Implementing a resilience coach program to support first year housestaff during the COVID-19 pandemic: early pilot results and comparison with non-housestaff sessions.

BACKGROUND: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we launched the Penn Medicine Coping First Aid program to provide psychosocial supports to our health system community. Our approach leveraged lay health worker volunteers trained in principles of Psychological First Aid to deliver coaching services through a centralized virtual platform. METHODS: We emailed all (n = 408) first year housestaff (i.e., residents and fellows) with an invitation to schedule a session with a resilience coach. We compared the mental health concerns, symptoms, and Psychological First Aid techniques recorded in (n = 67) first year housestaff sessions with (n = 91) sessions of other employees in the health system. RESULTS: Between June and November 2020, forty-six first year housestaff attended at least one resilience coaching session. First year housestaff most commonly presented with feelings of anxiety and sadness and shared concerns related to the availability of social support. Resilience coaches most frequently provided practical assistance and ensured safety and comfort to first year housestaff. First year housestaff reported fewer physical or mental health symptoms and held shorter sessions with resilience coaches than non-housestaff. CONCLUSIONS: This work offers insights on how to address psychosocial functioning through low-intensity interventions delivered by lay personnel. More research is needed to understand the efficacy of this program and how best to engage housestaff in wellness and resilience programs throughout training, both during and beyond COVID-19.

Using poetry to elicit internal medicine residents' perspectives on wellness.

PURPOSE: To elicit internal medicine residents' perspectives on wellness through poetry writing, examining (1) response rates, (2) the tone/sentiment of their submissions and (3) the primary thematic content. STUDY DESIGN: In academic year 2019-2020, a random sample of 88 residents from four internal medicine residency programmes was invited to participate in a year-long study of wellness. In December 2019, an open-ended prompt asked residents to write a poem reflecting on their well-being. Responses were inductively coded using content analysis techniques. RESULTS: The response rate for the poetry prompt was 94%. The tone of the entries was most often neutral or contradictory (42%), followed by negative (33%) and positive (25%). There were three main themes: (1) Mindsets: most residents simply wanted to make it through their programme; (2) wellness influencers: the main wellness supporters were external to the programme such as vacationing and exercise; within hospitals, friendships with colleagues and boosted wellness and (3) scheduling/repetition: difficult schedules drained energy as did the monotony of administrative tasks. CONCLUSIONS: Poetry appears to be an innovative and effective vehicle to elicit residents' perspectives without compromising response rate. Poetry survey techniques allow medical trainees to provide powerful messaging to leadership. Most of what is known about trainee wellness is derived from quantitative surveys. This study showed medicine trainees' willingness to engage in poetry and add richness and personal detail to highlight key drivers of wellness. Such information provides context and brings attention in a compelling manner to an important topic.

Patient Safety Outcomes under Flexible and Standard Resident Duty-Hour Rules.

BACKGROUND: Concern persists that extended shifts in medical residency programs may adversely affect patient safety. METHODS: We conducted a cluster-randomized noninferiority trial in 63 internal-medicine residency programs during the 2015-2016 academic year. Programs underwent randomization to a group with standard duty hours, as adopted by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in July 2011, or to a group with more flexible duty-hour rules that did not specify limits on shift length or mandatory time off between shifts. The primary outcome for each program was the change in unadjusted 30-day mortality from the pretrial year to the trial year, as ascertained from Medicare claims. We hypothesized that the change in 30-day mortality in the flexible programs would not be worse than the change in the standard programs (difference-in-difference analysis) by more than 1 percentage point (noninferiority margin). Secondary outcomes were changes in five other patient safety measures and risk-adjusted outcomes for all measures. RESULTS: The change in 30-day mortality (primary outcome) among the patients in the flexible programs (12.5% in the trial year vs. 12.6% in the pretrial year) was noninferior to that in the standard programs (12.2% in the trial year vs. 12.7% in the pretrial year). The test for noninferiority was significant (P = 0.03), with an estimate of the upper limit of the one-sided 95% confidence interval (0.93%) for a between-group difference in the change in mortality that was less than the prespecified noninferiority margin of 1 percentage point. Differences in changes between the flexible programs and the standard programs in the unadjusted rate of readmission at 7 days, patient safety indicators, and Medicare payments were also below 1 percentage point; the noninferiority criterion was not met for 30-day readmissions or prolonged length of hospital stay. Risk-adjusted measures generally showed similar findings. CONCLUSIONS: Allowing program directors flexibility in adjusting duty-hour schedules for trainees did not adversely affect 30-day mortality or several other measured outcomes of patient safety. (Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; iCOMPARE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02274818.).

Sleep and Alertness in a Duty-Hour Flexibility Trial in Internal Medicine.

