Information sharing workshop on care for care providers

1. Workshop on
Care for Care Provider
Md. Azharul Islam
Lecturer
Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology
University of Dhaka

2. Lets take the role…
• https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=oWJ923FYvXs
• You are a care provider for the
children of special need
working in respite care home in
your local borough.
• You are not specialized in
providing any therapeutic
interventions.

3. Objectives
• To identify health problems
stem from caring jobs
• To identify potential
hazards/sources of stress
• To understand the need of self
care
• To share some tips and
resources of self care

4. Why carefor careprovider?
• https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=XSbUd9QbbDc
“If you are travelling with a
child, put on your own mask
(oxygen) first, than the child”

5. Why carefor careprovider?
"Even the most dedicated
workers need an occasional
vacation, and this is especially
true of caregivers. A burned-
out caregiver cannot provide
quality care.”
– D. Helen Susik, Gerontologist.
Suncoast Gerontology Center,
University of South Florida

6. HEALTH ISSUES OFCARE
PROVIDERS
What are the health
challenges care
providers face?

7. Health issues ofcare
providers
• Primarily excessive STRESS!
• The prevalence of work related
stress in the year of 2011 and
2012 was
– 428 000 cases,
– accounting 40% of the total work
related diseases
• Other problems
– Musculoskeletal disorders
• 163 cases per thousand people
(Labour Force Survey 2012)

8. Health issues ofcare
providers
• Primarily excessive STRESS!
• The most affected industries
and occupations
(Labour Force Survey 2012)
2000
2200
2400
2600
2800
Nurses Teaching &
Education
Welfare &
housing
associates
2730
2340
2290
Reported cases per 100000 people

9. Health issues ofcare
providers
• Primarily excessive STRESS!
• Manifest in many ways
– Physical
• Muscle tension
• Headaches
• Digestive problems
• Changes in eating patterns
• Sexual difficulties
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Heart problems, HBP
• Breathing problem

10. Health issues ofcare
providers
• Primarily excessive STRESS!
• Manifest in many ways
– Psychological
• Anxiety (i.e., worry, fear, anger,
irritability, guilt, etc.)
• Depression
• Lack of concentration
• Memory loss
• Difficulty in making decisions
• Decreased problem-solving skills
• Decreased ability to be flexible
• Feeling of being overwhelmed

11. Health issues ofcare
providers
• Smith et al. (2011) examined
longitudinal associations
between
– care giving stressors,
– caregiver depression, and
– quality of care.
• Informal caregivers of elderly
care recipients were
interviewed at
– baseline (N=310) and again
– one year later (N=213).

12. Health issues ofcare
providers
• Results:
Care giving stressors
(i.e., CG physical health symptoms, CG activity restriction,
& care recipient controlling and manipulative behaviour
Care givers depression
Potentially harmful behaviour
Quality of Care

13. Health issues ofcare
providers
• Primarily excessive STRESS!
• Manifest in many ways
– Behavioural
• Nervous habits (pacing, fidgeting,
nail-biting)
• Smoking, drinking
• Crying
• Yelling, swearing, throwing things
• Blaming
• Giving up hobbies or interests once
enjoyed, friendships and social
connections (faith groups, clubs,
etc.)
• Overeating, not exercising

14. Health issues ofcare
providers
• Primarily excessive STRESS!
• Sometimes co-morbid with
‘Compassion Fatigue’ and
‘Burn-out’ (Orlovsky, 2006).

15. Health issues ofcare
providers
• Compassion Fatigue:
– 1) A state of tension and preoccupation
with the individual or cumulative
trauma of clients as manifested in one
or more ways including re-
experiencing the traumatic event,
avoidance/numbing of reminders of
the event, and persistent arousal.
– 2) The natural consequence of stress
resulting from caring for and helping
traumatized or suffering people or
animals.
• Burnout: a state associated with stress
and hassles involved in your vocation.

16. Group Activity
• What could be the potential
reasons of these health
outcomes in caring role?

17. Causes ofSTRESSin caringjob
• Within the job
– Workload
– Repetitive work
– Job environment (e.g., noise)
– Management issue (e.g., career,
relationship with supervisor, co-
workers, shift work, etc.)

18. Causes ofSTRESSin caringjob
• Personal issues: Some
irrational thoughts about caring
role
– I will “fix” the problem…make
everything O.K… save the
world…
– I am responsible for outcomes.
– If I care enough, everything will
be O.K.
– The sufferer/victim will
appreciate everything I do for
them.
– I will have enough resources
(time, money, material, skills
and training) to fix things.

