Coming off another surge in COVID cases, health care workers who may have been stressed and strained before are now experiencing emotional exhaustion. This is no less true for the staff of the nation’s 1,400 health centers. Supporting the emotional and mental health of health center workers has been a focus of two of NACHC's Senior Fellows, Dr. Jennie McLaurin and Dr. Grace Wang. 

Dr. McLaurin is a pediatrician with 30 years of experience caring for underserved families at the local, state, and national level, including as medical director of migrant and community health centers. Dr. Wang is a family physician who worked for more than 30 years at health centers and public health departments in New York City and Seattle, most recently at International Community Health Services in Seattle. 

They talk about the dynamics of "moral distress" and "moral injury" affecting health care workers right now, made more acute during the pandemic. And offer some answers to the question: When so much is out of their control, what are some practices that health center staff can use to deal with the stress of work? And what can health center leaders be doing to support staff?

📍Key Takeaways
☑️Understanding the Mental and Emotional Health of Health Center Employees
☑️Addressing Moral Injury and Distress, What is it and Where it comes from
☑️Supports and Recommendations for Dealing with the Problem Among Health Care Personnel and Their Organization
☑️Changes in policy and new programs to address the problem at healthcare facilities, among healthcare workers, and in the people of color community

 

📍Quote Takeaways
📣“It's critical that the health center's leaders understand what's going on in the workforce, and that they provide both time assistance and a healing environment to improve the situation. 
- Grace
📣“So when the leadership denies us the capacity to provide high-quality treatment or contradicts the knowledge that underpins our care, we've suffered a moral injury. - Jennie


 📍Our Host and Guest for this Episode
🎙️Alexandra Walker | Linkedin
Director of Digital Communications, National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)
Nachc.org


🎙️Dr. Jennie McLaurin | Linkedin | Twitter
Senior Fellow Public Health Integration and Innovation at National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)
Nachc.org

🎙️Dr. Grace Wang | Profile
Senior Fellow Public Health Integration and Innovation at National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)
Nachc.org 

📍Time Stamp
⌛[00:00] Introduction
⌛[01:49] Mental And Emotional Health
⌛[07:45] Moral Injury for oneself
⌛[12:10] Moral Injury in a Healthcare setting
⌛[17:09] Effects of the distress 
⌛[19:16] supports and recommendations
⌛[28:03] Policy and Programs
⌛[34:38] Conclusion


This podcast was produced by Heartcast Media