that aggression was the most common for referral to one community clinical psychology service. Studies 4 and 5 established that a high percentage of both social care and health staff experienced aggression, mainly attempted or actual physical aggression. No clear relationship was found for the social care group between training and either the experience of aggression or confidence in managing it. Gender appeared to play a mediating role in relation to training, with trained women being significantly more likely to report anxiety in managing aggression than trained men. Gender differences also existed in relation to the experience of assault, with women being more likely to report assault. Study 5 found that staff qualification was also implicated, with qualified staff being at greater risk of experiencing aggression. The high level of aggression were not, however, related to burn-out, as measured by absenteeism. This was thought to be due to aspects of the team climate and the strong, positive working relationships between staff acting as a ‘stress buffer’. Study 6 indicated that both health and social care staff, saw advantages overall in moving from an impatient model of care for those with severely challenging behaviour towards a more collaborative community outreach service. |
