Date of Graduation
Summer 8-13-2024
Document Access
Project/Capstone - Global access
Degree Name
Master of Public Health (MPH)
College/School
School of Nursing and Health Professions
Department/Program
Public Health
First Advisor
Courtney Keeler
Abstract
Purpose: Emergency shelter volunteers are experiencing secondary traumatic stress (STS) symptoms during their deployments. The purpose of this paper is to create an intervention that protects the volunteers from developing STS.
Design: Questionnaires were distributed to current and previous emergency shelter volunteers along with conducting interviews. This design allowed important information to be collected that was used to determine the level of STS symptoms experienced by the volunteers.
Trends: Three STS symptoms were focused upon, intrusion, avoidance, and arousal. It was determined that intrusion symptoms were experienced more frequently than avoidance and arousal symptoms.
Summary: It was determined that emergency shelter volunteers lack resources to prevent STS from developing. This paper identifies the resources needed, assesses the problem, and provides realistic interventions to protect and prevent our emergency shelter volunteers from suffering STS symptoms.
Recommended Citation
Yokom, Ashlyn K., "Secondary Trauma amongst Emergency Shelter Volunteers: An Intervention to Identify, Assess, and Respond to Secondary Trauma Exposure" (2024). Master's Projects and Capstones. 1769.
https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/1769
