IRCT [to 15 November 2014]

News
IRCT underlines importance of care for caregivers with new good practices report
12 November 2014
The IRCT is pleased to launch the ‘Peer Support Report’. The report draws from the results of the Peer Support Project, which took place between June 2012 and November 2013 and involved six IRCT member centres based in the EU.
As the report points out, when working with survivors of torture there is a need for proper staff support and stress management strategies. Without these, organisations and their staff are susceptible to stress-related issues such as health problems, higher turnover and lower work efficiency.
The aim of the EU-funded project was to help torture rehabilitation centres tackle high levels of stress and burnout among their staff and volunteers by raising awareness of the importance of stress and quality management policies and processes…
…Six European rehabilitation centres, all members of the IRCT network, took part in the project: ACET (Bulgaria), Freedom from Torture (United Kingdom), HEMAYAT (Austria), MRCT Craiova (Romania), Parcours d’Exil (France), and SPIRASI (Ireland). The Peer Support Project was coordinated by the IRCT with support from the bzfo (Berlin Centre for the Treatment of Torture Victims) and the Antares Foundation.
PEER SUPPORT PROJECT – GOOD PRACTICES REPORT
IRCT
November 2014 :: 32 pages
pdf: http://www.irct.org/Admin/Public/DWSDownload.aspx?File=%2fFiles%2fFiler%2fpublications%2fPeer-support-final.pdf
Introduction
Staff and volunteers of organisations working with survivors of extreme trauma experience high levels of stress. They are repeatedly exposed to the harrowing accounts of torture survi¬vors. They are often required to work with limited resources to provide support to a large population of beneficiaries. Those working in conflict zones or situations of political instabil¬ity face threats to their own physical security and integrity. In some cases, staff and volunteers are themselves part of the target population, having gone through traumatic experiences themselves. Even staff who do not have direct client contact are exposed to the stresses of working in often under-resourced organisations and are often indirectly exposed to traumatic material.
Long-term stress of this nature can have serious consequences for the mental health, health and general well-being of staff. It also affects the organisation itself. Chronic staff stress leads to higher turnover, higher absenteeism, lower morale and lower work efficiency and effectiveness. It is therefore essential that centres for the rehabilitation of victims of torture create a framework that provides a sustainable system of support to their employees and volunteers.
The goal of the Peer Support Project is to assist in the develop¬ment of such a framework.