The cost of caring: Compassion fatigue among peer overdose response workers in British Columbia

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dc.contributor.authorMamdani, Zahra
dc.contributor.authorMcKenzie, Sophie
dc.contributor.authorAckermann, Emma
dc.contributor.authorVoyer, Rayne
dc.contributor.authorCameron, Fred
dc.contributor.authorScott, Tracy
dc.contributor.authorPauly, Bernie
dc.contributor.authorBuxton, Jane A.
dc.date.accessioned2025-03-18T16:02:05Z
dc.date.available2025-03-18T16:02:05Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.description.abstractBackground: The drug toxicity crisis has had dramatic impacts on people who use drugs. Peer overdose response workers (peer responders), i.e., individuals with lived/living experience of drug use who work in overdose response settings, are particularly susceptible to negative physical and mental health impacts of the crisis. Despite that, the mental health impacts on peer responders have yet to be studied and measured. Methods: The Professional Quality of Life survey (Version 5) was completed by 47 peer responders at two organizations in British Columbia between September 2020 and March 2021 to assess compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. The Likert scale responses were converted into numerical values and scores were calculated for each sub-scale. The mean score was calculated for each sub-scale and categorized as low, medium, or high, based on the instructions for Version 5 of the instrument. Results: Our study uncovered a high mean score for compassion satisfaction, low mean score for burnout, and medium mean score for secondary traumatic stress among peer responders. These results may be due to the participants’ strong feelings of pride and recognition from their work, as well as the low number of participants that felt they had too much to do at work. Conclusion: Although peer responders derive pleasure and fulfillment from their jobs, i.e., compassion satisfaction, they also sometimes face burnout and stress due to continuous exposure to the trauma of the people they support. These results shed light on the areas that need to be targeted when creating supports for peer responders.
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work was supported by the Health Canada.
dc.identifier.citationMamdani, Z., McKenzie, S., Ackermann, E., Voyer, R., Cameron, F., Scott, T., Pauly, B., & Buxton, J. A. (2023). The cost of caring: Compassion fatigue among peer overdose response workers in British Columbia. Substance Use & Misuse, 58(1), 85–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2022.2148481
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2022.2148481
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/21668
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSubstance Use & Misuse
dc.rightsCC BY-NC-ND 4.0
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectoverdose response
dc.subjectburnout
dc.subjectcompassion fatigue
dc.subjectcompassion satisfaction
dc.subjectfrontline workers
dc.subjectoverdose prevention sites
dc.subjectoverdose related deaths
dc.subjectpeer responders
dc.subjectpeople who use drugs
dc.subjectsecondary traumatic stress
dc.titleThe cost of caring: Compassion fatigue among peer overdose response workers in British Columbia
dc.typeArticle

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