BACKGROUND: A purpose of duty-hour regulations is to reduce sleep deprivation in medical trainees, but their effects on sleep, sleepiness, and alertness are largely unknown. METHODS: We randomly assigned 63 internal-medicine residency programs in the United States to follow either standard 2011 duty-hour policies or flexible policies that maintained an 80-hour workweek without limits on shift length or mandatory time off between shifts. Sleep duration and morning sleepiness and alertness were compared between the two groups by means of a noninferiority design, with outcome measures including sleep duration measured with actigraphy, the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (with scores ranging from 1 [extremely alert] to 9 [extremely sleepy, fighting sleep]), and a brief computerized Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT-B), with long response times (lapses) indicating reduced alertness. RESULTS: Data were obtained over a period of 14 days for 205 interns at six flexible programs and 193 interns at six standard programs. The average sleep time per 24 hours was 6.85 hours (95% confidence interval [CI], 6.61 to 7.10) among those in flexible programs and 7.03 hours (95% CI, 6.78 to 7.27) among those in standard programs. Sleep duration in flexible programs was noninferior to that in standard programs (between-group difference, -0.17 hours per 24 hours; one-sided lower limit of the 95% confidence interval, -0.45 hours; noninferiority margin, -0.5 hours; P = 0.02 for noninferiority), as was the score on the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (between-group difference, 0.12 points; one-sided upper limit of the 95% confidence interval, 0.31 points; noninferiority margin, 1 point; P<0.001). Noninferiority was not established for alertness according to the PVT-B (between-group difference, -0.3 lapses; one-sided upper limit of the 95% confidence interval, 1.6 lapses; noninferiority margin, 1 lapse; P = 0.10). CONCLUSIONS: This noninferiority trial showed no more chronic sleep loss or sleepiness across trial days among interns in flexible programs than among those in standard programs. Noninferiority of the flexible group for alertness was not established. (Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and American Council for Graduate Medical Education; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02274818.).

Education Outcomes in a Duty-Hour Flexibility Trial in Internal Medicine.

BACKGROUND: Concern persists that inflexible duty-hour rules in medical residency programs may adversely affect the training of physicians. METHODS: We randomly assigned 63 internal medicine residency programs in the United States to be governed by standard duty-hour policies of the 2011 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or by more flexible policies that did not specify limits on shift length or mandatory time off between shifts. Measures of educational experience included observations of the activities of interns (first-year residents), surveys of trainees (both interns and residents) and faculty, and intern examination scores. RESULTS: There were no significant between-group differences in the mean percentages of time that interns spent in direct patient care and education nor in trainees' perceptions of an appropriate balance between clinical demands and education (primary outcome for trainee satisfaction with education; response rate, 91%) or in the assessments by program directors and faculty of whether trainees' workload exceeded their capacity (primary outcome for faculty satisfaction with education; response rate, 90%). Another survey of interns (response rate, 49%) revealed that those in flexible programs were more likely to report dissatisfaction with multiple aspects of training, including educational quality (odds ratio, 1.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02 to 2.73) and overall well-being (odds ratio, 2.47; 95% CI, 1.67 to 3.65). In contrast, directors of flexible programs were less likely to report dissatisfaction with multiple educational processes, including time for bedside teaching (response rate, 98%; odds ratio, 0.13; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.49). Average scores (percent correct answers) on in-training examinations were 68.9% in flexible programs and 69.4% in standard programs; the difference did not meet the noninferiority margin of 2 percentage points (difference, -0.43; 95% CI, -2.38 to 1.52; P=0.06 for noninferiority). od Institute and the ACGME; iCOMPARE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02274818 .). CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant difference in the proportion of time that medical interns spent on direct patient care and education between programs with standard duty-hour policies and programs with more flexible policies. Interns in flexible programs were less satisfied with their educational experience than were their peers in standard programs, but program directors were more satisfied. (Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blo

