Responsibility

Sport development workers have indicated that the agency that organised their job in the field had little in the way of after care. Some have not even had any debriefing at all. This is no luxury if people come from these complex areas. A sport development worker's mental and physical health is the responsibility of his or her organisation. So both a medical check-up and the possibility to have a psychological debriefing with a recognised psychologist are clearly desirable.

From the field

'We got 1001 papers to fill in. That already in itself was an evaluation. But looking back now, it wasn't. Even if we had a verbal evaluation the line would be something like "How do you feel today?" "Fine, thanks". It was a laugh. So we just had those obligatory papers. You fill them in and send them back and that's it'. (Jo Verhaegen)

'Oh yes, evaluations. Tell me about it. Help is important for the children who are there but it is equally important for those who help the children. An organisation should be aware of the environment and the circumstances they send their staff into - and what the consequences could be. So taking on board the after care issue is part of the entire process, in my view'. (Mark Bulthuis)