By Jaroslav Pekara, FOSTREN member from Czech Republic
A symposium of the group ENTMA was held on 6-8 October 2023 in Scotland, Kincardine in the area of Scottish Police College.
The European Network of Training in the Management of Aggression (ENTMA aka “ENTMA08”). is a network for those associated with the assessment, planning, delivery, educating, evaluation, commissioning, regulating or researching training in the management of aggression within health and social care, education, and related settings. The network involves a broad range of professionals, administrators, regulators, researchers and educators from all disciplines in health and social care and related social settings.
As a participant, I was delighted to attend this symposium and share experiences with experts from all over Europe.
We stayed on the campus of the Scottish Police College and had the beautiful surroundings of the parks and Tulliallan Castle.
Friday evening belonged to the keynote MS. JENNIFER YOUNG, who informed us about Trauma Informed Care: The Scottish Journey. After the lecture, we were invited to the castle where dinner and social entertainment awaited us.
Saturday morning’s lectures were Dr NUTMEG HALETT’S De-Escalation Practice And Training: Contemporary Understanding and MR. NATHAN MOORE (Emerging Contribution Of Virtual Reality). Both lectures were very interesting and discussed the professional curiosity and benefits of practising managing an aggressive patient through virtual reality.
Saturday morning consisted of 4 sessions: Reducing Restrictive Practice, Assisted Feeding/Nutrition/ Strategies, Co-Production In Training And Trainer Standards And Practical Safety Strategies: [Personal Safety].
I completed the last exercise under the guidance of Kevin McKenna. The exercise focused on personal safety and discussed techniques for attacking with the fist, kick and hold.
In the afternoon I was included in the TRAINER AND TRAINING PRACTICE session where I presented an Evaluation of a training program to manage patients’ aggression – experiences from the Czech Republic, where we adapted the Thackrey scale for confidence in managing an aggressive patient. Another speaker in this section was DOUG MELIA who gave a very useful talk on the Implementation of a pilot of a fabric cuff within custodial settings. Colleagues PAUL DOEDENS AND PANOS TAMTAKOS prepared an escape game on Safewards and everyone played: the ghost of Tulliallan Castle – escape room learning for de-escalation training. Colleagues PIETER-JAN PAULUSSEN AND RINKE BOONE presented a very useful technique for managing anger and aggression which is called The Seven Chairs of Aggression.
Saturday’s closing lectures were again keynote speakers: DR TESS MAGUIRE (Decision Making: Instruments To Inform/Enhance Care Pathways) and DR KEITH REID (Data To Inform And Drive Organisational Improvement).
Sunday’s program featured 3 keynote speakers:
DR TONY BLEETMAN (Medical Consideration: Safely Managing Concerns And Risks), DR KEVIN MCKENNA: Post Occurrence Reviews: Emerging Evidence And Changing Practice,
MS IRIS BENSON/ MR DWAYNE SMITH: Lived Experience; Keeping The Service User At The Heart Of All We Do
I would like to thank Action Fostren for their support in making it possible for me to attend such a great symposium. A big thank you also goes to the organizers.
