Understanding Support Workers’ Experiences of their Roles in Health and Social Care in Great Britain and Ireland: A Systematic Literature Review

Support workers represent a significant percentage of the mental health workforce. Traditionally performing essential but more basic tasks, such as personal care, progressively there has been considerable development in the scope and complexity of the role. Consequently, it is important to understand the experiences and associated challenges of the role. This research aimed to synthesise and evaluate existing literature concerning the qualitative experience of support workers of different aspects of their clinical roles, working in mental health, and learning disability settings within Health and Social Care in Great Britain and Ireland. Ireland was included due to the similarity of the roles and status of support workers in mental health services. A systematic literature review of eight bibliographic databases retrieved eleven appropriate articles. The papers were critically appraised, summarised and analysed, using narrative synthesis to develop a cohesive story concerning support workers’ experiences. Four key themes were identified in the analysis: lack of role clarity, training, support and oversight, and occupational culture. It is important to address the challenges faced by support workers through collaborative development of the role structure. This review demonstrated a need for further research into the experiences of support workers of their role, to develop clarity of the boundaries and responsibilities, progressing toward professionalisation and standardisation. This paper highlighted the need for future research, in collaboration with support workers, to identify interventions at system and policy levels, to address the challenges they face in their roles.

Author dc:creator

• Sheelan, Caoimhe

Language dc:language

eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/psy-theses/147

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:pearl.plymouth.ac.uk:psy-theses-1146