Positive Psychological Concepts in Ontario Shores Centre - Essay Example

Introduction         When it comes to health maintenance, everyone’s attention is almost always focused on the recipient of care -- or the patients -- and the necessity of meeting their needs. True, it is of the utmost importance that the care needed by these healthcare seekers must be provided to promote, maintain and rehabilitate their total well being -- the ultimate goal of providing these services in the first place. However, many do not realize that the health and well being of the healthcare services providers are (probably) as important as it is with the patients, especially in the field of mental health wherein “mental health services rely on human resources (staff) to a much greater degree than other medical and health disciplines (Thornicroft & Tansella, 1999 cited in World Health Organization (WHO), 2003). Since the mental health services are primarily delivered by the direct care providers (physicians, psychiatrists, nurses, aides, and alike), it is essential for them to not only have the competence but also be in their optimum health and well being to be efficient in providing positive services for better patient care and thus, greater productivity outcomes.         In connection, this paper will emphasize the practices and services that will offer the organizational staff of Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Services ways to reach optimal health and well being that will show their improved competency needed in the delivery of better mental health services. Specifically, it is deemed significant to examine the benefits of positive psychological approaches in comparison to the current service-delivery trends of the hospital, as well as to identify the activities required to acquire these approaches, and to recognize the three key positive psychological concepts (among others) which must be utilized by the staff to reach the goals set by the organization of Ontario Shores. Facts about Ontario Shores         Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Science or simply known as Ontario Shores is a public mental health institution formerly called as Whitby Mental Health Centre. Located at 700 Gordon Street, Whitby, Ontario, Canada, the hospital functions under the Public Hospital Act, the Mental Health Act, and other provincial and federal legislative enactments and offers a 329-bed capacity for its inpatient program along with its out-patient care services. The organization staff of the Ontario Shores is made up of 1, 100 employees oriented and mobilized at providing “leadership and exemplary mental health care through specialized treatment, research, education, and advocacy” and “... are committed to providing excellent patient care, ongoing learning, and maintaining a safe, respectful and positive environment” (Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Services [OSCMHS], 2009a). Treatment services, of course, are given to assist patients to the path of recovery which enables reintegration to the society; while research, education, and advocacy are seen to be essentially initiated to find ways of improving these services to provide better health outcomes and also to encourage community cooperation not only from the affected individuals and families but from the whole population as well. The Constraints Despite the identified positive qualities, and the optimistic mission and vision of the organization composed of the core values of excellence, innovation, safety, respect, and community that will guide the staff in their delivery of care (OSCMHS, 2009b), the administration of the Ontario Shores have not made specific considerations regarding some important factors that can significantly affect the ability to reach the set goals towards better service delivery to their patients. These include the ageing population of the staff, as well as their staffing patterns of a large population of employees which can cultivate other difficulties. The Ageing Staff. The shift towards an ageing demographic trend of the total population is one of the most critical issues that is threatening many nations in the world right now. Although the effects may still be distant, this trend is thought to negatively affect the labor force and the fiscal balance of the economy in the future (“Chapter III: How Will Demographic,” 2004). The ageing staff of an organization is also expected to affect the organization’s productivity in the same declining way. With an ageing staff, an increased possibility of practicing traditional methods which may not be applicable anymore is rather apparent; worse, they may be irreversible too. Additionally, their physical traits may hinder the performance of their responsibilities in relation to its complexity as well as the demands of physical strength and resistance. The Ageing Staff and their Habits. Along with the ongoing changes in the field of science and technology, healthcare practices also continually evolve -- sometimes becoming more and more complex -- as research and studies are done to further improve its efficiency as well as its delivery. Without the initiative for continuing education, the staff would tend to stick with the habitual, more common, and traditional procedures that they have already been acquainted with in initiating and delivering care interventions