Staff views on reflective practice groups in an inpatient assessment and treatment unit for people with intellectual disabilities

Staff views on reflective practice groups in an inpatient assessment and treatment unit for people with intellectual disabilities Corinne Green, Reed Cappleman Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, Vol. ahead-of-print, No. ahead-of-print, pp.- Although it is recommended that reflective practice groups (RPGs) are used to support staff in inpatient intellectual disability (ID) services, there is to date no research on their effectiveness or how staff perceive RPGs in these settings. This paper aims to evaluate staff perceptions of the RPGs in an assessment and treatment unit for people with ID and to ascertain the nature of any barriers for staff in attending the group.Thirteen staff completed questionnaires ascertaining their views on the purpose, process and impact of the RPG run within the service. Questionnaires included a version of the clinical supervision evaluation questionnaire (CSEQ; Horton et al., 2008) adapted for this context and a questionnaire designed by the authors examining barriers to attending the group.Staff responses indicated that they valued the group and perceived it as improving their clinical practice and their self-awareness. Staff did not always perceive group sessions as having clear aims and did not perceive the group as enhancing their well-being or their awareness of gaps in their skills. RPGs may be most effective if they form part of a service-wide approach to staff support and development.To the best of the authors’ knowl...

Source: Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities - March 20, 2023 Category: Disability Authors: Corinne Green Reed Cappleman Source Type: research