Building awareness of vicarious trauma in the workplace
Regular exposure to elder abuse, loneliness, trauma, injustice, and grief puts frontline carer staff at high risk of vicarious trauma.
In this article, WA's peak advocacy organisation for older people, Advocare, discusses awareness and responses to the trauma experienced by frontline workers in aged care.
Regular exposure to elder abuse, loneliness, trauma, injustice, and grief puts frontline carer staff at high risk of vicarious trauma. How does Advocare address this in our workplace to keep our staff safer?
What is ‘vicarious trauma’? The Work Safe WA Code of Practice for Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace states vicarious trauma results from repeated exposure over time to other people’s traumatic experiences. It has a cumulative response for people and is sometimes referred to as ‘compassion fatigue’.
The effects of vicarious trauma can vary from person to person, however, if not addressed can lead to a range of issues including stress, burnout, fatigue, sleeping problems, and loss of pleasure in daily activities.
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