Personal Safety For Home Visit Workers - Practitioner

Learn how to prevent and mitigate emotional and physical violence while working in the community

Type:                     Practitioner

Format:                  Virtual Instructor-Led

Length:                  Four 90-Minute Sessions

Audience:               Healthcare and social service professionals working in the field and visiting people’s homes

This training program focuses on how to conduct effective and safe home visits. It covers how to prevent and mitigate emotional and physical violence,  and if such violence occurs, how to respond in an effective manner.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, some 2 million American workers are victims of violence each year. Many of these victims are home-visit workers who face unique safety risks due to the nature of their work. Violence can come in the form of

• verbal, nonverbal, written, or physical aggression
• threatening, intimidating, harassing, or humiliating words or actions
• bullying; sabotage; sexual harassment
• physical assaults

Violence against home-visit workers can decrease client satisfaction and client outcomes, negatively impact an organization's reputation, and lead to legal liability and more absenteeism, turnover, and workers compensation claims.

• Assess clients for threat potential and prepare self and vehicle prior to a visit
• Manage safety at three critical junctures: when approaching a client’s home, when interacting at the door, and once inside the dwelling
• Recognize gateway behaviors and threat indicators that may compromise safety
• Resolve refusals and de-escalate verbal confrontations
• Stay safe and promote recovery in caring for people with cognitive challenges and mental illness
• Recognize when verbal methods have failed and it is necessary to take further action
• Know your options and take appropriate action when aggression or violence compromise safety
• End interactions better than they started and with a positive foundation for future contact
• Debrief, document, and report violent incidents and perform post-visit safety planning