Supporting Staff who Support Students Eleanor Flynn 1, Wendy Hu 2, Robyn Woodward-Kron 1 2 School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney 1 Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne Acknowledgements: ANZAHPE & ACEN Research Grants

Workshop Overview Background Training resources for professional, academic and clinical staff who support students – Video triggers to foster peer support – A critical incident response flowchart A note: – Scenarios based on aggregated real life stories – Discuss what you are comfortable discussing, but please keep it private

Why is supporting staff important? Unique stressors 1-2 faced by medical & health professional students Community expectation to provide academic & pastoral support to students Distance from on-campus services and staff training

Student concerns presenting to staff Scheduling, procedures, paperwork Study, progress and assessments Isolation, specific placement issues Relationships: peers, staff and family Financial and employment pressures Mental health and substance abuse Accidents and deaths: suicide, life- threatening illnesses Increasing level of concern

What are the effects of dealing with student concerns on you, or on your staff? Discussion Activity 5 minutes – Think-Pair-Share

Research findings – Impact on Staff of Supporting Students in Distress ‘Emotional labour’ work not acknowledged Tensions between – Formal roles, and desire to help students – Being approachable, and keeping professional boundaries – Maintaining privacy, and documenting concerns – Feeling responsible, but ineffectual Need for staff support and training

Training & Support Recommendations PROCESSES Orientation, role clarification Management of workload, formal recognition Clearer communication: when to refer and to whom, what to document Peer support: informal debriefings Self care, boundary setting RESOURCES Skills training e.g. Mental Health First Aid Information about local referral and support services Information about policies and procedures Critical incident flowchart and checklist Training resource with video simulations

When students disclose: How should I respond? Discussion Activity 30 minutes – Video scenarios

A Scenario A student comes to you in the office with a timetabling request…. Questions to consider: What happens in the video scenario? What issues does the scenario raise about staff roles and responsibilities? How should staff respond to this scenario?

[Videos]

A Scenario An administrative officer approaches a supervisor with concerns…. Questions to consider: What happens in the video scenario? What issues does the scenario raise about roles and responsibilities? What should be done?

[Videos]

Summing up…

When the unexpected happens: Developing a response flowchart Discussion Activity 30 minutes

Types of student concerns Usual Staff-Student interactions Student request  Staff response (check policy)  Referral  Documentation  Follow-up Critical incident – a definition 5,6 – Traumatic and serious event – Extreme physical and/or emotional distress – Outside normal range of experience  Imbalance between usual staff capacity and resources, and the needs of affected person(s)

What are examples of critical or urgent student concerns? Discussion Activity 5 minutes – Think-Pair-Share

Developing a flowchart STUDENT CONCERN Critical, Urgent or Non-Urgent? What follow-up is needed? What resources are available? What to document, and how? What are the relevant policies? Who needs to know? When? When to refer on? To whom?

Summing up…

Where to from here? Develop a “standard” referral pathway Circulate information about support services Staff orientation and training How will you use the workshop resources? Disseminate an incident response pathway

Further information Eleanor Flynn Wendy Hu Robyn Woodward-Kron