Supporting staff working with people who challenge services

Supporting Staff working with people who challenge services is a guide for employers to better equip their staff and organizations in dealing with the different care needs of residents.  It was developed by Skills for Care in partnership with staff, families and organizations who work with adults with different support needs such as older people with dementia, people with mental health and personality conditions, and those with learning disabilities who have particularly complex needs and/or are labelled as challenging (such as autism).

The guide is intended as a support tool to instigating a strategic policy that supports an effective workplace development program.  Building a knowledgeable, effective workplace will  ensure confidence within an organization and to its staff, reducing the impact that challenging behavior may have.

There are 5 sections to the report:

·         Section 1 Introduction and purpose of the guide

·         Section 2 Organisational action: This section looks at approaches an organization can take to ensure a supportive workplace, such as designing staff structures that work, recruiting the right staff and implementing support to staff to ensure good retention levels.

·         Section 3 Building workforce skills and knowledge: discusses how to recognize challenging behavior and solutions for combatting it.  It link to outside resources, like papers, reports, tools and websites that may help.   It also looks at how families can be important partners to an organization.

·         Section 4 Using learning tools and resources: This section includes information on what to look for when selecting a learning module, coach or trainer.

·         Section 5 Specialist approaches additional considerations for working with different people: This section provides greater insight into the medical reasons for challenging behaviours and links to outside resources for more specialized information.

For more information on challenging behaviours in Long-Term Care, don’t forget to check out our Current Perspectives on Behaviour in Long-Term Care.