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Wellness Resources

Wellness support resources for medical staff

Prior to the onset of this pandemic, we knew that fatigue and burnout were prevalent realities in the medical staff profession, which also experiences depression and suicide rates higher than the national average.

These resources are available to medical staff to support the wellness of you, your families and your colleagues. Access to the varying resources depends on your employment status or professional body; however, it is essential that you know help is always available if you, a colleague or a family member requires support.

Doctors of BC: Physician Health Program

The Physician Health Program provides immediate access to clinical support for individual physicians, physicians-in-training and their family members. This program:

Supports and assists physicians and physician trainees in overcoming challenging issues that can impact their health and well-being (issues can include: physical health, mental health and addictions, relationship issues, workplace issues and burnout)
Offer a variety of preventative and educational services that address professional and personal issues, such as burnout, stress management, conflict resolution and improving collegiality

Access the 24-hour helpline at 1-800-663-6729

Learn more about the Physician Health Program’s clinical services

Canadian Medical Association: Physician Wellness Hub

The Physician Wellness Hub provides resources to help physicians, residents, and medical students manage acute stress, lead healthy lives and establish sustainable medical practices.

College of Dental Surgeons of BC: Dental Wellness Program

The Dental Wellness Program offers counselling and support services from a team of clinical counsellors.

Access the 24-hour hotline available at 1-800-661-9199

Interior Health Employee Family Assistance Program (EFAP)

Available 24/7 at 1-844-751-2133 to receive crisis counselling support and referral to community resources.

Canadian Psychological Association: Giving Back

Giving Back provides free psychological services for all frontline health care workers supporting pandemic response.

Visit the Giving Back website to access the contact information of psychologists who provide services for the program.

Wellness education resources for medical staff

In addition to local and provincial support structures, we want to make sure that our medical staff have the tools and resources to actively pursue wellness and resiliency.

Building & Sustaining Your Resilience e-learning course

This course provides tools and strategies to help learners build and sustain resilience in the workplace using the Resilience@Work (R@W) Sustain 7 Model.

To register:

Option 1: Access the course through i-Learn (requires Interior Health network to access) by searching #3340 or click here to request
Option 2: Register for the Building and Sustaining Your Resilience course at the Provincial Health Service Authority’s (PHSA’s) Learning Hub

Get started with peer-to-peer support

In the team-based health-care environment, peer support can:

Provide emotional and social support
Decrease the sense of isolation
Connect health care providers with peers who might have similar experiences
Share practical strategies with peers in similar circumstances
Explore community supports needed to assist with workload and pandemic specific challenges

If you want to get started with peer-to-peer support, access our Peer-to-Peer Support Guide for medical staff (located on the InsideNet, which requires Interior Health network access). This document provides suggestions and guidelines for creating local peer support structures quickly, in addition to other local and provincial support structures already in place.

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