RESUMEN
Methods: Employees were enrolled at three VA medical centers. Self-report data was collected at baseline, six months, and will be collected again at twelve months, to assess changes over time in measures of perceived wellness culture, resiliency, stress, self-efficacy, and flourishing. Objective metrics of overtime and sick leave use were collected. An activity survey was administered every two weeks to assess engagement in WBP. Pilot WBP activities included education, health coaching, and complementary and integrative health modalities for well-being. Qualitative data was collected from supervisors at six months. Results: Employees inmultiple departments within each medical center were offered protected time. Pilot enrollment was from March-April 2021. A total of n=312 employees and n=135 supervisors enrolled. At sixmonths, 40 (29%) supervisors provided feedback on pilot impact. Supervisors expressed appreciation and observable benefits for employees and/or themselves. However, given the pandemic and competing demands, workload was identified as an ongoing barrier. Preliminary analyses from surveys indicated statistically significant improvements in wellness culture, resiliency, goal setting, and flourishing. Background: EmployeeWhole Health (EWH) empowers VA employees to take charge of their health by integratingwell-being skills-building programming (WBP) at work. During the COVID response, there was a pronounced increase in WBP;however, employees cite lack of time to participate in self-care as a barrier to utilization. To support participation,EWHembarked on a 12- month pilot to protect 60 minutes of time per week via a new labor mapping category in support of employee self-care. Conclusion: The pilot is ongoing;results of the six-month quantitative and qualitative evaluations will be presented. The use of a new labor mapping category to support employee well-being on an ongoing basis is expected to meet the need for building a more resilient workforce. Early results show perceived benefits of a regular, routine self-care allotment, however challenges to full utilization remain.
RESUMEN
Methods: The population included Veterans enrolled in the WHS nationally. Students t-test was used to assess the difference in unique Veterans engaged in WBP the six quarters prior to COVID (pre-COV) and the six quarters during COVID response (resp-COV). The differences in delivery of virtual WBP was assessed, including: (RFLX) Intro to WH Group, (HTAC) Take Charge of My Life & Health Group, (SCHC) EVP WH, (SNVC) EVP Mindful Movement, (HTFC) WH Partner Indiv., (WCHC) WH Coaching Indiv., (WCDC) WH Coaching Group, (CGQC) Qigong, (TAIC) TAI CHI, (YOGA) YOGA, (GIMA) Guided Imagery, (RLXT) Relaxation Techniques, (MANT) Mantram Repetition, (MDTN) Meditation, (MMMT) Mindfulness (non-MBSR), (REIK) REIKI, and (TPHT) Therapeutic/ Healing Touch. Results: Pre-COV, a total of 58,165 unique Veterans were engaged in 14,163 tele-health WBP encounters, compared to 63,648 unique Veterans engaged in 334,472 tele-health WBP encounters resp-COV. A significant increase in average number of tele-health WBP encounters per quarter was observed: 2,593 (95%CI 1537, 3649) telehealth pre-COV compared to 52,548 (95%CI 34169, 70926) during resp-COV, p=0.0008. There were significant increases in the delivery of all virtual WBP offerings (all P <0.05), except for SCHC and TPHT. Background: Well-being programming (WBP) is a core part of delivery of Whole Health (WH). During the COVID response, there was a pronounced decrease in delivery of WBP care, with a shift of delivery from face-to-face to virtual. This study describes the impact of COVID on delivery of WBP within the VA WH System (WHS). Conclusion: These data suggest that the response to COVID had little impact on the number of unique Veterans engaged in WBP overall, but the number of virtual WBP encounters increased significantly, comparing the same time periods. This analysis shows that the VA COVID response to increase delivery of virtual WBP as part of the national offering of the WHS was effective.