Third International Conference on Violence in the Health Sector--Linking Local Initiatives With Global Learning
October 24-26 2012 Vancouver, Canada
Work related aggression and violence within the health and social services sector is a major problem which diminishes the quality of working life for staff, compromises organizational effectiveness and ultimately impacts negatively on the provision and quality of care. These problems pervade both service settings and occupational groups.
Considerable attention and advancements in addressing this problem have been achieved from service and organizational perspectives nationally and internationally. Following two successful conferences in 2008 and 2010 in Amsterdam, the 3rd International Conference on Violence in the Health Sector, will take place in Vancouver, Canada, from October 24-26 2012. In addition to raising awareness the 2012 conference will provide a platform to share international developments, with a particular emphasis on best practice research and initiatives to effectively respond to the problem.
The specific aims of the conference are:
To sensitize stakeholders to the issue of violence in the health care sector,
To understand the manifestations and the human, professional and economic implications of violence in the health care sector,
To promote effective sustainable initiatives and strategies to create safe environments for workers and clients in the health care sector,
To present initiatives which respond to the problem, and have transferable learning for efforts in broader service and geographical contexts.
Conference sub-themes:
Patterns of aggression and/or violence within healthcare:
All manifestations of aggression and/or violence irrespective of who the perpetrator or victim is (staff, service user, co-worker, others) including:
1. Verbal aggression/violence
2. Physical aggression/violence
3. Sexual intimidation/harassment
4. Psychological aggression/violence
5. Horizontal/lateral aggression/violence, like bullying, mobbing and intimidation
6. Financial abuse
7. Organizational/hierarchical aggression/violence
Impact of aggression and/or violence within healthcare:
8. Physical/Injury impacts of aggression/violence
9. Emotional/Psychological impacts of aggression/violence
10. Financial impacts of aggression/violence
11. Service related impacts of aggression/violence
12. Professional, legal and ethical impacts of aggression/violence
Initiatives and solutions to aggression and/or violence within healthcare:
13. Creating aggression and violence minimizing cultures
14. The minimisation/reduction of seclusion, restraint and coercive measures
15. Engaging with service user in seeking solutions
16. Education and training
17. Quality safety and risk reduction initiatives
18. Policy/guidance on best practice initiatives
The key theme of the conference on this occasion is on initiatives which inform responses to the problem of aggression and/or violence within the health sector.