which may not be consistent with the more effective, evidenced-based and more contemporary ones because many know that habits are indeed hard to break. Just as Charles Darwin once said, “It is notorious how powerful is the force of habit” (Darwin, 2007, p.16) One apparent example for this may be the traditional medical theory approach of treating mental health illnesses. This healthcare method is focused on treating the person’s medical illness itself as compared to the more contemporary method of treatment which considers the holistic needs of the patient and not only the existing altered health state (Chandra, 2009, p.191). Traditional approach, moreover, is likely to be more based on controlling and medicating patients, providing almost everything for them instead of assisting them to growth and independence in acquiring for their health needs. On the other hand, the impact of technology and training of the older workers are thought to be a few added complicating factors to their age and their ‘usual’ perceptions to performing their duties in caring for their mentally-ill patients. The Ageing Staff and their Physicality. As it has been mentioned, an ageing population of staff threatens an organizations’ labor force and thus, its productivity, which would -- in turn -- affect its financial status. Many physical attributes decline with age contributing to the decrease in ability to function like the ‘young’ workers do. Some assume that body parts wear out; others say it degenerates (Carrel, 1961 cited in Hotema, 1962, p.32). Man’s cognitive functions, too, have been observed to lessen with age. If the greater population of the Ontario Shore’s staff have an increased age, it may cause them to be inefficient in performing caring tasks for the patients in the hospital. Mental patients may exhibit aggressive outbursts which may demand physical strength to be controlled. Older staff members may not be able to do so; or, it may take them a long time to handle the outbursts which can further affect the performance of other ward or hospital activities. Furthermore, immediate judgment skills which can decrease with increasing age can result to ineffective interventions. In another context, the specific “nature of the contact with the psychiatric patients/service users” which is naturally more stressful to the staff providing mental health services than those who are assigned in other medical and health disciplines may rather be more exhausting to the aged staff as compared to those of the younger age (WHO, 2003). Older adults’ tolerance to stresses also often causes irritability; “but it was also thought that the capability to cope with life’s frustrations could be affected by weakness of the body” (Cokayne, 2003, p.79). The Staffing Number. Staffing is an essential aspect of an organization. Proper staffing means “having an appropriate safe, cost-effective, competent, committed work force present at the right times to deliver needed patient services (what the patient values) that meet quality standards” (Dunham-Taylor, 2006, p.762). In an organization such as Ontario Shores, staffing managers are loaded with more complex responsibility of not only utilizing staffing models that are most cost-effective for the organization (Scheffler & Ivey, 1998, p.1303). Mental health service organization managers or administrators should also pay attention in designing staffing models which can offer their patients or service users “a variety of medical, psychiatric, and nursing assessments, counseling, physical exercises, social services, crafts, and rehabilitation in activities of daily living skills” (Sultz & Young, 2009, p.313). Hence, proper staffing Ontario Shores and other mental health organizations should be composed of the right numbers of physicians, psychiatrists, nurses, nursing aides and others for the array of services they could offer. This function of the managers, administrators and consultants is critical in achieving the goal improving the services provided to the patients of Ontario Shores and thus, increasing the organization’s productivity. Ontario Shore’s Staff and Their Service It has been emphasized several times earlier how the age, and the physical and mental health are related to the productivity and the quality of services that are being provided by an organization such as Ontario Shores. It is important that organizations consider these issues capably because without the workers, they will not be able to achieve any of the major goals which they have set. The Staff’s Health and Well Being. The issue about health and well being to one’s productivity at the workplace is, nevertheless, a common thing. Stress can interrupt people’s ability to control over the balance between the internal and external aspects of their being and their functions whether at home, at school or even at the workplace. Human resources, their attitudes towards generating positive work outcomes, and their adherence to the goals set by an organization are considered very important in achieving them at the right time and through the right way. However, not all organizations are the same. Others offer materials or information as their product. Some, like Ontario Shores, offer services. This kind of organization tends to be more complicated and stressful. An added complicating attribute, moreover, is that its services are