Clinicians Are Burnt Out: Peer Support as a Key Solution

Clinicians experience high burnout rates (21-67% among mental health professionals), exacerbated by isolation in private practice and lack of consultation1.

Kaiser Permanente's Peer Outreach Support Team (POST) program, implemented 2019-2022, improved physician well-being, reduced moral injury, and was recommended by 85% of respondents2.

Sagent Behavioral Health integrates peer support through bi-monthly meetings and informal consults to prevent therapist burnout and foster collaboration1.

Peer coaching programs, like Envision Healthcare's, address surgeon burnout from corporatization and reduced decision-making authority4.

Stress First Aid peer support intervention significantly improved healthcare worker well-being during COVID-19 compared to usual care in a randomized trial (2021-2022)5.

Psychosocial peer support mitigates burnout, compassion fatigue, and trauma for healthcare workers, as highlighted in recent studies and programs3.

Sources:

1. https://sagentbh.com/careers/peer-support-for-clinicians-how-to-prevent-therapist-burnout/

2. https://lookinside.kaiserpermanente.org/blog/2023/11/20/peer-support-program-helps-ease-physician-burnout/

3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10002014/

4. https://www.facs.org/for-medical-professionals/news-publications/news-and-articles/bulletin/2024/november-december-2024-volume-109-issue-10/peer-coaching-may-be-prescription-to-solve-side-effects-of-healthcare-corporatization/

5. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/peer-support-valuable-intervention-health-worker-stress-during-covid-19-study-shows