Caring for traumatised children: Compassion fatigue in foster carers

Objective: The presentation will focus on findings from our study of foster carers’ experience of compassion fatigue (also known as ‘blocked care’) in their care of traumatised children, and what support they find most... [ view full abstract ]

Objective: The presentation will focus on findings from our study of foster carers’ experience of compassion fatigue (also known as ‘blocked care’) in their care of traumatised children, and what support they find most helpful. Compassion fatigue can occur in foster carers because of the demands of being a therapeutic parent to children who have experienced trauma. It is characterised by a developing lack of empathy and compassion as a result of experiencing physical and emotional exhaustion (or ‘burnout’) and/ or symptoms of secondary traumatic stress, which affects the ability to work sensitively and effectively with those who are traumatised. A foster carer’s home is also their place of work, so respite from caring is difficult to achieve. Compassion fatigue has long been recognised as a condition affecting the performance of police and fire officers, hospital staff, mental health professionals and social workers, but it has received little attention in respect of foster carers. The overall aim of the paper is to present evidence about the presence and experience of compassion fatigue in foster carers, as well as compassion satisfaction. Support strategies which foster carers find helpful will also be highlighted.

Methods: The study has taken a mixed-methods approach to investigate the experience of compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction in approved foster carers in England. This comprised a literature review, a national survey of foster carers in England and focus groups with a sub-sample of the survey respondents. The survey includes two measures, the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS). The ProQOL measures levels of compassion satisfaction, burnout and compassion fatigue/ secondary traumatic stress. The WEMWBS is a validated measure of mental well-being. Together, these measures provided detailed information about the presence of compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction in foster carers, and their general mental well-being. The survey was widely publicised, including through social media (Facebook and Twitter). 546 approved foster carers in England completed the survey. Four focus groups, each with 8-12 participants, are providing in-depth information about foster carers’ day to day experience of caring for traumatised children. Specifically, the focus groups are examining the experience and impact of compassion fatigue in greater detail, the strategies to manage which foster carers have found helpful/unhelpful, and the support they received from other professionals.

Results: Data collection and analysis is on-going, and will be presented at the conference. The survey findings regarding the presence and experience of compassion fatigue in foster carers will be presented in full, alongside early themes emerging from the focus group data.

Conclusions: This study is one of the first to explore the presence and experience of compassion fatigue in foster carers. Policy and practice implications regarding the recognition of compassion fatigue and possible support strategies will be discussed in the light of the evidence presented from this study.