Advancing innovations in health care delivery for low-income Americans

www.chcs.org | @CHCShealth

Encouraging Staff Wellness in Trauma-Informed Organizations

Building a Culture of Health in New Jersey: Thriving Communities Transform Lives Conference November 28, 2018 Meryl Schulman, Program Officer, Center for Health Care Strategies

1. Highlight how staff wellness is a key ingredient for trauma-informed care;

2. Describe the impact of chronic emotional stress on providers and organizations; and

3. Share innovative approaches for health care professionals and organizations to promote self-care and wellness.

2

Today’s Focus

About the Center for Health Care Strategies

A nonprofit policy center dedicated to improving the health of low-income Americans

CHCS priorities: Advancing delivery system and payment reform Integrating services for people with complex needs Building Medicaid and cross-sector leadership and capacity

CHCS core activities: Expert technical assistance Collaborative and peer learning Best practice dissemination

3

Multi-year initiative supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Objective: Understand and spread practical strategies for implementing trauma-informed approaches across the health care sector. »Two-year multi-site pilot demonstration and learning

collaborative with six leading health care organizations »National dissemination of project lessons to spread emerging

best practices »Implementation analysis conducted by the Urban Institute

4

www.chcs.org | @CHCShealth

Advancing innovations in health care delivery for low-income Americans

Why is staff wellness important?

5

Secondary traumatic stress is emotional duress that mimics post-traumatic stress disorder caused by hearing about another person’s firsthand traumatic experiences.

Vicarious traumatization is the cumulative effect of consistent exposure to hearing about other people’s traumatic experiences.

Burnout is a form of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion caused by chronic work-related stress.

Sources: The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (2011). “Secondary Traumatic Stress: A Fact Sheet for Child-Serving Professionals.” Available at: http://www.nctsn.org/resources/topics/secondary-traumatic-stress. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2014). “Chapter 2: Building a Trauma-Informed Workforce.” Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207194/.

6

Impact of chronic emotional stress on staff

Lower quality patient care as staff may not have the emotional resources to provide high-quality care.

Higher staff turnover as staff who have experienced chronic emotional stress are more likely to leave an organization which contributes to: »Dissatisfaction among co-workers »Increased cost and staff time

Source: Strategies for Encouraging Staff Wellness in Trauma-Informed Organizations. Center for Health Care Strategies. December 2016 7

Impact of chronic emotional stress on organizations

www.chcs.org | @CHCShealth

Advancing innovations in health care delivery for low-income Americans

How can staff wellness be promoted?

8

General Wellness Activities

Organizational Policy and Practice

9

Opportunities to Encourage Staff Wellness

Education and Awareness Building

Encourage and incentivize activities like yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and exercise »Promote nearby classes and consider bringing them in-house

»Create wellness spaces

Incorporate staff wellness activities into meetings and daily work »Pre-meeting “check-ins”

»“Mindful minute” during clinical team huddles

»Daily wellness breaks

10

General Wellness Activities

Build awareness about the impact of chronic emotional stress and the importance of self-care »Offer trainings

»Hang posters throughout the office

Provide opportunities for staff to safely explore their own trauma histories and to destress »Utilize “listening partners”

Train supervisors on management techniques like reflective supervision

11

Education and Awareness Building

Foster a culture that allows providers to seek support and promotes wellness »Retreats and team-building exercises »Generous PTO packages »Meeting-free workdays or periods of time

Provide supplemental mental health benefits Support wellness through policies that promote

work/life balance »Leave work phones in office »Only schedule patient appointments during work week »Keep caseloads manageable »Encourage mental health days

12

Organizational Policy and Practice

For more information and practical resources, visit CHCS’ Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Resource Center at TraumaInformedCare.chcs.org.

13

Learn More

www.chcs.org | @CHCShealth

Advancing innovations in health care delivery for low-income Americans

Questions?

14