Why Renewals and Refreshers Are Important for You and Your Staff
There’s no way to predict exactly what will occur during real-life crisis situations. Through training, we can identify common behaviours and explore strategies for intervention, but the behaviours and intervention strategies come to life in our day-to-day experiences.
Building on the Foundation: Ongoing Training
Refresher training builds on the foundation established in the MAPA® (Management of Actual or Potential Aggression) training programme. The Training Process gives staff the opportunity to develop a more meaningful understanding of how programme concepts apply to their work with service users. Over time, staff build confidence in their ability to apply training concepts effectively and safely as they face various and ever-changing realities.
Refresher Goals:
To review and expand on the MAPA® training concepts:
- Regularly and formally assessing staff competence and proficiency in the intervention strategies taught in the MAPA® training programme.
- Assessing team member strength areas and areas requiring improvement relating to crisis prevention and intervention.
Refresher Training
CPI recommends that Certified Instructors conduct refresher training for staff at least once
every 6 to 12 months, and in accordance with CPI’s standards, which are based on BILD Code of Practice and current best practice guidelines and recommended practices for content and programme length.
The most meaningful refresher training courses are not merely reviews. Instead, they’re
opportunities to explore concepts in greater detail, and discuss successes and challenges staff have experienced in using information taught in the MAPA® training programme.
Most importantly, refresher training should be used to improve crisis intervention effectiveness of individual team members and the team as a whole. It’s essential that these courses are highly interactive and customised to the needs of participants. This dynamic approach will keep the course content interesting and relevant for staff.
Maintaining Standards and Building on the Foundation With Renewal Training
The Instructor Certification Programme is a cost-effective way for organisations to deliver MAPA® knowledge and skills to staff. In compliance with the BILD Code of Practice and to ensure that the quality of training is not compromised a set of standards around the delivery of training were put in place, one of which is around the refresh and reassessment of the knowledge and skills of those delivering MAPA® training. As such instructors are licensed for one year only and are required to attend a renewal programme at the end of their certification period in order to continue to be licensed to deliver MAPA® training.
Renewal Goals:
Annual renewals are a vital part of your training cycle as a Certified Instructor for a number of reasons:
- They help to ensure that your learners maintain and apply the knowledge and skills you teach.
- They help to maintain your proficiency and best practice.
Additional values include:
- Recalibrating your own skills more frequently.
- Aligning yourself not only with staff expectations, but also most legislation and regulatory frameworks.
- Participating in frequent training to support current best practices in adult learning and help avoid training drift.
- Achieving greater confidence and competence when teaching MAPA® content.
- Improving your proficiency in teaching and coaching staff in risk behaviour.
- Validating your commitment to the philosophy of Care, Welfare, Safety, and Security℠.
Summary
Organisations using MAPA® have collected convincing evidence showing that the best results are achieved from presenting the training as an ongoing process. CPI recommends that Certified Instructors work closely with their organisation to develop a comprehensive plan for the Training Process. This will ensure continuous improvement in staff abilities to use intervention strategies that are effective, safe, and respectful.