When the Dust Settles: Preventing a Mental Health Crisis in COVID-19 Clinicians
This Annals of Internal Medicine paper published June 9, 2020, offers advice from two palliative care clinicians to help health systems and individuals address mental health effects of the pandemic. The authors acknowledge the need to go beyond employee assistance groups and provide strategies proven beneficial in the palliative care community. They share a foundational set of principles for building internal support: looking past the illness, fostering community, promoting vulnerability, and establishing boundaries and limitations.
Addressing the Critiques of Well-being
Evidence shows that well-being initiatives have positive benefits on a workforce; however, many leaders still see well-being programs as a luxury, especially during an economic crunch. This article from the Stanford Social Innovation Review addresses hesitations that leaders may have in funding a well-being program and gives tips on how you can make the case for well-being in your organization.
Workforce Well-being: A Comprehensive Toolkit for Supporting Our Own During COVID-19
The Office of Well Being and Resilience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai created this toolkit after multiple conversations with frontline workers. This holistic well-being program focuses on meeting staff's basic needs, as well as providing psychosocial support and mental health evaluation and treatment. Review this toolkit for resources and ideas to bring to your own institution.
Infectious Diseases Society of America Podcast COVID-19: Mental Health
The Infectious Diseases Society of America is producing a free weekly podcast to keep members informed on the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. This episode, released June 10, 2020, discusses the mental health toll the pandemic is taking on clinicians and what can be done.
Crisis Management: What VUCA Really Means for You
This Harvard Business Review article provides a comprehensive guide to identifying, preparing for, and responding to events in each of the four VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) categories.
Back to the July 17, 2020 issue of ACP IM Thriving