Why is it important to know the boundaries of your work role and responsibilities in aged care?

“When we fail to set boundaries and hold people accountable, we feel used and mistreated.”  ― Brené Brown

As a communications consultant, trainer and an experienced Social worker, I consider setting boundaries in the workplace as an essential skill for people to have. It is also a necessary skill for leaders and managers to master. At the same time I see, far too often, poor boundaries lead to overwork, poor communication, misunderstanding, and ultimately resentment towards work and colleagues.

Setting good boundaries is a skill that we can all learn. Having good boundaries at work is not only good for productivity, but importantly, it is a form of self-care. More specifically, setting up effective boundaries in the workplace allows you to have better mental health, which in turn helps improve your performance and build better working relationships with co-workers. We have all heard the airline safety message, “please fit your own oxygen mask first, then proceed to assist children and others”. Setting good boundaries at work is merely taking care of yourself, putting your own oxygen mask on, so you can better serve your clients, colleagues and your workplace.

The Benefits of Setting Boundaries in the Workplace

An integral part of a company’s success is excellent communication, strong rapport and trust among its employees. Each employee has his/her own duties, responsibilities and relationships that contribute to a company’s success. Boundaries in the workplace help maintain a safe, supportive and conducive working environment for all employees. Here are several ways that having good boundaries can help improve the workplace:

Boundaries help establish connection among employees, allowing them to focus on their roles and respect those who are in a higher and lower position. A boundary of respect will enable people to speak up, share ideas, suggest creative solutions to problems without fear of ridicule or embarrassment.

If there is not a boundary of respect, then people will fear speaking up and ideas and creativity will be supressed.

Boundaries help identify what behaviour is and isn’t acceptable for each employee, which helps create a common definition of acceptable behaviour within the workplace. The world is changing, and our language, values and behaviours within the workplace are also changing. By having clear codes of behaviour and boundaries around what is and what is not appropriate, everyone can feel safe at work.

Obscure boundaries around standards of behaviour see people feeling unsafe and unable to focus on their work.

Boundaries foster positive communication among all employees, which helps avoid disputes, misunderstanding and difficult conversations. Boundaries teach employees to engage in positive communication, both as a sender of a message and receiver of a message.

Poor communication can cost companies a lot of money. The Project Management Institute estimated that for every $1 billion of project funds, $135 million is lost as a result of poor communication

Boundaries help each employee set realistic goals and expectations, which tells the company what to expect from them and what they can expect from the company. Performance discussions, coaching and mentoring all help workers to set and manage their expectations within the workplace. With clear expectations, both employee and employer know what is expected.

Many leaders avoid having tough discussions about poor performance or skills deficiencies. Instead, they move to skills coaching or a performance review and avoid the difficult conversation, hoping it will go away. Having clear boundaries around expectations makes these conversations so much easier.

The absence of boundaries in the workplace can lead to anxiety, dispute, miscommunication, and, eventually, disengagement. These can all have a negative impact on staff, the workplace and the organisation as an entity. By taking care of yourself through clear and effective boundaries, you can help foster a positive workplace and culture and you can contribute to your organisation being successful. Ensure that you and your workplace have set clear and effective boundaries and that they are observed. It is worth the effort.

Effectively managing boundaries in youth peer support programs requires giving adequate attention to the issue of role management. A role boundary is a clear definition of the duties, rights and limitations of facilitators, volunteers and program participants. Clearly defining the purpose of the program as well as the program facilitator’s and the peer volunteers’ roles and responsibilities (inside and outside the program) is important to avoid confusion or misperceptions among all of those involved. This includes what each of these roles encompasses and also what their limitations are. It should be ensured that these are well understood by the peer supporters themselves, as well as the service users and anybody else involved in the program. Role boundaries are crucial for the development of positive and effective relationships between facilitators, volunteers and participants; reduces the potential for harmful relationships and helps to ensure the mental and physical health of those involved.

Example

Situation: Struggling to maintain clear role boundaries was experienced in a drop-in peer support program for sexuality/gender diverse young people. The program was facilitated by one coordinator whose role was compromised when she attempted to provide support for some group members who apparently required more support than other clients due to lacking social support networks accessible to them.

Issues: While the program coordinator felt it was her responsibility to help the clients, building up these relationships took up a lot of her time in terms of attending to emails, calls, and meetings outside of program hours, which consequently lead to exceeding the scope of her official role.The challenge experienced by the coordinator was to not push the clients away while at the same time maintaining the professional role boundaries of her position.