directed to mental health -- a vital aspect of life -- as it entails one-on-one interpersonal interactions to assist their clients in achieving their health goals as a part of the larger organizational goals. There are several human factors that can hinder or promote one’s ability to provide such services. Health and well being of the service providers are among the primary factors that can determine a person or a group of person’s ability to give the needed services of the patient which can be affected by how these services must be delivered. The World Health Organization (2003) argues that the staff of the service organizations like Ontario Shores are more prone to decreased morale and burnout since they constantly deal with “service users whose behaviour may be strange or bizarre; there is the occasional threat of verbally and physically aggressive behavior from users; some staff may be physically assaulted by users” (WHO, 2003). Like the studies showing relationships between employees’ health and well being and their performance (Shaw & Gupta, 2004; Dobreva-Martinova, et al., 2002), it is also found that the employees who are physically or mentally stressed have “low job satisfaction and low productivity,” especially if the root of the stresses is work-related (Dobreva-Martinova, et al., 2002) -- an assumption which affirms what Nelson, et al. (2008, p.54) stated that the well being of employees were seen to have improved as a result of a high job satisfaction rate. This relationship is further emphasized in a study conducted by the European Commission (2004, cited in Zwetsloot & Leka, p.261) which had concluded that “Poor health can reduce employee productivity and business profitability. It also highlights that positive employee well-being can significantly improve the internal welfare of an organization. Poor employee health can translate into increased absenteeism and reduced levels of productivity. Moreover, employees experiencing stress, chronic disease, or other productivity-decreasing factors cannot operate as efficiently, resulting in reduced motivation, engagement and health.” Frederickson (1998, cited in Nelson, et al., 2008, p.52) supported the same in his Broaden and Build Model of Positive Emotions which states that negative emotions generate negative outcomes the same way positive emotions generate positive outcomes as either affect a person’s “scope of attention, action and cognition and build social, physical and intellectual resources.” Hence, with better health and well being, the staff of Ontario Shores will be able to impart their selves through their services in a positive way. Through this positive approach, health service providers are assumed to build a therapeutic relationship with the mentally-ill clients. With it, nurses as well as the other direct care providers will be able to meet the needs of their patients which will lead to patient satisfaction. Once the patients’ needs are satisfied, they will become motivated to have the positive attitude needed in the rehabilitation or treatment, recovery and maintenance of health (Day, et al, 2009, p.823) which corresponds the productivity of the identified organization. The nursing profession also holds the same outlook as studies have proven that positive interactions through the utilization of the theory of therapeutic relationship and not solely through the use of medical treatments and therapies have lead to therapeutic outcomes. In fact, the patients who were identified to have build a therapeutic relationship with their caregivers early in the course of their treatment were found to have “improved treatment response, reduction in symptoms, and overall better functioning” than those who have not (Dossey & Keegan, 2009, p.372) – a sign of productivity and good quality of service that a mental health service organization like Ontario Shores can and must provide for its patients or service users. Positive Organizational Scholarship and Positive Psychology: The Essentials for Providing a Better Service To be able to generate positivity and achieve positive outcomes and productivity in the workplace, administrators and managers need to make sure that their employees are in their optimum health and well being which can only be achieved if all the aspects -- physical, emotional, mental, social, and even spiritual -- of their personality are in balance with one another. This ideology has led to the creation of positive psychology at the organizational level which encourage positive behaviors such as appreciation, collaboration, virtuousness, vitality and meaningfulness and which pays attention to the features that “makes life worth living” rather than the negative ones (Cameron, et al., 2003, p.3). Cameron, Dutton, and Quinn established a new field of study named Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) in response to this, an innovation that the Ontario Shores management may apply. POS, according to Cameron (2003, cited in Mroz & Quinn, p.251), is “the dynamics in organizations that lead to the development of human strength, foster resiliency in individuals, make possible healing and restoration, and cultivate extraordinary individual and organizational performance.” The use of POS in an organization does not only need to involve neither the organization’s leaders nor the employees alone. Instead, POS is to be implemented