eer support training helps employees understand how to create a workplace that is welcoming and supportive. The training covers important topics like:

• Fostering psychological safety
• Creating a culture of wellness
• Navigating the stress continuum and stress injuries
• Developing coping skills
• Practicing supportive listening
• Seeking out resources for support

We offer two types of peer support training: tier one, a one-hour course that provides a group with an overview of how to support each other, and tier two, a longer course for people interested in becoming peer support volunteers.The third tier, our Expedited Referral Network, is a collection of resources available to all employees.

In the last 14 months, we have reached about 800 people through our one-hour course, both at UHealth and at our rural affiliate hospitals. We feel the work is beginning to make a broader impact on employees throughout UHealth, but we have a long way to reach our goal of improving employee wellness.

Evolution of Peer Support Program

Peer support training was originally envisioned as a program for clinical, front-line staff who face stressful situations while caring for patients. But over time, this training has evolved to become more accessible to all employees in all areas.

When I (Jake) re-launched the program in July 2022, I had a greater focus on the one-hour long program to reach as many people as possible, from all departments. But the Resiliency Center continues to offer longer, tier two trainings for extra support. Employees who take the tier two training become volunteers in our peer support network. If someone needs support, they can call in and be matched with a volunteer who meets their needs. For instance, doctors are matched to other doctors, nurses to other nurses, etc. Our goal is to get volunteers from all areas of the hospital, from environmental services to administration, so that everyone can find the peer support they need when they need it.

The Impact of Peer Support Training on Environmental Services

EVS team members are often overlooked when adverse events happen, even though they are often involved in some way, such as in the clean-up afterward. I (Jake) felt we needed to reach out to EVS more, to ensure they were getting the support they need.

I (Jessica) knew, because my leaders do create such an excellent environment of psychological safety, that they were hearing things from their teams that were going on in their personal life. It was affecting them, and I knew that the burden was there for the others to want to help and be so kind.

In 2023, we held multiple tier one trainings with the Environmental Services team. The trainings were adjusted so it had less of a clinical focus and more general language about how stressful events at work or in your personal life can affect you.

But presenting to EVS presented other new challenges, too. The EVS team is by far the most diverse group I have presented to so far. They represent many different ethnicities, nationalities and languages. Many of the workers used tablets with Google Translate to make sense of the presentation. We built in time to ensure everywhere was reaching an understanding, that they had time to use their tablets and ask each other questions.

These trainings provide a way to talk about mental health and stress that is not stigmatized. For instance, we talk about the stress continuum, which uses a color-coded system to describe how someone is feeling. Green means they are not stressed; they are physically healthy and ready to work. Red, however, means they are facing issues like depression and PTSD while yellow and orange mean they are experiencing a level of stress in between. Someone who is in the yellow zone may be losing sleep due to stress, while someone in orange may feel a loss of sense of purpose.

When we began discussing the stress continuum and stress injuries, we were able to witness firsthand the team cohesion and caring present in EVS. Everyone began sharing the tough things they were going through: losing family members to cancer, parents who need caretaking, and a variety of other challenges. People were crying for themselves and for others and really reaching out to support one another. It was a beautiful place to share, a beautiful place to find support, so the peer support training really provided more language and framework for the caring they were already giving each other.

Rivera reports that the training gave her team words to talk about how they are feeling without being judged. Sharing these words, when the team speaks so many languages, is vital to improving communication and support.

The training also prepared them to act when a stressful event happens and how to provide support to one another.

The Positive Impact of Peer Support Training

We have had great feedback on both our tier one and tier two trainings. People feel empowered to support one another, to act in stressful events and to share where they are in the stress continuum. As we continue to provide trainings across the health system, we hope to create a workplace that supports everyone’s wellbeing.