The role of the Employee Assistance Programme in trauma management. The experience of the forensic pathology officers in the Gauteng Province

Abstract

The study entitled “The role of the employee assistance programme in trauma management: experiences of forensic pathology officers in the Gauteng Province” was conducted by Nomfundo Mwelase under the supervision of Professor L.S. Terblanche. Trauma can be triggered by numerous events in the workplace but in this instance, Forensic Pathology Officers (FPOs) may experience a negative impact on their psychological wellbeing due to the nature of their work resulting in poor/low job performance. To this end Forensic Pathology Service (FPS) management adopted the service need of contracting an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) service provider and now has a full-time onsite EA Professional to render EAP services to the employees of FPS as a supporting mechanism. This specific study is based on the applied research, since the goal of the study was to explore and describe the experiences of FPOs stationed at different facilities within the Gauteng Province, regarding the role of the EAP in trauma management. The researcher employed a qualitative approach to explore and describe the experiences of FPOs regarding the EAP service in terms of trauma management with the purpose of understanding the phenomenon from their own perspectives. The qualitative researcher seeks a better understanding of complex situations. The work of qualitative researchers is often exploratory in nature and holistic (Ivankova, Creswell & Plano, 2007:255). The study of this virtue has never been conducted before in the South African context therefore it may benefit the FPS as an entity (employees and management) in terms of understanding the experiences of FPOs and regarding the role of the EAP in trauma management, in order to identify gaps and come up with improvement plans in terms of whether the experiences of FPOs regarding the role of the EAP are found to be beneficial or not. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the Person-Centred-Approach (PCA) by Carl Ransom Rogers (American Psychologist). The PCA is a theory based on understanding the personalities of human beings and believes that human beings have sufficient resources to deal with challenges in their lives. As an instrument of inquiry, the collective case study was utilised to explore and describe the experiences of 12 cases of FPOs who have previously utilised the EAP services, with the aim of managing trauma. A purposive sampling strategy was used in the study. As the approach of this study is qualitative in nature, semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The findings of the study revealed that traumatic incidents and death constitute a significant part of the daily routine of FPOs. Most participants are affected by dealing with children as they are parents themselves. The findings of the study show that the majority of the participants generally understand the role of EAP in trauma management even though some of the participants are convinced that there are gaps that need improvements to ensure the quality of the service. Most participants attested that these trauma management programmes rendered by the service provider are helpful, and the best practices are shared based on their own personal experiences. Some of the participants emphasized that the role played by EAP is very supportive in terms of ensuring that they live normal lives. A few of the participants mentioned the very insightful point that EAP offers help for both personal and work related issues. It was echoed that visibility of the counsellors in the facilities for continuous counselling should be considered as their visibility can allay the fears of the members who do not have the strength to make phone calls asking for EAP intervention.