It is widely accepted that physical interventions should only be used as a last resort when all other positive behaviour strategies have been exhausted. However, there are occasions when physical intervention may be the only option available to support someone who is behaving in a way that poses a risk of harm to themselves or others.
In this case, it is important that staff are properly trained and confident in their ability to safely defuse difficult situations. Regular refresher training from Timian can help to ensure that your staff remain up-to-date with best practice and are able to effectively respond to challenging behaviour.
What is physical intervention training?
Based on a PBS (Positive Behaviour Support) approach, physical intervention training is designed to teach people how to safely manage challenging behaviours and covers a range of non-restrictive techniques that can be used to de-escalate or resolve situations.
Moreover, it helps organisations to understand the reasons behind an individual’s behaviour and the role of communication to minimise risk and develop individual response strategies for an improved quality of life to service users and staff.
The training is suitable for anyone who may need to intervene in a physical altercation, including social workers, teachers, and health care professionals. It is important to note that the techniques taught are based on PBS principles and not intended for use as a form of violence or aggression.
Why is refresher training important?
Our BILD Act certification requires us to ensure that all our certified courses are refreshed annually. Physical intervention refresher training is important for a number of reasons, including:
- Enhanced safety for both staff and service users – Staff who are up-to-date with the latest physical intervention techniques and policies can help to create a safe environment for both themselves and those they support.
- Reduced risk of physical injury – By keeping staff and individuals physically safe, they are less likely to be injured in the course of an event. This in turn reduces the risk of potential legal action against the organisation.
- Improved staff confidence and competence – Refresher training can help to boost staff members’ confidence to manage behaviour that people find challenging with the ability to safely hold and breakaway from difficult situations.
- Greater consistency in the application of physical interventions – By developing individual response strategies, organisations can help to create a more consistent approach to physical interventions.
- Identify skills and knowledge gaps – Refresher training can also be used to fill in any skills or knowledge gaps that staff may have. This information can then be used to create targeted training programmes to meet the needs of individual staff members.
- Increased employee retention – When you invest in staff development, this encourages employee retention. Known as The Forgetting Curve, our ability to retain the information after learning drops, but with regular refresher training, organisations can save time, money and resources in the long-run.
Get in touch
If you feel that your organisation will benefit from our Train-The-Trainer or Physical Interventions Course with refresher training on an annual basis, please contact us on 0800 987 4075 or fill in the form here for more information.
