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19 September 2011

The Community Relations Council has funded a ground breaking piece of research which evaluates the impact of complementary therapies on people’s physical and emotional health and in particular specific to trauma related illnesses resulting from the Troubles.

The report ‘The Effectiveness of Complementary Therapies on Trauma Related Illness’, researched by QE5, has been produced in conjunction with the South East Fermanagh Foundation which led the research and is being launched today (Monday 19th September) at the Dungannon office of the Community Relations Council.

According to Joan Clements, CRC Victims Project Officer,

“It is our hope that practice in support of victims can be developed in line with the findings and recommendations of this research. In particular there should be more integrated working between conventional and holistic methods in treating trauma related illnesses with a greater emphasis on assessment of need.”

She added: “A welcome aspect of the research has been the willingness of groups to work together in partnership across Northern Ireland. This has enabled the research to meet a wide range of people with different trauma related issues.”

Meanwhile, Kenny Donaldson, Director of Services at Lisnaskea-based victims group South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), the lead partner in the research, commented:

"At SEFF we have found that Complementary Therapies, one of the core services that we deliver, can enable victims to acknowledge and release pent up traumatic emotions which have manifested negatively within them for many years."

"An essential component in providing a quality and empathetic Complementary Therapy Service is ensuring that the therapists providing the treatments are suitably qualified and also understanding of the issues that may arise via their treatment of victims/survivors of the Troubles. The research launched this week examines this issue at some length. It is in all our interests as providers of services to this constituency to ensure that the service they receive meets their needs."

“Having now proven the benefits to be had for those suffering trauma related illnesses we now expect Government to adequately resource the service going forward and we hope that other independent finders may see merit in investing in the work."

Among the recommendations made by the report are:

• A more integrated approach to health and well being by funding bodies, particularly the Department of Health and the OFMDFM, with the emphasis on the overall health and well being of the individual.
• The development of an awareness raising strategy to ensure that victims/survivors of Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ are aware of service provision as well as the benefits involved. This could be achieved through targeting GP practices and primary care commissioning groups.
• External supervising/support is needed for therapists who are dealing with traumatised individuals

The full report is available from the Community Relations Council - Tel: 028 90 227500 or South East Fermanagh Foundation - Tel: 028 677 23884 (and can be downloaded at http://www.community-relations.org.uk/fs/doc/complementary-research-report-final-30th-aug1.pdf

Further information from Ray Mullan rmullan@nicrc.org.uk or Kenny Donaldson: seff.ni@btconnect.com

ENDS

Note to Editor

Full Recommendations

There is a need to ensure that detailed pre and post questionnaires are

completed on all service users when embarking on a set of therapies to

assist in future research and to ensure value for money.

Funding procedures should adopt a more in-depth assessment of need

and provision of funding should be based on where it is proven that a

therapy is effective in the treatment of trauma.

It is recommended that consideration is given to a more mainstream

approach through a primary/community care assessment process with the

emphasis on the overall health and wellbeing of the individual. This will

require a more integrative approach to health and wellbeing by funding

bodies, namely The Department of Health and OFMDFM. The issue of who

is responsible for funding also needs to be addressed at this level.

Consideration should be given to the provision of ‘top up sessions’, which

may be beneficial in maintaining improvements in physical and

psychological well-being, these should be regularly evaluated to ensure

effectiveness and efficiency.

Further comparative research should be considered with a larger sample

of individuals with similar illnesses/conditions. It would be beneficial, to

include a control group in addition to individuals using specific therapies.

Comparisons could be made in relation to outcomes for those the impact

receiving conventional methods, holistic methods, combined methods and

those have not availed of any treatment. This evidence could be used to

determine the most cost efficient and effective approaches in promoting

the health and wellbeing of victims/survivors.

There is need for the development of an awareness raising strategy to

ensure that victims/survivors of Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ are aware in

terms of availability of service provision as well as the benefits involved.

This could be achieved through targeting GP practices and primary care

commissioning groups.

The introduction of a monitoring system should be considered in order to

ensure all therapists are practicing at a similar level of standard and

expertise. Therapists need to be on a register and qualifications need to be

standardized.

There is a need to ensure a more equal distribution of male and female

therapists. This would allow for a more universal service whereby men and

women would feel more comfortable in accessing.

It is recommended that treatments are delivered in a quiet and tranquil

setting, whereby the service user feels relaxed and secure. Research

findings highlighted that in some cases, the room was noisy and too close

to the centre’s reception.

Consideration should be given to the incorporation of Drama Therapy and

Art Therapy into the Victims/Survivors Sector in Northern Ireland.

Research and stakeholder feedback, highlights positive impacts on health

and offers individuals a creative way of expressing themselves through play

and painting. As, some individuals find it difficult to express themselves

verbally, it was felt this is an effective means for many victims/survivors to

relieve emotional strain, towards the path to healing. This again could be

part of an overall assessment prior to commencing appropriate

treatments.

Consideration should be given to external supervising/support for

therapists who are dealing with traumatised individuals. Therapists

reported at times, they experienced situations that they felt ill-equipped to

deal with.