19. Causes ofSTRESSin caringjob
• Personal issues: Some
irrational thoughts about caring
role (continued)
– Significant people in my life will
approve my absence from our
relationship while I invest in this
compassionate mission.
– I know what I’m getting into.
– I can do it alone.
– If I’m spiritual enough, I can deal
with the stress of working with
suffering people.

20. Dealingwith STRESS
• We can deal with work related
stress in two ways-
Intervention
Physical
Psychological

21. Dealingwith STRESS
• Physical interventions
– Physical Exercise
– Healthy eating
– Sleep well/Rest
– Evidence from American
national stress survey (2008)
indicated the effectiveness of the
various interventions.

23. Dealingwith STRESS
• Psychological interventions
– Work on your irrational thoughts
if you have any
– Seek professional counselling if
needed
– Learn stress management

24. Dealingwith STRESS
• Psychological interventions:
stress management
– The above physical interventions
can help in stress reduction
– Be assertive,
• learn to say ‘No’,
• seek support from others,
• communicate clearly
• be clear about your job role

25. Dealingwith STRESS
• Psychological interventions:
stress management
– Practice relaxation techniques
• Stretching
• Progressive Muscular Relaxation
• Mindfulness

26. Dealingwith STRESS
• Psychological interventions:
Stress Management>Mindfulness
– "Mindfulness is a translation of
a word that simply means
awareness. It's a direct, intuitive
knowing of what you are doing
while you are doing it. It's
knowing what's going on inside
your mind and body, and what's
going on in the outside world as
well.”
– Professor Mark Williams (2011),
Oxford University

27. Dealingwith STRESS
• Psychological interventions:
Stress Management>Mindfulness
– Shapiro et al. (2005)
– RCT: 8-week MBSR
intervention may be effective for
• reducing stress and
• increasing quality of life and
• self-compassion
– in health care professionals

28. Dealingwith STRESS
• Psychological interventions:
Stress Management>Mindfulness
– Benn, R., Akiva1, T., Arel1, S.,
Roeser, R. & Eccles, J. (2012)
– Sub: Teachers and parents of
children with special needs
– Intervention: Mndfulness Tr.
– Results:
• Reduced stress and anxiety,
• Improved mindfulness and
psychological well-being, and
• Facilitated hope and gratitude in
both parents and teachers.

29. Dealingwith STRESS
• Psychological interventions:
Stress Management>Mindfulness
– Let’s do a very short mindfulness
exercise….
– https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=0fcdv0kFVMs

30. Dealingwith STRESS
Smile
Sleep
Expectation
Relax
Treat your body well
ScheduleS
T
R
E
S
S

31. Summing up…
• Today we have discussed..
– Various health issues associated
with caring job;
– Sign and symptoms of work
related stress;
– Potential causes of this stress,
and
– Ways to deal this stress.

32. Resources
• The free Health for Work Advice line for Small
Business in England - helps you to quickly and
effectively address the issue of employee health,
minimise the impact of staff illness, and provide
essential support to staff with physical or mental health
issues http://www.health4work.nhs.uk/
• Health and Safety Executive: Useful resources about
workplace stress
http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/furtheradvice/wrs.htm
• http://www.mindfulnet.org/ is an independent
mindfulness website that aims to provide "everything
you need to know about mindfulness in one place".

33. Question and Feedback
Questions?
Please complete the attached
simple feedback form.
Thank You….

34. References
• Messina, J. J. (2010).Tools for Personal Growth.
Extracted from
http://www.jamesjmessina.com/toolsforpersonalgrowth/
irrationalbeliefs.html
• Orlovsky, C. (2006). Compassion fatigue. Prairie Rose,
75(3), 13.
• Pfifferling, J.H. & Gilley, K. (2000). Overcoming
compassion fatigue. Family Practice Management, 7(4),
39–46.
• Stress and Psychological Disorders (2012). Health and
Safety Executive, extracted from
http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress/index.ht
m
• Salmon, P (2001). 'Effects of Physical Exercise on
Anxiety, Depression and Sensitivity to Stress -A
Unifying Theory.’ In Clinical Psychology Review, 21
(1) , pp.33-61.
• Stress in America (2008), APA

35. References
• Shapiro, S. L., Astin, J. A., Bishop, S. R. and Cowdova,
M. (2005). Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for
Health Care Professionals: Results From a Randomized
Trial. International Journal of Stress Management. 12
(2), 164–176.
• Smith, G. R., Williamson, G. M., Miller, L. S. and
Schulz, R. (2011). Depression and Quality of Informal
Care: A Longitudinal Investigation of Caregiving
Stressors. Psychology and Aging, 26 (3), 584–591.