Compassion Fatigue in Staff at LGBTQ+ Substance Use Recovery Center

Abstract

Individuals working in recovery from substance use disorders (SUD) have a high risk for developing compassion fatigue (CF) due to high job demands and frequent exposure to client trauma. Pride Institute, an LGBTQ+ SUD recovery facility reported to have a high level of compassion fatigue. This was further explored with a screening measure, the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL 5), to measure levels of compassion satisfaction (CS), secondary traumatic stress (STS), and burnout in staff. Between the surveys, staff received educational resources and had the opportunity to participate in a weekly group session to practice coping strategies. The ProQOL 5 was used as an outcome measure for intervention effectiveness, along with qualitative questions about perceived helpfulness and meaningfulness of the project. A significant decrease in STS occurred between the initial and final surveys (p = .02). Findings were inconclusive on whether the improvement was due to education and weekly groups due to their being a significantly lower level of STS in non-participants compared to participants (p = .05). However, the qualitative survey responses demonstrate promise towards their effectiveness, and the higher participant level of STS may be due to interventions reaching the staff members most in need. Further research is warranted to determine best practice for long-term programs toward CF resiliency.