Clients of Assertive Community Treatment Teams (ACTT) experience complex mental health needs made more acute by factors such as stigma, isolation, poverty, and side effects leading to iatrogenic conditions; factors which place them at risk of early death. For many ACTT clients, the relationships they share with ACTT staff are some of the few consistent relationships they experience. When ACTT clients die, it is often the role of the Team to plan funeral/memorial services. Literature on the topic of grief among mental healthcare workers following a death of a client is severely limited with the bulk of the scholarship focused on death by suicide. At present, there is almost no research available on the topic of grieving “natural death” of mental health clients. ACTT workers’ grief remains an area of much needed scholarship. Because of the intense and longstanding relationships that often develop between ACTT clients and workers, the grief experienced by ACTT workers after the loss of a client can be profound. However, there are no standardized policies/guidelines available regarding the topic of grief in ACTT workers, despite the fact that other ACT practices are highly standardized. During this presentation, findings will be reported from a project which engaged in inquiry into the experiences of ACTT workers (through 26 individual interviews with workers across Ontario, Canada) as they attempt to cope with grief, seeking to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the needs of ACTT workers in order to improve resiliency and prevent burnout and compassion fatigue.

Authors:
Albina Veltman, McMaster University, Canada
Tara La Rose, McMaster University, Canada

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Albina Veltman is an Associate Professor at McMaster University in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences. She is also the inaugural Associate Chair, Equity Diversity Inclusion & Indigenous Reconciliation for the DPBN.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/albina-veltman-a4114a49/

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Albina-Veltman

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