Training, recruitment and supervision of personnel in residential care centres: An exploratory study

Abstract

Social care systems, residential care centers and directors are under pressure to provide the best service to children and youngsters. At the same time, there is also a concern for personnel well-being, and personal and professional development. This qualitative and exploratory study aimed to identify, with semi-structured interviews with directors of residential care centers, what are the most recent practices in terms of personnel recruitment, in-service training, supervision, and the promotion of caregivers’ well-being. The results revealed that workers were perceived as the most important resource in an organization. Promoting personnel training and the concept of care for caregivers were, therefore, identified as strategies to preserve adequate workers’ commitment to this demanding career, to avoid worker turnover. As workers are asked to apply their soft skills daily, training offered to these workers should focus more on knowledge about mental health and psychological and physical well-being, to assist them in providing adequate care. The results indicated that these subjects, and those specifically connected with at-risk children/youth, were identified as essential to the directors interviewed but were not yet broadly available as training offers. Implications drawn from the findings are presented for practice and for research.