What is ‘Gold Standard’ for Police Wellbeing? This is a question that’s been asked of me a few times over the years and I’m sure many reading this will have a view due to its emotive nature. 2017 was certainly a challenging year for our emergency services due to the rise in terrorist incidents and stretched resources. Growth in a lot of forces coming through this year is very welcome.
However, creating an environment where officers and staff feel valued and supported, I believe, is pinnacle to keeping resilience and wellbeing topped up so that they can do the best job they possibly can for the public without being bogged down by the slow burner of feeling let down and embitterment creeping in – no one benefits from this. After all, isn’t prevention better than cure?
Gold Standard support begins before there is a problem. Before an officer or police staff employee needs help. Gold Standard support should be the unbreakable thread weaved throughout the organisation, so I’m going to start with the benefits to wellbeing experienced from a compassionate leadership style.
Compassionate Leadership Style
Not everyone has natural people skills and we know that employees are promoted for many different reasons, skills and attributes. Experience, knowledge, efficiency, innovation and working smarter are desirable attributes for people working in policing and certainly fantastic leadership qualities, however the rise in encouraging leaders to invest in their self awareness and emotional intelligence is gaining momentum and with very good reason…
Empathy and compassion. These words are not pink and fluffy anymore. They are the bedrock to laying the foundations of a happy and healthy workforce. Yes…I did say happy!
I was fortunate enough to represent my force in February this year, and speak about an inhouse wellbeing initiative that is being rolled out to leaders, at the national Upbeat! Conference held by the Police Dependant’s Trust. Within my short piece I spoke about the importance of Cognitive Empathy with a sprinkling of Compassion to bring balance to two types of leaders that I used to hear about often a few years ago, thankfully to a much lesser extent now, but still with some prevalence:
- The Leader who becomes embroiled in their teams personal issues from a place of trying to help. Attempting to fix whatever is going wrong for that person. This is time consuming, over stepping boundaries and potentially disempowering for the individual who could become reliant on the supervisor or manager to fix everything. For the Leader, their mental health can be affected significantly as they absorb other peoples troubles over time and their relationships within the team could suffer as a result, let alone their ability to get on with the day job.
- The Leader who turns a blind eye to one of their teams distress or difficulty because either they think they don’t have the time or belief that they can do anything to help. It’s easier to not ask the questions and avoid. Meanwhile, the individual is withdrawing more and more, feeling isolated and as though they don’t matter. The rest of the team will see this and a lack of respect for that leader may creep in and a message of “it’s not safe to seek help” can fester.
The ripple effect can be huge and the impact on culture and mental health stigma by these two styles have the potential to be crippling to any organisation.
So, back to cognitive empathy and compassion. There are the naturals with this stuff aren’t there and we can probably all remember someone who has supervised us in the past who was supportive, encouraging and inspiring. There are also people (I like to think in the minority) who may never get it and won’t ever see wellbeing as a priority. Then those in the middle who have a will to change some of their unhelpful thinking styles and behaviours in order to be more compassionate leaders. Through a mix of education, shared experiences and encouraging self awareness, growth can occur with understanding the impact of our own leadership style which, I believe, can convert those that are ‘middling’ and encourage genuine supportive styles to flourish. Hence, creating the environment we all need to reach our potential.
Cognitive empathy and compassion seem like the perfect mix of being able to sit down with an individual, listen to their particular problem, issue or difficulty and understand it from their perspective and together looking at what options the individual could take with clear, appropriate signposting to the right help. All of this, if delivered showing the appropriate level of genuine care and concern can leave someone feeling supported. It may be that the problem is still there, but their reactions and choices to manage the problem can be more positive. Hopefully we all know what it is like to be heard and understood – it can take the extremity out of the frustration and isolation.
A golden nugget within Leadership – being able to share mental health challenges in a way that inspires, educates and promotes the importance of wellbeing. So simple, yet effective. We need trail blazers in this area. It’s no longer enough (although a good start!) to pledge your support for wellbeing, you have to live and breathe the promotion of it. By sharing in this way, leaders are smashing mental health stigma to smithereens as they are demonstrating you can experience strains upon your mental health but with positive coping strategies, you can feel better and still achieve your goals – whatever they may be.
Post Trauma Support
We all know the devastating impact that incidents can have on officers and staff mental health but we can never really know what will affect someone and to what extent as we are touched by trauma in different ways. Most Police Services are brilliant with reacting to the larger incidents involving many different roles and teams as there is a sense of shared experience and often Command structures ensuring support options would have been instigated. In my experience it is the more common events such as suicide, sudden death, domestic abuse and crimes involving children that can impact on a deeper level as these can be easily personalised and often result in less shared experiences with peers.
The most important thing for managers and supervisors to remember is that often a persons’ first interaction following a traumatic event paves the way towards how effectively that incident is processed psychologically. If a person perceives there has been adequate empathy, particularly from someone senior then this is more likely to lead to normal processing of the incident as the person will generally feel supported, reassured and that they can help seek if necessary. If a person experiences negativity from a supervisor or manager, then normal processing can be interrupted by an influx of additional anger and possible shame, leaving the officer feeling unsupported and disillusioned.
Here are some supportive top tips for supervisors and managers following trauma exposure:
- Be aware that occasionally officers and staff can appear absent minded, be in shock or have other reactions which lead to accidents or mistakes in the first few minutes, hours and sometimes days after the incident. Checking someone is okay to drive is important, particularly if they don’t seem like their normal self.
- Ask individuals what support they need rather than assume. Ice breakers like “How are you doing? “Shall we go for a cuppa?” can go a long way. Have open, genuine conversations.
- Prevent sickness absence by allowing more catch up time at the office – consider double crewing where possible for more support.
- Try not to assume less experienced officers/staff will be more affected. Experienced officers have a lot of ‘rocks in their rucksacks’, which start to become heavy if they do not have adequate resources or go through a difficult time in their personal life.
- Deploy watchful waiting over the coming weeks but stay approachable, spotting the signs of any significant changes in behaviour and presentation.
- Remember confidentiality and boundaries – no gossiping about individuals to the rest of the team.
- Try not to take accelerated feelings personally immediately after a potentially traumatic event.
- Encourage engagement in support processes, such as TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) or Champions. Consider the advice available via Occupational Health Services and Welfare and Counselling Teams, or even EAP’s depending on your force’s route to support services.
Team Cohesion and Peer Support
Team cohesion is a ‘must have’ ingredient to be able to manage the tough times but also to be able to celebrate successes and achievements together.
Teams who look out for one another, have plenty of humour, consideration and appreciation for differences can contribute to the all important environment conducive to reducing mental health stigma.
A good post incident peer support system, which follows NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidelines of watchful waiting to see how officers and staff settle following the incident can be of benefit.
Pulling teams together for ten minute briefings here and there, particularly following trauma, can encourage reflection time for the individual but also opportunity to notice others in the team. Peers tuning into changes in behaviour and presentation of their colleagues, providing a listening ear when necessary and encouraging engagement in support networks, can head off needless long journeys of the demise of mental health, particularly in terms of isolation as there is less opportunity for individuals to withdraw without it being noticed.
Personal Responsibility
The core of what a police officer is required to do, to protect and serve the public, lends itself to giving so much and does veer sharply towards focussing on others, over and above the self.
Ultimately however, we are all responsible for our own wellbeing and making sure we are fit and well should be a priority in order to help others. This is not a selfish act and yet, focussing on the self is a challenge to so many, feeding the superhero analogy and creating burnout.
All too often, I see officers and staff get lost in what the job “didn’t do” for them, not willing to see the opportunities that were perhaps there to receive support because this doesn’t fit with the level of hurt they feel for giving so much and the job not meeting their expectations of what it is to experience being looked after in return. The sad truth of the matter is, individuals can never receive the same level of commitment from the job if they are giving too much to it.
Don’t get me wrong – I know the job can get it spectacularly wrong at times. However, if I had a pound for every time I have heard “I do more for this job than I do for my partner / kids / wife / husband / parents and yet look at how I am being treated now” when something has gone wrong, well, I wouldn’t have to save so hard for my house extension! In a therapeutic situation, it is not my place to judge a client for how and why their commitment to the job has become so unbalanced, but it is my job to facilitate the client to become aware of their personal journey towards the relationship they have forged with the organisation and how they can effect positive change.
Anger is one thing but embitterment is difficult to come back from and it can eat an individual alive, leaving very little room for recovery.
How are you doing with taking care of you? A few self reflective questions and food for thought…
- Do you invest in the relationships that are important to you?
- Do you have a healthy balance between work, home and play (hobbies/interests)?
- Do you influence change positively?
- Do you spot the signs of early physical or mental health issues and take action?
- Are you able to notice other peoples distress?
If the answer is yes to all or most of the above, then you’re probably doing alright and have the required fuel in the tank to perform all elements of your job well and be on top of your own development. Positive culture change, support options and the reduction of stigma will help all of us to take more responsibility for our own mental health.
As much as you can, make your health your priority. And whilst I know the temptation and pull is there, don’t make policing your whole life.
Embedded Focus on Health and Wellbeing
At the beginning of austerity, many forces lost some of their Occupational Health provision and a lot of the Welfare departments disappeared following the cuts in public service. Now, a welcome focus on health and wellbeing is emerging at quite a pace. Certainly nationally we are seeing the likes of NPCC, College of Policing and Police charities shining a light on police wellbeing. Frameworks, national guidance and more sharing of best practice is emerging to assist forces to think about options for wellbeing funding solutions to boost their own provisions if need be. Social media is alive with the sharing of personal experiences and a virtual support and community which is so welcome.
Resources such as Mind’s Bluelight Programme came at the right time to encourage forces to sign up to the Blue Light Time to Change Pledge to demonstrate commitment to the reduction of mental health stigma and promote positive wellbeing.
Locally, Wellbeing needs to be owned by everyone. Not just by those in Health and Human Resources. Wellbeing forums, engaging with national awareness days, events, peer support – all of these need to be driven by officers and staff themselves to make strides with culture change.
We all have the right to feel heard, supported and our skills developed, and with the right environment created to ensure officers and staff experience meaning and purpose within their careers, the onslaught of stressful and potentially traumatic events as well as the daily grind and personal challenges, can be balanced with resilience and personal resources to tackle tough times.
And finally, Police services need to ensure the barriers that prevent officers and staff from accessing help and support are broken down. ‘Gold Standard’ is when we have a ‘top-down/bottom-up’ non-stigmatic approach to mental health and wellbeing. A police service which encourages openness and sharing about the impact policing can have on our psychological health will help us to shake off the expectation that we all have to wear our underwear on the outside of our uniforms and clothing!