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  • 1.  Self-Care During COVID-19

    National Council Staff
    Posted 05-14-2020 15:09
    What self-care strategies most resonate with you that you'd like to share with others? If you were able to attend Thursday's Self-Care COVID-19 Office Hours call on promoting staff wellness and retention, what were your biggest takeaways?

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    Maura Gaswirth
    Director, Practice Improvement
    National Council for Behavioral Health
    Washington DC
    (202)684-7457
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  • 2.  RE: Self-Care During COVID-19

    Posted 05-21-2020 16:29
    A participant from last week's session COVID-19 office Hour session focused on Staff Wellness and Retention shared a staff survey that she uses in her organization in New York state. Great way to assess staff needs: 

    Questions for staff check in survey:

    CN Guidance Check In Survey: (Google Docs Survey- can download responses in CSV/excel)

    1. Name
    2. Program
    3. Email
    4. Please let us know how you are doing, health-wise. Check boxes
      1. Our family is doing just fine, all are healthy
      2. We are struggling a bit with being stir-crazy, but we are holding it together
      3. We are sick, but we are doing okay at this time
      4. We are sick and need help. Please check on us.
      5. Other- [fill in]
    5. Is there anything we have not tried already as an agency to better connect you with staff or clients?- [fill in]
    6. Is there anything else you'd like to see from CNG at this time? [fill in]

    The list of initiatives CN Guidance has implemented for staff wellness and retention:

    • Check-in Survey: how are the employees doing on a scale that goes from they are okay to they need help – concrete or emotional. CEO/COO respond directly with employees who were struggling
    • Weekly Virtual Town Hall meeting for all staff– start with a motivational, inspirational or funny video; sharing state of agency – reinforcing our culture of transparency to decrease anxiety about job security and the viability of the agency
    • 2xs daily group transcendental meditation with the David Lynch Foundation
    • Virtual Awesome Board – weekly email goes out to all staff: staff giving shout outs to colleagues during the week
    • Creating an agency wide playlist: weekly email goes out to all staff: Share inspirational songs recommended by staff
    • Share funny and inspirational memes provided by staff: weekly email goes out to all staff
    • Virtual lunches – Different themes: to just chat/ musical performances/ trivia
    • Virtual coffee breaks
    • Grief debrief support groups for staff who lost clients to COVID-19
    • EAP resources
    • Partner with local restaurants and sponsors to provide meals to front line staff in community residents daily
    • Ensuring that staff have sufficient PPE to do their jobs
    • Increased disinfecting of residents and clinic. Residents are disinfected at the beginning of each shift. Isolation rooms identified for COVID cases.
    • Supplied board games, streaming movie channels, DVDs and mask making workshops to residents
    • Intranet – we have an "All you need to know about COVID-19" page that has links to all regulatory information that impacts their jobs; links to concrete and emotional support resources; links for diagnostic and serology testing sites; keeps them updated on what is happening Statewide and locally with pandemic.
    • Telephone tree – managers are assigned staff members to touch base with to ensure that every staff member is covered
    • We have a COVID tracking list of staff impacted – staff or family members are followed up with regularly – ensure that their needs are being met.
    • Daily virtual team huddles in programs
    • Regular virtual clinical team meetings in programs
    • Hazard pay for front line workers in the community residences
    • A week of vacation time for front line workers in the community residences
    • Senior management has a weekly CVOVID-19 check in meeting
    • Re-deployed staff to CRs whose workloads were lighter - matched their strengths and skills with the needs in the community residences.
    Who else is doing something similar to assess staff needs during COVID-19? Please feel free to share here!

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    Sarah Neil
    Project Manager, Integrated Health
    National Council for Behavioral Health
    Washington, DC DC
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