LOS ANGELES and CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pledging
their commitment to the well-being and resiliency of the country's
healthcare workforce, #FirstRespondersFirst and the Dr. Lorna Breen
Heroes' Foundation, in collaboration with the American Medical
Association (AMA), the American Nurses Foundation, the American
Hospital Association (AHA), and the Schwartz Center for
Compassionate Healthcare, today launched ALL IN: WellBeing First
for Healthcare, a call to action for healthcare organizations to
commit to the creation and cultivation of workplace cultures that
prioritize health worker well-being.
The initiative comes in response to a mental health crisis
exacerbated by the pandemic, as healthcare workers have spent the
last 14 months dealing with elevated levels of anxiety, depression,
isolation, PTSD, and burnout. The organizations joining the initial
launch represent close to 300,000 frontline workers across the
nation.
"Over this past year of supporting, engaging with, and listening
to frontline workers, we have learned that in order to truly ensure
the resilience of individual healthcare workers, we must also focus
our efforts on promoting and sustaining the change that is needed
within the organizations and systems in which healthcare workers
operate," said Michelle Williams,
dean of the faculty at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health, one of the campaign's founding partners. "The ALL
IN campaign is designed to convene various organizations,
associations, and systems that are adapting and advancing health
worker and employee well-being solutions in the name of our
collective well-being."
Organizations that join the campaign will publicly declare their
leadership's commitment to the well-being of their workforce. ALL
IN will provide a roadmap for institutions to invest in and
cultivate environments where their workforce feels valued and
supported. Collaborating organizations will commit to a set of
expert-driven actions to measure efforts around workforce
well-being and hold themselves accountable to achieving desired
outcomes. ALL IN will also supply ongoing guidance and research on
best practices in collaboration with lead collaborators AMA, AHA,
American Nurses Foundation, and the Schwartz Center for
Compassionate Healthcare.
"Our health care heroes have long experienced high levels of
stress and burnout, and COVID-19 has only amplified the problem,"
said J. Corey Feist, co-founder
of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation. "The ALL IN
campaign is a critical step in bringing together health care
leaders from across the industry to design a workplace where the
healthcare workforce feels valued and can sustain their sense of
purpose and meaning in their work. We are so grateful for the
commitment from our collaborators and are hopeful that this
important issue is at last gaining the attention it deserves."
"As healthcare workers continue to step forward, it's vital that
we continue to support them," said Arianna
Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global,
another campaign founding partner. "By convening key players
committed to advancing healthcare worker well-being, this campaign
will ensure we keep the spotlight on frontline workers' mental
well-being and resilience. Together, we will drive a culture shift
where healthcare worker well-being is truly a priority for leaders
and organizations — and where workers themselves feel supported in
the ways that matter most."
About #FirstRespondersFirst:
#FirstRespondersFirst, an initiative of Harvard T.H.
Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global, and the CAA
Foundation, takes a whole human approach to addressing the needs of
frontline workers in order to support their ability to serve on the
frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
#FirstRespondersFirst's fundraising call to action
helps provide essential supplies, protective equipment,
accommodations, child care, food, and critical mental health
support and resources to this demographically and socially diverse
workforce, ranging from minimum-wage hourly workers in home-care
settings to social workers, nurses, physicians, and beyond, through
its implementing collaborators Americares, Bright Horizons, CORE
Response, Direct Relief, Give An Hour, Global Health Corps,
Hispanic Federation, IHG Hotels & Resorts, InnerHour,
International Rescue Committee, Marriott
International, National Black Nurses Association, National
Domestic Workers Alliance, Omada Health, Osmosis, Pivot, The
Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, World Central
Kitchen, and You Okay, Doc?. Through strategic partnerships with
Johnson & Johnson, the National Alliance on Mental Illness
(NAMI), and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation,
#FirstRespondersFirst equips first responders with the tools and
resources needed to build their resilience and promote positive
mental health while also advocating for change at the institutional
level in order to ensure organizations prioritize workforce
well-being. Powered by Thrive Global's behavior change platform,
#FirstRespondersFirst also provides access to Harvard Chan School's evidence-based content,
specifically tailored to this critical workforce, to help improve
the physical and mental well-being of healthcare workers.
About the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation
The Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation is a 501(c)3
non-profit organization founded by the family of Dr. Lorna Breen.
The mission of the Foundation is to reduce burnout of health
care professionals and safeguard their well-being and job
satisfaction. Our vision is that obtaining mental health support
services is universally viewed as a strength and job
requisite for health care professionals. The Foundation has three
main tactics to achieve long-term change:
- Advise the health care industry on well-being
initiatives that provide holistic mental health supports.
- Build awareness on mental health prevalence to reduce
the stigma; and
- Fund research and programs that seek to reduce health
care professional burnout and improve their
well-being.
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SOURCE Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation