Stella Koritsas

Introduction:: The majority of research that has explored workplace violence has focused on establishing the prevalence of violence in different settings. In general, there is a paucity of research that explores factors that may predict or increase the risk of experiencing violence in the workplace.Objective:: The aim of this research was to determine predictors of violence for paramedics.Methods:: A questionnaire was developed that focused on paramedics' experi-ences with six forms of violence: verbal abuse, property damage/theft, intimi-dation, physical abuse, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.The questionnaire was distributed randomly to paramedics throughout rural Victoria and metropolitan South Australia, and completed and returned anonymously.Results:: Predictors emerged for verbal abuse, intimidation, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse. Specifically, gender was the only predictor of intimidation, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. Paramedic qualifications, how they responded to a call-out, and hours per week in direct patient contact emerged as a predictor of verbal abuse.Conclusions:: Certain factors predict or predispose paramedics to workplace violence. The need for workplace violence education and training is impera-tive for the prevention of violence, as well as for its management.

Workplace violence is common in health-related occupations that involve substantial contact with clients, such as nursing, general practice, pre-hospital care and emergency medicine. Research has also been conducted that explores violence in social work; however, the majority has emerged from the UK and USA, and is limited due to definitional shortcomings and the scope of violence. In Australia, there is a paucity of research that has explored the prevalence of violence in social work. Thus, the aim of the research was to determine the prevalence of six forms of workplace violence, and determine factors that may predict the occurrence of violence towards social workers. A questionnaire was developed that focused on social workers' experiences of six forms of violence (verbal abuse, property damage/theft, intimidation, physical abuse, sexual harassment and sexual assault). The questionnaire was randomly distributed to 1,000 social workers across Australia. Participation was voluntary and social workers completed the questionnaire anonymously. Analyses revealed that the majority of social workers (67 per cent) had experienced at least one form of violence in the past twelve months. The most common form of violence was verbal abuse followed by intimidation, and sexual assault was the least common form of violence experienced. Factors that predicted violence emerged for all six forms of violence examined. Based on the results of this research, it can be concluded that workplace violence is common in social work, particularly verbal abuse and intimidation. Factors that predict violence can be used to develop interventions aimed at preventing and managing workplace violence.

The aim of this study was to evaluate active support (AS) training and to investigate changes to perceived engagement in domestic tasks, opportunities for choice, frequency of challenging behaviour, and level of support needs. Participants were 12 adults with ID aged 27-57 years (M = 37 years) residing in three group homes, and their support workers. The support workers completed assessments on three occasions (at baseline, post-training, and at follow-up). Residents' engagement in domestic tasks increased over time, and overall choice increased, although perceived choice in two life domains initially increased, but decreased to baseline levels at follow-up. Residents exhibited an overall decrease in anxiety, self-absorbed behaviour, disruptive behaviour, and problem behaviour in general. There was also an overall decrease in perceived support needs for five activity domains, with no change for one domain. The results contribute to a growing body of evidence demonstrating favourable outcomes of AS in terms of engagement and challenging behaviour in people with ID. Surprising results are presented for choice and perceived support needs, warranting further investigation.

Occupational violence and aggression are common in general practice. This study examined occupational violence and aggression against GPs in terms of prevalence and predictive factors, such as sex of GP, and practice location. Over half of the GPs sampled had experienced at least one form of violence and aggression; more female than male GPs experienced sexual harassment; and there was no difference in the number of metropolitan and rural GPs who had experienced violence and aggression. Predictors emerged for verbal abuse, intimidation, physical abuse, and sexual harassment.

This study explored the impact of work related violence on general practitioners' work performance. A postal survey of 1000 randomly selected GPs about work related violence. Those GPs reporting incidents of work related violence in the past 12 months were asked to write about its effect on them in response to an open question. Eighty-five GPs responded. Seventy-three percent of GPs who had experienced work related violence answered an open question about its effect on their work performance. The effect was negative for most, respondents citing poor concentration, difficulty listening to patients, rumination and intrusive thoughts when in an enclosed space in subsequent consultations, particularly in consultations with the patient who had perpetrated the violence, or their families or coworkers, or with similar patients. General practitioners have reported that work related violence has a continuing impact on their work performance. Future research should include psychometric testing of cognitive functioning and mental health testing to quantify this.