through cooperation between the organization’s leaders (e.g., supervisors, managers, administrators) and the employees in achieving the goals set by the organization which, in the case of Ontario Shores, is to provide patients better service by assisting the staff and structures to be more positive. The utilization of POS as a process, in accordance to its founders concepts, needs the application of its core principle: positive deviance; as well as the other minor concepts of positive meaning making, positive emotions, and positive connections. This is expected to "create a work environment that moves organizations toward increased employees’ happiness on the job and higher organizations efficiencies" (Mroz & Quinn, 2010, p.251). POS: The Process. Positive organization scholarship (POS) is a five-phased process made up of (1) creating a common understanding,  (2) selecting the early adopters, (3) creating pockets of success in the organizations, (4) sharing across boundaries, and (5) adjusting across boundaries. Like anyone who forms part of an organization, every employee must take time to understand all the happenings inside the organization -- what are the mission and visions of the organization, the name of the projects, etc. Also, specific action plans should be made (including the introduction of POS) as a part of the efforts towards creating a common understanding. Once the early adopters, "or those who are showing great energy and are living the concepts from the workshop," are identified, they are then grouped to create new ideas founded on the "positive" concepts. As the ideas become plans and are implemented, the early adopters who serve as the group leaders are brought back together to evaluate what plans have been effective or not. The successful action plans are then shared across the groups to find applicability. The fifth phase of the process include the continuous meetings and sharing regarding the plans have or have not been useful; and initiated "positive culture that develop and reinforce positive emotions, meaning, and connections on a regular basis" (Mroz & Quinn, 2010, pp.259-262) are used and even further improved for the utilization of the organization. The Three Key Positive Concepts Part of the purposes why Positive Organizations Scholarship has to be undergone by many organizations wanting a positive change is to be able to identify the staffs characteristics which may be enhanced by the leaders, managers and administrators to achieve the goals of the organization. For Ontario Shores, it is believed that the three key positive constructs that will enable to do it are self-efficacy, optimism, and strength of character. Self-efficacy. The services offered by the Ontario Shores are deemed to be more complicated than the other kinds of organization and the efficacy of the employees to perform them is very vital to the overall productivity of the organization. With it, "improved behavior, thinking patterns, and emotional well-being" are expected (Harris & Fries, 2002, p. 18). Latham, et al. (p.42) also pointed out that “people with high self-efficacy remain committed to high goals despite obstacle to goal attainment” whereas those who have low self-efficacy have little tolerance to obstacles which makes them easy to give up when problems are encountered. Optimism. There is never a question in the benefits of optimism to people. However, others may have the difficulty to maintain especially when they are constantly bombarded with difficulties, burned-out or overly stressed in the work that they do. However, promoting optimism through "proactive communication" will assist an organizations employees to "understand and see more clearly where their organization is headed, why it is going in that direction, and how it will get there" (Marks, 2003, p.182). Strength of Character. A strongly-founded character is needed in the provision of mental health services because of the complexity of its nature. According to Moran (2009, p.84), "the skills and talents of these individuals can make a powerful contribution to the overall success of the organization." Conclusion A healthcare organization’s goal of striving for providing better services for its clients is one of the ultimate yet the most basic goals for the kind of institution like Ontario Shores. Unlike the common notion of always focusing on the recipients of the service they offer, however, it is also important for managers and administrators to consider the health state and well being of their employees who are the direct providers of these services which is one of the significant variable that can predict the organizations’ productivity and ability to achieve the goal grounded on positivity. Reference Lists Cameron, K. S., Dutton, J. E. & Quinn, R. E., 2003. Positive organizational scholarship: foundations of a new discipline. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. Chandra, P. S., 2009. The interface between reproductive health and psychiatry. In: P. S. Chandra, et al., Ed. Contemporary topics in women’s mental health: global perspectives in a changing society. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 189-197. Chapter III: how will demographic change affect the global economy?, 2004. World Economic Outlook, 1 Sept. 1, pp. 137+. Cokayne, K., 2003. 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