Re:balance© puts the health and wellbeing of healthcare professionals at the forefront of its purpose.
It is no secret that the recent health crisis has had negative implications on healthcare workers all over the UK. A survey conducted by BMA, in 2020, reveals that almost half of UK doctors are suffering from burnout, depression, or anxiety relating to or made worse by their work.
NHS trusts have further communicated their concerns surrounding the wellbeing of staff following the first wave of Covid-19, acknowledging levels of burnout across the workforce being linked to highly stressful circumstances, working over-time and without leave[1]. Chris Hopson, a Chief Executive at NHS Providers says, “The worry is that the sustained physical, psychological and emotional pressure on health staff is threatening to push them beyond their limits”.
In the face of these challenges, the NHS have responded to these concerns with changed working practices and additional services and wellbeing support for staff. Might some staff benefit from something else as well?
Investing in the Health and Wellbeing of your Workforce
Now perhaps we can say that we are coming out of a busy and unpleasant phase, that for many people has been a frantic and traumatic time. This is not to say that people will swiftly transition back to normality. Health practitioners have been pulled out of balance and it is time to rebalance. Rebalancing not only involves creating a better work-life balance, but a better balance between stress, drive, and calm. More than ever, healthcare workers need the support to feel more centred and cultivate more inner peace.
The Re:balance personal wellbeing course, developed by The Academy for Health Coaching, is a video-based, multi-media, blended learning course available on tablets, phones and laptops. It is informed by theories and insights from positive psychology, compassionate mind training, acceptance and commitment therapy and other approaches.
Each module contains several small lessons with associated tips sheets, guides and suggested exercises and learners are encouraged to test out 1-2 changes each week and reflect on what happens.
Just as it can take someone who is out of shape physically perhaps 8-10 weeks of following a well-designed exercise programme to get into significantly better shape, we believe it takes several weeks of following a well-designed personal wellbeing programme for someone to experience significantly improved levels of mental health, wellbeing, happiness, acceptance, self-compassion and inner peace.
Why Re:balanceTM? Insights from the course creator Dr Tim Anstiss
Dr Tim Anstiss describes himself as an Integrator. He acknowledges the plethora of resources out there, however, believes that the presence of a fully integrated system is missing:
“You can have mindfulness, assertiveness, time management, it is all out there... but it is not integrated into a system with a step-by-step approach. The advantage of this modular course, with the progressive release of content, is that you get the opportunity not to just learn about it in the session, but schedule it and put it in your life to really see what is working. People may benefit from having the time and the opportunity to be a reflective practitioner with deliberate practice, to find out what best works for them.” (Dr Tim Anstiss)
The modular course creates a sense of a pathway. Health practitioners have the opportunity to think about their desired futures, clarify their values of what really matters to them, and then given an opportunity to refresh their goals and clarify a sense of direction. The course then helps practitioners prepare for that journey, through its training surrounding growth mindsets, self-acceptance, self-compassion, core skills around mindfulness and so much more. Previous participants of the course have described this experience as life changing:
“This has been a life changing experience for me. Many of my close friends and family members have commented on the positive changes they have noticed. I have tried many different stress management ideas in the past and this is the first one that has truly helped”
A Step-by-step Approach to Improving and Protecting Your Employees Health and Wellbeing
The Re:balance© personal wellbeing course guides learners through step-by-step approach to protective, recovering, and improving their health and wellbeing.
The initial course (delivered in 2018 in partnership with the BMA in response to evidence of growing levels of burnout in the medical profession) showed that the 80 clinicians who completed 75% of course activities experienced an average 34% reduction in self-reported stress score (Short Stress Overload Scale) and a 17% increase in personal wellbeing score (Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale). Over 97% of participants felt the course met or exceeded their expectations.
To find out more about re:balance, contact us here
[1] Ford, M. and Ford, M., 2021. Level of staff burnout 'real concern' for NHS trust leaders | Nursing Times. [online] Nursing Times. Available at: <https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/workforce/level-of-staff-burnout-real-concern-for-nhs-trust-leaders-06-10-2020/>