Healthcare workers work in highly stressful environments and are placed in highly emotional settings caring for the sick. They are routinely exposed to hazardous chemicals, drugs, and infectious diseases, like COVID-19. Half of frontline healthcare workers during the pandemic have reported increased levels of depression. There is a need for comprehensive, intentional responses to treat the occupational and psychological challenges that all healthcare workers face. This is a public health emergency.
How we’ve worked with healthcare workers
Eskenazi Health, Indianapolis, IN
Since 2015, we have trained 350 clinicians and staff at Eskenazi Health, one of the U.S.’s five largest safety net systems. These healthcare workers have, in turn, shared our model of self-care and mutual support to 4,500 EH employees, as well as the more than 100,000 mostly aging and low-income people whom EH serves. Here’s how the community is benefiting:
- Our program has increased EH staff participation in health-promoting lifestyles, as well as perceived stress and secondary traumatic stress.
- EH employee healthcare costs, which were increasing by 5% a year, were, after two years of partnership with us, only increasing by 1% a year.
- In its comprehensive partnership, we guided EH in completely revamping its food services to provide locally grown, high quality, healthy, affordable food to all patients, staff, and visitors. High levels of patient and staff satisfaction followed, and EH had a 400% increase in revenue from EH’s cafeterias and cafes.
VISN 8: VA Sunshine Healthcare Network
We have also established deep roots with active-duty military and Veterans Affairs, which provides care and support for American veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder, among other health conditions.
Between 1999 and 2019, we have trained and mentored 800 clinicians and peer counselors at 30 U.S. VAs and military bases, including 30 from the San Francisco VA and 40 from Walter Reed/Bethesda Medical Centers.
- In 2019, we signed a contract with VISN 8 to train 200 VA Whole Health Coaches and 100 VISN 8 clinical leaders in our model.
- We have supported the VA in implementing this model across the their largest division, which serves 1.6 million veterans across the Southeastern US and the Caribbean.
- In the fall of 2021, VISN 8 held their first training fully led by in-house, CMBM-trained Faculty—a milestone marking their ability to independently sustain the program.
