To support members shift their focus back to routine operations while also remaining vigilant against COVID-19, GNYHA has curated the following resources as organizations re-evaluate and work to strengthen their workforce health and wellbeing programs.
Frameworks and Guides to Support Staff Well-Being/Emphasis on Post-Crisis and Return to Work
| Resource: | Source: | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Guide: Helping Staff Manage Stress When Returning to Work | SAMHSA | This fact sheet offers tips that supervisors can use to help ease the transition and manage stress for disaster response workers returning to work. It helps people recognize and reduce potential difficulties in the workplace and enhances positive consequences for all staff. |
| Guide: Elevating Mental Health and Well-being for a Resilient Workplace | APA’s Center for Workplace Mental Health | The APA asserts that the effects of the pandemic and shift in “returning to normal” reveals the further importance of prioritizing mental health. This toolkit provides tips and resources for promoting resilience and supporting mental health and well-being at work. |
| Pandemic-Driven Posttraumatic Growth for Organizations and Individuals | Global Health | Olson et al. | This article explores how facilitating posttraumatic growth can reduce the negative influence of future psychological traumas and potentially create a more resilient health care workforce and stronger health care organizations. |
| Article: The Evolving Role of the Chief Wellness Officer in the Management of Crises by Health Care Systems: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic | NEJM Catalyst | The article outlines the role of Chief Wellness Officers in the management of crises and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| Guide: Recovery and Reintegration for Healthcare Workers Following COVID-19 Surges | Center for the Study of the Traumatic Stress | Guideline emphasizing the importance of understanding work-related and home-related stressors associated with reintegration and highlight actions that individuals and organizations can take to promote healthy reintegration. |
| Article Review and Framework: Addressing Post-pandemic Clinician Mental Health | Schwartz et al. | A narrative review of articles addressing clinician mental health during COVID-19 and prior pandemics, and curated practice guidelines deemed high-yield by well-being leaders. Resilience and stress reduction trainings, meeting clinicians’ basic needs, routine opportunities for social connection, and normalization of mental health care to clinicians were emphasized. |
| Commentary: Mental health of health-care workers in the COVID-19 era | Neil Greenberg | The author offers considerations for addressing HCWs’ mental health and outlines the important role managers play in mitigating staff exposure to workplace pressures post-crisis. Greenberg indicates that the risk factors most predictive of long-term mental health after exposure to psychological trauma are lack of social support and exposure to stressors during recovery from trauma. |
| Commentary: Elevating Employee Well-being Lessons Learned | Washington University in St. Louis | Lessons learned from COVID-19 on strategies to promote mental and physical health among staff. |
| Guide: Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Professional Well-Being (2019) | The National Academies of Sciences Engineering Medicine | The report explores the presence, consequences, and contributing factors of clinician burnout and provides a framework for a systems approach to clinician burnout and professional well-being, a research agenda to advance clinician well-being, and recommendations for the field. |
Toolkits and Training Resources
| Resource: | Source: | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Training Resources: NAMI-NYC’s Workplace Mental Health Initiative | NAMI NYC Workplace Mental Health Initiative | NAMI-NYC’s Workplace Mental Health Initiative provides custom training to support employers in promoting employee wellbeing in the workplace and reducing stigma towards mental illnesses. Training resources include “Addressing Collective Trauma From COVID-19 – Integrating Trauma Informed Practices in The Workplace,” “Supporting Employees Experiencing Burnout in the Workplace,” and “Mental Health Tips & Tools for Managers.” |
| Toolkit: Workplace Mental Health – Making the Business Case | APA’s Center for Workplace Mental Health | Set of tools developed to make the business case for mental health in the workplace. Tools include depression and mental health calculators, and toolkit for HR and business leaders with practical information and strategies to educate employers about best practices to create supportive workplace environments. |
| Toolkit: Health Care Workforce Well‑Being | AMA Steps Forward | AMA Physician Health | AMA’s STEPS Forward™ were written by physicians for physicians and organizational leaders to protect and promote well-being as physicians continue to care for patients. The AMA acknowledges that health care workforce faced unprecedented stressors highlighting the need for resources and training to support each other and overcome challenges in practice. They also recognize the role organizations have in supporting the health care workforce before, during, and after crisis. |
Psychoeducational Tools
| Resource: | Source: | Description: |
|---|---|---|
| Am I Ok? | National Wellbeing Hub for those working in Health and Social Care | |
| Coping with Grief After a Disaster or Traumatic Event | SAMHSA | This tip sheet contains information about grief, the grieving process, and what happens when the process is interrupted, and complicated or traumatic grief occurs. It also offers tips and resources for coping with both types of grief. |
| Helpline Wallet Card: Recognizing Signs of Trouble Coping After a Disaster | SAMHSA | A card that includes the national Disaster Distress Helpline and lists warning signs of distress. It encourages those experiencing signs of psychological stress to call or text the helpline for support. |
| Tips for Survivors of a Disaster or Other Traumatic Event: Coping with Re-traumatization | SAMHSA | This brochure explains the signs and symptoms of re-traumatization. It provides guidance on how to manage the symptoms, and provides resources for building resilience and an adequate support system for dealing with triggering events. |
| Helping Staff Manage Stress When Returning to Work | SAMHSA | This fact sheet offers tips to help ease the transition and manage stress for disaster response workers returning to work. It helps people recognize and reduce potential difficulties in the workplace and enhances positive consequences for all staff. |
| Coping with Anger After a Disaster or Other Traumatic Event | SAMHSA | After a disaster, anger might arise about the ways in which the disaster has changed one’s life. This tip sheet helps individuals understand that anger can be a common response to a traumatic event. The tip sheet also includes anger management techniques and where to turn to for help. |