UKERU: A New Way to Manage Crises

It is an exciting time for everyone here at Grafton Integrated Health Network (Grafton), as we begin the process of making our entire organization restraint free. Just recently, our Winchester locations began to use a new crisis management system, called UKERU. The techniques and methods we’re learning in UKERU help staff maintain not only client safety, but our own safety as well. By teaching staff this new approach, we minimize the use of restraint, leading to fewer worker comp claims and minimizing client injuries. What exactly is UKERU?

UKERU is a Grafton model that teaches staff members how to safely manage crisis situations (behaviorally) with the least restrictive approach possible. The word itself comes from the Japanese language and means “to receive.”In our trainings, we cover communication techniques and how we can better communicate with our clients, what a trauma informed care facility looks and feels like, conflict resolution, and most importantly, how to comfort our clients and not control them.

I have been given an opportunity by our administration to tag along for this exciting ride as an UKERU trainer! Like all employees, I received UKERU training from our training managers and had to pass all the required tests. The material was really enjoyable, especially the physical release techniques.

Currently, I’m helping train our Winchester location staff members the new system. The experience has been both fun and rewarding, and the feedback we’ve received has been very positive.

Not only ARE WE training staff and implementing UKERU at our Winchester locations, but we’re about to do so externally as well. Very soon, I will be heading out west, to California, with a group of UKERU trainers to do consultations and trainings at other facilities similar to Grafton. There we will train more than 4,000 employees over a six-month timeframe. This is such an amazing opportunity for our company.

Grafton is really growing, and fast, and I am blessed to be a part of it. Being selected for this initial consultation and training experience is quite humbling and probably my greatest honor. I am looking forward to the opportunity to spread the word about Grafton and all the great things we are doing for our clients and employees here.