Book review
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17556228200900032 |
| Date | 11 December 2009 |
| Pages | 41-41 |
| Published date | 11 December 2009 |
| Author | Christina Pond |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
41
The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice Volume 4 Issue 4 December 2009 © Pier Professional Ltd
Book review
Work-re lated stress and burnout in health care
professionals costs the NHS millions of pounds each year
and also impacts upon the quality of care offered to the
patient or service user.
Recent Department of Health initiatives have promoted
the use of staff support groups as a means to combat some
of the contributory factors, by offering a forum to resolve
conflict, reflect on practice and strengthen emotional
resilience.
This very accessible book explores this topic, with the
editors and a range of contributors drawing on their own
experiences of facilitating support groups in a number
of settings. They offer the reader an understanding of
the influences that help and hinder the setting up and
running of staff support groups.
The book is divided into two parts. The first part,
written by Hartley and Kennard, provides an overview
and practical guide to setting up and facilitating staff
support groups. This section of the book offers the reader
information on process issues, such as the range of uses for
the group, the role of the facilitator, keys to success, setting
up the group and, equally importantly, how to end it.
It also considers some contextual issues including
the differences between the staff support group and
other groups that may be established and why staff find
it difficult to ask for support, dealing with the paradox
described by the authors of the readiness to acknowledge
support needs set against the poor uptake of offers of
support. The final chapter in part one summarises what
can be learnt from the available research and evaluation
into whether such groups work.
The second part of the book includes contributions
from experienced facilitators describing their personal
experiences of facilit ating staff support gro ups in a
variety of environments, including psychiatric wards,
therapeutic communities, social services settings and
schools. Through these shared experiences, the reader is
offered an insight into the difficulties and successes of
support groups operating in different settings.
Throughout the book, the relationship between the
group and the organisation in which it is formed is also
addressed.
Although aiming t o, and indeed s ucceeding in,
providing very practical advice and guidance to those
involved in this aspect of group work, be they facilitators,
participants or anyone considering setting up a staff
support group, the authors caution against using the
book as a manual, emphasising that facilitating such a
group calls for a combination of understanding, tact and
tenacity. They conclude that the core knowledge and
skills needed for facilitating staff support groups should
be treated as seriously as those required for supervision
and management.
This is an engaging and easy-to-read book, which
makes an excellent contribution to our understanding of
this topic. It also raises a number of thought-provoking
questions, including the need to deal with the reluctance,
probably common to all of us, to ask for or accept support
at work, whether individually or in a group, and considers
how this can be addressed to provide better care for staff
and, as a consequence, for those whom they themselves
provide care.
Staff Support Groups in the Helping Professions: Principles, practice and pitfalls
Reviewed by: Christina Pond
Standards Qualifications and Policy Development, Skills for Health
Edited by Phil Hartley and David Kennard
ISBN: 978 0 415 44774 4
Published by: Routledge
Publication date: 2009
Pages: 216
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