An Examination of Work-Related Vicarious Trauma in COTS Homeless Shelter Staff and Their Use of Coping Resources
Conference Year
2024
Abstract
Scholarly literature has demonstrated that vicarious trauma is a pressing issue for employees working in the frontline homeless sector. This quality improvement research focuses specifically on employees at the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) in Burlington, Vermont. The project focuses on work-related emotional trauma in COTS homeless shelter employees and the coping resources they use in dealing with such trauma, including resources provided by COTS. This research utilizes both interviews and surveys to explore COTS employees' views and experiences related to work-related emotional trauma, how they talk about it, and the resources they use to cope.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Jeanne Shea
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
College of Arts and Sciences
Program/Major
Anthropology
Primary Research Category
Social Science
An Examination of Work-Related Vicarious Trauma in COTS Homeless Shelter Staff and Their Use of Coping Resources
Scholarly literature has demonstrated that vicarious trauma is a pressing issue for employees working in the frontline homeless sector. This quality improvement research focuses specifically on employees at the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) in Burlington, Vermont. The project focuses on work-related emotional trauma in COTS homeless shelter employees and the coping resources they use in dealing with such trauma, including resources provided by COTS. This research utilizes both interviews and surveys to explore COTS employees' views and experiences related to work-related emotional trauma, how they talk about it, and the resources they use to cope.