ARQ and VSE Webinar on Watchful Waiting, Screening and Early Interventions after traumatic events – 1 March 2022
It is our pleasure to announce that Victim Support Europe and ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre are organising a webinar on Watchful Waiting Screening and early interventions after traumatic events. The webinar will take place on Tuesday, 1 March 2022, 14:00-16:00 CET.
The interactive webinar will promote the sharing of participants' experiences, combined with presentations of several experts.
In this webinar, we will discuss when watchful waiting is appropriate and how it can be put into practice. What should be done immediately after an event, and what needs waiting. Which conditions have to be met and how does it relate to quality criteria of psychosocial support: need-centeredness, safety, effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness and equity.
We will focus on the theoretical background of watchful waiting and on finding the balance between waiting and intervening in practice.
We will also explore the effect of the type of incident (e.g., natural disasters vs. a terrorist attack).
The webinar will follow the path from theory to practice. Firstly, Noortje Jansen (ARQ Dutch National Psychotrauma Centre) will talk briefly about the evidence behind watchful waiting and early interventions at shocking events and she will point out what international guidelines regarding disasters, crises and psychosocial support say about that. Secondly, an ARQ trainer will show how we take this theory into a training for (public health) professionals with a focus on the first response during and right after a critical event. Lastly, Andrea Walraven-Thissen (Critical incident manager) will explain why it is so important to improve the first response, during and right after terrorist attacks. Collateral damage can be limited, if we use the so called “golden hour” more effectively. Ms Walraven will explain that the “less is more”-approach in the first hours can provide the basis for the watchful waiting interventions, which will be built in the aftermath of terrorist attacks. Furthermore, she will explain how crisis intervention-techniques can be used to limit secondary damage for everyone involved; both first responders and civilians can become victims of terrorism.
To learn from each other, in the second half of the webinar participants will have the opportunity to discuss case studies they want to share or refer. Participants will be asked to describe the type of incident, the situation/context, and the dilemma with respect to watchful waiting.
If you wish to participate, kindly register for the event by clicking "Start Course" and by completing a short form via the following link.
Speakers
Andrea Walraven-Thissen specializes in incident management during and after critical incidents. She structures and organizes the first hours as a first responder and is an expert in psychosocial triage. She has a background in psychiatric nursing and has been working under blue lights for 25 years. She trains and supervises teams in many countries and has written several books on the subject. Within EUCVT Andrea has been advising on how to improve the first response, during and right after terrorist attacks.
Noortje Jansen is a policy advisor/researcher at ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre the Netherlands. Her main interest is public mental health and psychosocial support during and after critical incidents and crises. Currently, she is, among other things, involved in the revision of the Dutch multidisciplinary guideline for psychosocial support in disasters and crises. She participates in the Dutch integrated health monitor which maps the short, middle and long-term effects of the corona pandemic on the health of Dutch civilians in general and that of vulnerable groups and individuals in particular. For the EUCVT, she was involved in de production of the Annex of the European Handbook.
Watchful waiting is a practice of psychosocial support at times of a disaster or crisis. In the Annex of the EU Handbook for Victims of Terrorism, it is described as a way to monitor the needs of victims. Current approaches in crisis intervention and in mental health care sometimes recommend a period of ‘active monitoring’ or ‘watchful waiting’ as a first step in assisting individuals who deal with mild symptoms after a crisis.
Watchful waiting involves an active decision of a clinician and patient to not immediately treat the condition but, instead, to intermittently reassess its status after a certain period of time. It means keeping in touch with victims, and actively monitoring their wellbeing and recovery, informing them about possible support and offering/referring to support if and when they need it.
We know from research that most victims of disasters, terrorism or other shocking events recover on their own merit. Since immediate treatment may not always be necessary in resilient patients, watchful waiting may prevent over-treatment and reduce healthcare costs. It is often the first step in a stepped-care approach, in which subsequent treatment components are offered by order of intensity.
Some victims need professional support immediately, while for others it is not clear when or what kind of support, they will need.
Timely intervention is essential. Timely screening and care are necessary, but inappropriately-targeted therapy can compromise recovery and could even instigate post-traumatic stress symptoms, particularly if treatment is initiated before grief reactions subside.
Watchful waiting is a very sensitive practice. It is difficult to determine where exactly lies the threshold between intervention and the need for treatment. It is important not to fail to meet the needs of survivors, providing unsafe, inefficient, untimely and or unequal response.
In this webinar, we will discuss when watchful waiting is appropriate and how it can be put into practice. What should be done immediately after an event, and what needs waiting. Which conditions have to be met and how does it relate to quality criteria of psychosocial support: need-centeredness, safety, effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness and equity.
By presenting some examples of situations where watchful waiting has been applied in practice or how it is addressed in training professionals on psychosocial support, we will discuss the above-mentioned topics with an emphasis on the balance between resilience, specialised therapy and those affected by traumatic events.
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