Safeguarding the Safeguarders: A pragmatic trial of a wellness and supervision bundle to reduce vicarious trauma among GBV First Responders Across Community-Based Organizations

The first responders to gender based violence (GBV) are exposed to high occupational risks, such as vicarious trauma, burnout and compassion fatigue. Although they play a critical role in assisting the survivors, the frontline workers are usually not well organized in terms of the support structures. This practical intervention examined a wellness and supervision package of comprehensive wellness applied in a range of community-based organizations using a stepped-wedge design. The intervention involved the organized supervision sessions, the peer debriefing protocols, and systematized pathways of mental health referral. Validated measures of vicarious trauma and burnout were used as primary outcomes and acceptability, feasibility, and fidelity were the implementation outcomes. The results showed that there was a significant decrease in vicarious trauma symptoms and burnout scores of the study first responders. The implementation metrics were highly acceptable, and moderately-high fidelity in varying organization settings. The paper adds evidence-based approaches to organizational wellness within the GBV response sector and emphasizes the urgent necessity of the sustainability of protective mechanisms in this area to safeguard the people who safeguard others.