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Wellbeing of prison officers

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FREE WEBINAR

   

FREE WEBINAR

Webinar - Working in prisons – improving mental health and wellbeing

28th March 2022 10.30am-1.00pm Free

Working in prisons is stressful and the risk of burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder is high.  Research has found that the support available from institutions is varied and fragmented, with most initiatives targeting individuals rather than seeking to improve working conditions. The need for multi-level interventions to support the wellbeing of employees at the organisational as well as the individual level is widely acknowledged. This webinar examines the support that is in place, key risk factors for the health and wellbeing of prison employees and how they might be further supported, particularly in response to Covid-19 recovery. To guide support strategies at a national level, speakers will present the findings of recent research that examines key concerns from the perspective of employers and employees. Topics will include benchmarking workplace psychosocial hazards in the sector, violence and aggression, drug use, and sickness presenteeism and the implications of the findings for the health and safety of staff and the safe functioning of prisons. How the findings can be used to shape multi-level interventions will also be considered.

The webinar will conclude with a panel discussion with the speakers and other stakeholders on developing and monitoring a national strategy for change.

Chair: Catherine D'Arcy-Jones, SCPHN

Introduction

10.35-10.55 The wellbeing of prisoner officers: psychosocial hazards, mental health, and support needs; Professor Gail Kinman, Birkbeck University of London and Dr. Andrew Clements, Aston University

10.55-11.25 Provision of OH and EAP in HMPPS; Priscilla Wong Head of Occupational Health and Employee Assistance (Strategy and Policy), Ministry of Justice

11.25-11.50 Impulsivity, drug use by prisoners and violence on staff – staff prisoner relationships; Rachael Mason, University of Lincoln

11.50-12.10 Well-being of prison governors and support and initiatives at a national and local level – preliminary findings; Dr Gary Saunders, University of Lincoln

12.10-12.30  The mental health of prison officers in the UK Biobank: a comparison with the working population; Dr Sharon Stevelink, Kings College London 

12.30-12.55   Panel discussion / questions from the audience: with speakers and:

-       Andrea Albutt, President, Prison Governors Association

-       Joe Simpson, Deputy General Secretary, POA – the Professional Trade Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers

1.00pm Close and next steps – Nick Pahl, CEO SOM

Participants will be welcome to ask questions through the morning in the Chat box, to be moderated by the Chair. The webinar will be recorded.

Biographies

Professor Gail Kinman is Visiting Professor of Occupational Health Psychology at Birkbeck University of London. She is a Chartered Psychologist and a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and the Academy of Social Sciences. Gail has published widely in the field of occupational health psychology, with a particular focus on the wellbeing of people who work in emotionally demanding professions such as health and social care staff, prison officers and teachers. Recent work focuses on developing and evaluating multi-level interventions to enhance resilience and wellbeing. This work has been used to inform wellbeing assessments and a national ‘emotional curriculum’ for health and social care professionals. Gail has been commissioned by bodies such as the Royal College of Nursing Foundation, the Louise Tebboth Foundation and the Society for Occupational Medicine to conduct national reviews of the work-related wellbeing of healthcare professionals. She is currently working with the British Psychological Society on guidelines to help organisations and individuals manage the demands posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath

Priscilla Wong SCPHN, BMed Sci, BSc (Occupational Health), qualified as a Specialist Occupational Health (OH) Nurse in 2006 and has worked in OH settings in the NHS, corporate banking, universities, prison service and luxury retail gaining a breadth of management, policy and strategy experience in both public and private sectors. Since mid-2017, Priscilla has held the position of Head of Occupational Health and Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) at the MOJ / HMPPS. She emphasises that her primary objectives are focussed on developing OH and EAP policies, strategies and effective contracted services which safeguard and enhance the health and wellbeing of all of MOJ and HMPPS’ valued employees, most of whom work with the most vulnerable individuals in society. During these challenging pandemic times, she stresses that her and MOJ / HMPPS’ commitment to delivering good quality innovative employee health support services via OH and EAP is, and must be, even stronger.

Rachael Mason is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Health and Social Care. I graduated from University of Lincoln in 2006 with a 2:1 in Psychology and Criminology.  I gained employment after this at HMP Lincoln facilitating a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy based accredited Offender Behaviour Programme for drug users.  The experience I gained here developed my interest in working with vulnerable people and I left the prison to work as a Project Worker for a supported housing charity in Newark.  I supported young people aged 16-25 years old to develop life skills and help them prepare to live independently.  I engaged with many organisations throughout this position including Social Services, healthcare professionals, counselling and mental health services, education and employment providers, local Councils and the Department of Work and Pensions.  I co-ordinated projects including applying for funding to support these. I developed a new role of Training Coordinator whilst at the charity and engaged with external agencies to deliver training contracts to our young people.  I was promoted to Duty Officer to incorporate this role and take on management responsibilities. I started working at the University of Lincoln in 2015 as the Practice Placement Development Worker and then as the Practice Placement Co-ordinator for the healthcare courses in the School of Health and Social Care. I developed and maintained partnerships with healthcare organisations to provide the practice element to nursing, paramedic science and physiotherapy courses, as well as implementing processes for practice learning and managing student allocations. I completed a master’s in forensic psychology, exploring the links between violence, impulsivity, and new psychoactive substance use within a prison population. I am currently seconded as a Lecturer for the School of Health and Social Care.

Gary Saunders  graduated from the University of Lincoln in 2004 with a BA (Hons) in Law and Criminology. He then studied for an MSc in Social Research Methods at Nottingham Trent University and my dissertation examined the impact of incarceration on prisoners’ families. He has been a teacher in HE and FE since 2004 and completed my PGDE in 2011 at the University of Lincoln. He completed his PhD in 2020, which examines student activism and autonomous learning spaces as sites that have the potential to prefigure alternative models of higher education provision.

Dr Andrew Clements is an Occupational Psychologist employed by Aston University. His research and practice interests focus on work-related wellbeing and participatory methods of improving the workplace.

Dr Sharon Stevelink is a Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London (KCL) and an NIHR Advanced Fellow. Sharon drives a research agenda exploring occupational mental health and is interested in how working in high risk occupations such as the military, police force, fire brigade, police officers, ambulance services and the NHS, impacts on the mental health and wellbeing of workers. Her research interests include help-seeking behaviour, occupational functioning and the evaluation of interventions among those with mental health problems. In addition, she is interested in the impact of the UK benefits system on people with mental health problems

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When
March 28th, 2022 from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
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