Response: The issue was managed by encouraging the young people to access other services that could help to broaden their social networks and increase the number of people they could ask for help.

Managing role boundaries

Establishing and maintaining clarity of roles will prevent a young person feeling pressure to take on something they are not experienced in or comfortable with. While peer supporters play a valuable role in providing help for other young people to deal with a variety of issues, dealing with certain problems should always involve the guidance of an adult supervisor responsible for the service. These include circumstances where a serious possibility of harm to the person seeking help or another person can occur, such as sexual or physical abuse, suicide threats or attempts, serious self-harm and mental illness.1

The introduction of a volunteer manual may assist in the process of defining roles; however, continuous communication with volunteers and participants is equally essential to serve as a reminder for both service providers and service users throughout the program.1 Regular communication and debriefing after sessions will help forestall any blurring of the boundaries, especially as empathy and relationships develop.

The Induction process should be formal and include provision of :

• clear written position descriptions;
• volunteer manual;
• clear outline of training requirements;
• completion of initial training (external provider);
• clarirty around position of service regarding social networking sites ;(eg: recent issues with teachers and Facebook);
• regular supervision;
• ongoing training; and
• regular updates of PD’s, volunteer manual and training regimen.

Read about how to manage relationship boundaries.

References

1. Cowie, H & Wallace, P 2000, ‘Peer Support in Action’, Sage Publications, London, pp.176.

Being a Social Carer can mean that you are involved in personal situations with members and their friends or family. Private or confidential information could be shared with you while you are a support worker and you may also be in scenarios where you are confronted with requests or conditions for support that are not suitable or appropriate within the context of being a support worker.

Acting Ethically

It is very important that as Social Carers we have a sound ethical framework to understand how we can best protect the rights of individuals who have disabilities or who may be vulnerable. Some members may have limited ability to communicate their concerns or complaints. Members may also be unaware that their behaviour and expectations place demands on Social Carers to do things that are not appropriate. For these reasons, ethical guidelines are important in providing a safe and clear working environment for Social Carers to provide effective and goal-directed support. They also ensure that Social Carers providing support have adequate training, skills and knowledge to provide the support that is needed.

Honouring Privacy & Confidentiality

All members have a right to privacy of their personal information, and Social Carers should not ask about information that is not relevant or necessary to the task at hand. Social Carers also have the right to privacy.  Sensitive information received by Social Carers must be confidential, unless they have the written or verbal consent of the member or their legal guardian. Social carers must not reveal confidential information without permission - Social Carers may need to discuss matters with the Like Family Customer Experience team but this should always be done in a respectful way. 

Friend vs Carer

The role of a Social Carer is to support and reinforce the existing family, social and community network of the member. The role of a friendship is different from that of a Social Carer and can constitute a conflict of interest while doing your job. Unprofessional relationships with members and their family members can lead to risks in blurring the boundaries of your professional relationship. Risks can include: 

- Unreasonable expectations from the member, family of the member or Social Carer

- Lack of ability to give objective and professional support

- Difficulty maintaining boundaries when it comes to personal life

- Grief and loss for members when Social Carers leave 

Gifts

Members may offer gifts to Social Carers as a gesture of appreciation for support given. We may not want to refuse a small gift and cause offence. However, accepting gifts should always be carefully considered, especially gifts of expensive items or money. Gifts should of course never be solicited or requested. 

Setting Boundaries

It is important to discuss your role with the member before you commence support.  Keep your own family and personal life private and separate from your work – be careful about self-disclosure, inviting members into your home and providing too much personal information about yourself as this can cross professional boundaries. Also, don’t hesitate to ask for help when you need it – support work involves high levels of independence and accountability and you can always refer back to the Like Family team if you need clarification or guidance.

Signs of Boundary Problems

• Discussing your personal, marital, or financial problems with Members/Social Carers.
• Visiting Members/Social Carers outside of bookings.  
• Inviting Members/Social Carers to your home or introducing them to your family members or friends.
• Accepting money or expensive gifts.
• Asking for favours or unreasonable flexibility with shift arrangements.  
• Feelings of sexual attraction towards Members/Social Carers.

Taking Care of Yourself

Taking care of your physical and mental well-being is crucial to support work. It is important to have some activities outside of bookings that you enjoy. Be on the lookout for signs of psychological and physical stress and make sure to have a good work-life balance that includes activities that make you feel good. Lastly, make sure that you are taking care of your general health and well-being, getting enough sleep, eating a well-balanced diet  and participating in regular exercise