The Rationale, Importance, and Aim of the Research

The rationale for the research, why is the study important to you as a social care practitioner, or your clients, or the organization you work for? What are the issues the research addresses? Are there any links to current policy?

As a practitioner, the research is essential because it addresses a challenge that can be dealt with to ensure the maximization of my skills during the practice. Besides, the study is also vital to the clients because it ensures they receive the most probable care that they need as well as the management of their mental conditions in the best way possible. Lastly, the research is essential to my organization since it ensures that the organization achieves its mission and the main aim of providing its clients with the best environment as well as the best practitioners to handle and manage their conditions (Hardy 2017, p.22). The research in question addresses the issues of burn out, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue in the staff. The study links to the Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner code.  

 What is the aim of the research/ the challenge you are facing and hoping to address?

The challenges faced include compassion fatigue, burn out as well as vicarious trauma in the staff member dealing with the residents experiencing mental health problems.

What is the intervention you are going to carry out? What are the changes you are going to introduce to your practice to achieve the aim?

The intervention intended will be availed through the starting of classes of wellbeing that will be attended by the staff in question. Further, the change that will be introduced is the formation of wellbeing groups in the workplace that will ensure all the group members are in a good mental state every day of their duty.

What are the research questions being asked?

How can the mental wellbeing of the staff be maintained or improved when at the workplace? How can the staff prevent burnout, vicarious trauma as well as compassion fatigue while taking care of the residents with mental health problems?

What do you expect/hope to happen as a result of your intervention?

The intervention should help the staff to keep good mental health in the workplace as well as avoid the challenges of compassion fatigue, burn out as well as the trauma that may come with their hectic schedule and load of work in the workplace. Importantly, the intervention should help the practitioners be at their best states all the time at the workplace to ensure they provide quality care for the residents in question.

Methodology: what are the methodological approaches you will be using and why is this useful to you as a social care practitioner? (Questionnaire, research journal, focus groups)

The focus group methodology will be used in the study. The methods in question are advantageous to the practitioner since it helps one to have a deeper insight into the related topic (Djuric 2015, p.15). Secondly, the methodology allows for interactive feedback where the moderator gets to observe the group and get contents from the responses like the contradictions, anger, stress, enthusiasm, frustrations as well as other several feelings that will help in the study. The third is the fact that has low costs.

Data collection methods: explain how you will collect your data. Justify the data collection methods you have selected.

In the focus group, the collection of data will be through offering an interview, which will be helpful in getting the emotional responses from the groups interviewed and help in the study (Soares, Camelo and Resck 2016, p.20). 

The arrangement, Access, and Ethics: Describe what arrangements you have made to carry out your intervention and for data collection with particular reference to any ethical issues you will face or are aware of.

The staff has been notified, and the shifts changed to accommodate the classes that the staff will attend their wellbeing. The ethical issues in the research include ensuring there is an informed consent in the participants’ side (McGee 2009, p.24). Further, the participants should be treated with respect, avoiding the creation of unnecessary tensions in the groups, the protection of their privacy, as well as ensuring time observation in the groups.  

Data analysis: Explain how you expect to undertake the analysis of your data? What is the process you will use?

The analysis will be done through qualitative techniques, whose process would involve the chunking of the obtained data into smaller units and attaching code to every unit, grouping the codes into various categories, and finally, the development of either one or more themes expressing the content found in each of the groups.

References

Djuric, S. (2015). The methodology of focus group research. Sociologija, 47(1), pp.1-26.

Hardy, S. (2017). Importance of the Staff’s mental health and wellbeing. Practice Management, 27(3), pp.20-23.

McGee, P. (2009). Ethical Issues in Researching the Mental Health wellbeing. Research Ethics, 5(1), pp.23-26.

Soares, M., Camelo, S. and Resck, Z. (2016). TECHNIQUE OF FOCUS GROUP IN QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION: EXPERIENCE REPORT. REME: Revista Mineira de Enfermagem, 20.