Sana Health Group have partnered with Healthcare Heartbeat to deliver Wellness Grants to healthcare workers. Health care workers and first responders face extreme pressure from the increased demand on the health care system. The long and irregular working hours combined with heavy workloads are contributing to chronic stress and mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression and burnout.
A parliamentary report on the mental health of first responders, emergency service workers and volunteers found the high occurrence of mental health disorders in these workers increases their risk of death by suicide.
Continuing support for healthcare workers is required to alleviate the ongoing mental health and wellbeing effects of the pandemic and the ongoing staff shortage crisis. CEO of Sana Health Group, Georgie Blundell has spent the better part of a decade dedicating her career to the health system. After having specialised in the rehabilitation of clients with catastrophic brain and spinal injuries across Australia and Europe, Blundell now works in the private sector and is collaborating with an organisation that actively works towards providing better working environments for healthcare employees.
Blundell partnered with Healthcare Heartbeat as a step towards encouraging better mental health for healthcare workers. During July 2023, Blundell climbed Mont Blanc in the French Alps to raise much needed funds towards enabling healthcare workers to access mental fitness grants.
“Having spent 10 years as a frontline healthcare worker, I know how important this workforce is to our community, and it’s been a really difficult few years for them. This is an important way that we could give back to nurses and emergency services workers and invest into their mental fitness,” says Blundell.
As a result of Blundell’s fundraising efforts, healthcare workers from within Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia can now apply to receive a Sana Wellness Grant.
Successful applicants will have access to:
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Work on Wellbeing Assessment: A multi-dimensional evidence-based assessment which provides valuable insights regarding the extent to which individuals and teams are thriving and areas that would benefit from additional focus and development.
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Reflect, Reset & Renew (RRR) Session: a 2 hour online group coaching experience to check in, explore foundational wellbeing practices and develop an action plan for integrating 3 wellbeing habits into your day-to-day experience.
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Wellbeing Booster Program: 4 x 90 minute group sessions which build upon the RRR experience. This includes practical science-based strategies so participants can strength their mental and emotional agility, improve their foundations for good physical health learn how to monitor and sustain their wellbeing.
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A delivery of authentically home-cooked meals by FoodSt.
Recipients of the Grants will learn how to conserve their energy, better recognise signs of stress and ideally put strategies in place to prevent this from progressing to burnout. The sessions are highly practical with a focus on strategies that can be used in the moment to regain a sense of calm - even when healthcare workers are in the midst a hectic shift. This includes a focus on how to unde to prioritise and embed wellbeing practices into their busy day-to-day routines.
The sessions are facilitated by Katheryn Curnow who has over 20 years’ experience working as an Organisational Development Consultant and credentialed coach with a focus on wellbeing, inclusion and culture change.
Katheryn’s experience is underpinned by studies in Positive Psychology and Applied Neuroscience with certifications in the Positive Intelligence Building Mental Fitness Program, HeartMath Building Personal Resilience Program, the Healthcare Industry Leadership Capability Assessment (HILCA) and iRest, an evidence-based form of meditation that has been shown to alleviate symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Curnow aims to deliver two key outcomes to enable grant recipients to improve their overall sense of wellbeing.
“Firstly, we offer strategies that can be used in the moment when healthcare workers are feeling triggered or under stress so they can regain a sense of calm and even enhance their focus and performance,” said Katheryn.
“Secondly, and even more importantly, is to reframe the mindset and rhetoric of self-care being perceived as an optional practice only engaged in when you have the time. We recognise that our wellbeing is inextricably linked to our sense of life satisfaction, the quality of our relationships and our capacity to fulfill our potential. At Healthcare Heartbeat we are committed to providing science-based programs that support our healthcare workers to thrive – that is to be AND feel their best.”
All healthcare workers are strongly encouraged to look after their mental health and wellbeing. Healthcare workers from within Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia can apply to receive a Sana Wellness Grant here.
