Abstract
M.A.
This research aimed to design and develop an intervention that would maximise the
coping resources of doctors working with trauma patients at Johannesburg General
Hospital. Intervention Research methodology was used in order to achieve this
objective. The study was divided in to three phases, namely, Diagnosis, Feedback and
Discussion and Evaluation. The initial intervention comprised the Diagnostic as well as
the Feedback and Discussion phase. The findings from the Diagnostic phase suggested
that the doctors who had been working in the unit for less than three months, as well as
the doctors who had less than four years medical practice experience, were most likely
to show areas of vulnerability. This vulnerability related to their under-use of coping
resources accompanied by elevated negative mood states, as identified by the Coping
Resource Inventory and the Profile of Mood States questionnaire respectively. Other
groups of doctors that shared this vulnerability included interns, medical officers, females
and single doctors. The Feedback and Discussion phase brought to light themes
relating to the stressors that the doctors’ experience in their work context. These
themes along with the results of the Evaluation phase where used in order to re-design
the Intervention for future use with doctors working with trauma patients. The findings
from the Evaluation phase also confirmed that the doctors found the intervention to be
beneficial.