Have you ever felt overwhelmed? Sometimes, the demands on your time, attention, ability, and nerves can feel like ‘too much.’ However, when you take a breath, stay present, stay focused, prioritize, and take one step at a time, you can accomplish the task and manage the process with more ease.
Delayed or secondary morbidity and mortality associated with disasters often exceed that of the original event. Cholera is expected after flooding or earthquakes disrupt infrastructure. Other infectious diseases and maternal/fetal mortality skyrocket in refugee settings without infrastructure or healthcare. But what of our mental and emotional well-being? This is often the greatest casualty in the wake of a crisis.
Health experts and healthcare systems are now beginning to focus on social determinants of health by increasingly adopting upstream rather than downstream approaches for prevention and care in matters of physical health. A similar approach is now needed for mental health.
Health plans and health systems are uniquely positioned to leverage the advantages of caring for the whole person, connecting body, mind, and spirit. With value-based and accountable care, your organization may be managing under-risk contracts, prioritizing resources to avoid penalties, working to reduce costs, and focusing on reducing readmission rates caused by co-morbidities. Adopting holistic practices can help your organization accomplish these goals.
Healthcare providers face numerous chronic stressors, including high and increasing productivity expectations, the pressure of high-stakes decision-making in the face of ambiguity, and witnessing the pain, loss, and suffering of patients and their families. Caregivers often experience distress when they perceive that the treatments they are administering are futile or when they are unable to deliver the quality of care that they believe it is their duty to give. In the context of insufficient support and resources, each of these factors can lead to the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization that is characteristic of burnout.
The importance of mental and physical health has never been more obvious as people everywhere struggle to endure the COVID-19 pandemic. During this difficult time, you can have an enormous positive impact on the lives of your employees by supporting their health and well-being. Taking the steps suggested below accomplishes this goal while creating a healthy culture and a thriving business.