Behavorial Health Initiative Action Team
Action Team Goal
The Retain Behavioral Health Providers Action Team is working to enhance the region’s capacity to retain staff, support employee engagement, and reduce employee burnout by promoting healthy workplace conditions.
Targeted Problem
The behavioral health workforce is stretched beyond capacity. With too few staff and increasing levels of behavioral health needs, behavioral health providers are experiencing widespread burnout, leading to high levels of attrition and recruitment challenges. While workplace wellness programs can help, research is now showing that a more effective approach is to create workplaces that promote healthy workplace conditions.
Our Collective Work
In March and April of 2022, this action team used the Maslach Burnout and Worklife Inventory to better understand and address challenges surrounding behavioral health provider burnout and retention rates. 181 providers across the region completed this inventory. Findings identified 6 work-life conditions that organizations can support to create healthier work environments and reduce burnout. The action team used these findings to create toolkits to promote the development of healthy workplace conditions and sponsored lunch and learns to disseminate local and national best practices. The action team also developed the Healthy Workplaces Resource Hub webpage, which houses numerous resources on 10 different topics related to healthy workplaces, including the 6 work-life conditions. Organizational leaders and staff are encouraged to reference the Resource Hub as they work to build and sustain healthy work environments. You can find all of the resources that this Team has developed below.
Assessing Behavioral Health Provider Burnout
The Retain Behavioral Health Providers Action Team has assessed burnout and retention among regional behavioral health providers through the Maslach Burnout Inventory Survey. Survey findings from March and April of 2022 informed the Team’s work moving forward as they developed resources and educational opportunities for organizational leaders and staff around employee burnout and retention.
Promoting Healthy Workplaces
To address the findings from the Maslach Survey that was facilitated in March/April of 2022, the Retain Behavioral Health Providers Team developed a variety of resources and educational opportunities for the organizational leaders and staff to use as they work to build healthier workplaces. These outputs include a Healthy Workplaces Toolkit, Lunch and Learns, conversation guides and leaders, and work-life condition best practice summaries.
Healthy Workplace Resource Hub
The Retain Behavioral Health Providers Team built the Healthy Workplace Resource Hub, which houses articles, videos, podcasts, and actionable steps organizations can take to promote a healthier work environment. Click one of the 10 topics that most aligns with your organization’s interests to view a variety of resources related to that topic and to learn about the steps you can take to create a healthier workplace.
Design and Implementation Team Members
Since 2022, 17 stakeholders in the NW MI region have been engaged in the work of this Action Team.
Leaders
- Erika Solomonson - Northern Lakes Community Mental Health
- Sarah Hubbell - Leelanau County Family Court
Members
- Ashten Harless - Community Mental Health for Central Michigan
- Jilaine Towne-Patton - Health Department of Northwest Michigan
- Pam Knaffle - Thunder Bay Community Health Service
- Elizabeth Carillo - Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center
- Rebecca Byron - Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan
- Susan Stendel - District Health Department #10
- Susan Kramer - Munson Healthcare
- Dr. David McGreaham - Northern Michigan Opioid Response Consortium
- Kandi Lannen - Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Michigan
- Joelle Drader - North Central Michigan College
- Ty Curtis - Munson Healthcare
- Gail Kloss - Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan
- Kyle Byrnes - Munson Healthcare
- Samantha Johnstone - Health Department of Northwest Michigan
- Christy Rivette - District Health Department #10
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO SUPPORT OUR WORK?
Utilize the resources this Team has developed to foster a healthier work environment within your own organizations. Use the best practice summaries to identify actions you can take around specific work-life conditions and reference the conversation guides to help steer your next discussion with a colleague or staff member. Visit the Healthy Workplaces Resource Hub at healthyworkplacesmatter.org to find more tools to build a healthier workplace.
