Providence’s My Mental Health Matters Program was recently recognized as a finalist in the Ragan’s Employee Communications Awards Program in two categories: Employee Well-Being and Crisis Response. Ragan’s Employee Communications Awards celebrates the organizations, communicators, teams, tools, and campaigns that unified employees during a time of displacement and uncertainty.
My Mental Health Matters is a part of Providence’s No One Care Alone (NOCA) Program — a robust well-being program with tools and resources to serve the unique needs of caregivers (health care workers) at every step of their mental health journey. Earlier this year, the program also received an honorable mention from PRNEWS Platinum Awards in the Employee Relations Campaign category.
Supporting the Mental Health and Well-Being of Health Care Workers
For the past three years, caregivers have faced unprecedented stress and burnout as they cared for patients on the frontlines amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before the pandemic, depression and anxiety were a leading health concern among frontline workers — and that has only worsened since.
The My Mental Health Matters Program has made a tremendous impact on the mental health and well-being of Providence’s more than 120,000 caregivers. Overall, caregivers engaged with NOCA programs more than 200,000 times in 2022 year.
Read below to learn more about the NOCA programs and tools that support health care workers every stage of their mental wellness journey. The NOCA program includes:
- Suicide Prevention Training – Peer-focused suicide prevention training, called Emotionally Connect, Partner, and Respond (ECPR). This training empowers caregivers to make a difference in their communities and in the workplace.
- Self-Guided Wellness Tools – Offering caregivers a menu of self-guided wellness tools, including educational content, computerized cognitive-behavioral therapy, and leadership training.
- My Mental Health Matters – Created in partnership with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, My Mental Health Matters provide tools and resources to caregivers and empowers caregivers to feel encouraged to ask for help when they need it.
- Core Leader Outreach – Proactive outreach to leaders to schedule a check-in with in-house wellness consultants, made up of behavioral health providers and chaplains. This outreach offers a supportive, safe space for leaders to speak about how they and their teams are doing, mention any pain points, and inquire about specific resources for their teams.
- Peer-2-Peer Support Network – This program develops a network of trained peer support volunteers. It will soon include a digital app for matching and connecting peer supporters with those seeking help. Caregivers will be able to select a peer supporter based on preferences such as gender, language, and role within the organization.
- Caregiver Assistance Program – In addition to accessing care through employee health benefits, caregivers and members of their household have access to coaching or therapy visits through the CAP. The program offers support 24/7.
- TeleSpiritual Health – Chaplains provide an approach to spiritual health that allows them to serve the unique needs of each person while respecting the individual’s spiritual path. Chaplains seek to honor the religious and faith traditions of all, including those who do not identify with any religion or spiritual practice.
NOCA Playbook: A menu of mental wellness programs for health care organizations
The No One Cares Alone Playbook includes examples and best practices to scale the program, especially in health care environments where caregivers are facing burnout and the stakes are particularly high.
Our hope is that these programs can be implemented in hospitals across the country—because caring for the health care workforce creates a ripple effect for the care of our patients and communities.
