Systems analysis of occupational violence and aggression (OVA) incidents in the residential out-of-home care (OHC) sector

Project aims

• identify the actors who share responsibility for OVA in the residential OHC system,
• identify the multiple, interacting factors contributing to OVA incidents in the residential OHC sector,
• identify potential interventions to prevent and reduce the risk of OVA in the residential OHC sector.

Project findings

Actors

The systems analysis identified a large number of actors that share responsibility for preventing OVA in the residential OHC system.

Contributing factors

Interviews and workshops with stakeholders identified 182 contributing factors for occupational violence and aggression (OVA).

The contributing factors centred around four key themes.

• The role of staff consistency and supervision in frontline care teams
• The role of staff competency
• The role of matching clients to staff, the residential house and other clients
• The role of facility design and factors related to the environment and equipment system level
• The role of learning from incidents through reporting and investigation and the culture around OVA in the OHC sector

Strategies

76 options for reducing and preventing work-related violence in the sector were divided into:

• options for government bodies and regulators to consider
• options for organisations and management to consider
• options for Community Service Organisations (CSOs) and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) organisation and management to consider
• options for frontline staff to consider

The following resources contain a detailed overview of the project's findings and conclusions.