A randomized trial of nighttime physician staffing in an intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of intensive care units (ICUs) are adopting the practice of nighttime intensivist staffing despite the lack of experimental evidence of its effectiveness. METHODS: We conducted a 1-year randomized trial in an academic medical ICU of the effects of nighttime staffing with in-hospital intensivists (intervention) as compared with nighttime coverage by daytime intensivists who were available for consultation by telephone (control). We randomly assigned blocks of 7 consecutive nights to the intervention or the control strategy. The primary outcome was patients' length of stay in the ICU. Secondary outcomes were patients' length of stay in the hospital, ICU and in-hospital mortality, discharge disposition, and rates of readmission to the ICU. For length-of-stay outcomes, we performed time-to-event analyses, with data censored at the time of a patient's death or transfer to another ICU. RESULTS: A total of 1598 patients were included in the analyses. The median Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) III score (in which scores range from 0 to 299, with higher scores indicating more severe illness) was 67 (interquartile range, 47 to 91), the median length of stay in the ICU was 52.7 hours (interquartile range, 29.0 to 113.4), and mortality in the ICU was 18%. Patients who were admitted on intervention days were exposed to nighttime intensivists on more nights than were patients admitted on control days (median, 100% of nights [interquartile range, 67 to 100] vs. median, 0% [interquartile range, 0 to 33]; P<0.001). Nonetheless, intensivist staffing on the night of admission did not have a significant effect on the length of stay in the ICU (rate ratio for the time to ICU discharge, 0.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.88 to 1.09; P=0.72), ICU mortality (relative risk, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.90 to 1.28), or any other end point. Analyses restricted to patients who were admitted at night showed similar results, as did sensitivity analyses that used different definitions of exposure and outcome. CONCLUSIONS: In an academic medical ICU in the United States, nighttime in-hospital intensivist staffing did not improve patient outcomes. (Funded by University of Pennsylvania Health System and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01434823.).

Association of the 2011 ACGME resident duty hour reforms with mortality and readmissions among hospitalized Medicare patients.

IMPORTANCE: Patient outcomes associated with the 2011 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) duty hour reforms have not been evaluated at a national level. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of the 2011 ACGME duty hour reforms with mortality and readmissions. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Observational study of Medicare patient admissions (6,384,273 admissions from 2,790,356 patients) to short-term, acute care, nonfederal hospitals (n = 3104) with principal medical diagnoses of acute myocardial infarction, stroke, gastrointestinal bleeding, or congestive heart failure or a Diagnosis Related Group classification of general, orthopedic, or vascular surgery. Of the hospitals, 96 (3.1%) were very major teaching, 138 (4.4%) major teaching, 442 (14.2%) minor teaching, 443 (14.3%) very minor teaching, and 1985 (64.0%) nonteaching. EXPOSURE: Resident-to-bed ratio as a continuous measure of hospital teaching intensity. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Change in 30-day all-location mortality and 30-day all-cause readmission, comparing patients in more intensive relative to less intensive teaching hospitals before (July 1, 2009-June 30, 2011) and after (July 1, 2011-June 30, 2012) duty hour reforms, adjusting for patient comorbidities, time trends, and hospital site. RESULTS: In the 2 years before duty hour reforms, there were 4,325,854 admissions with 288,422 deaths and 602,380 readmissions. In the first year after the reforms, accounting for teaching hospital intensity, there were 2,058,419 admissions with 133,547 deaths and 272,938 readmissions. There were no significant postreform differences in mortality accounting for teaching hospital intensity for combined medical conditions (odds ratio [OR], 1.00; 95% CI, 0.96-1.03), combined surgical categories (OR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.94-1.04), or any of the individual medical conditions or surgical categories. There were no significant postreform differences in readmissions for combined medical conditions (OR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.97-1.02) or combined surgical categories (OR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.98-1.03). For the medical condition of stroke, there were higher odds of readmissions in the postreform period (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.001-1.13). However, this finding was not supported by sensitivity analyses and there were no significant postreform differences for readmissions for any other individual medical condition or surgical category. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among Medicare beneficiaries, there were no significant differences in the change in 30-day mortality rates or 30-day all-cause readmission rates for those hospitalized in more intensive relative to less intensive teaching hospitals in the year after implementation of the 2011 ACGME duty hour reforms compared with those hospitalized in the 2 years before implementation.

Digital Engagement Strategy and Health Care Worker Mental Health: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: The health care workforce continues to experience high rates of depression and anxiety. Finding ways to effectively support the mental health and well-being of health care workers is challenging. Objective: To test the effectiveness of remote, pushed digital assessments and engagement to improve depression and anxiety among health care workers compared with usual care. Design, Setting, and Participants: This was a 9-month randomized clinical trial with a 6-month intervention period. Participants were health care workers with self-reported daily access to a smartphone and at least 4 clinical hours per week. Participants were randomized to usual care or the intervention between January 2022 and March 2023. Data analyses were conducted between May and July 2023. Interventions: All participants completed baseline, 6-month, and 9-month mental health, well-being, and burnout assessments. The control group had open access to a web-based mental health platform. Participants in the intervention group received monthly text messaging about mental health, mental health assessments, and linkages to care. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcomes were mean change in depression and anxiety scores at 6 months from baseline. Secondary outcomes include mean change in well-being, burnout, and self-reported workplace productivity. Results: In this study, 1275 participants were randomized (642 [50.4%] to the intervention group and 633 [49.6%] to control group). Participants had a mean (SD) age of 38.6 (10.9) years, 1063 participants (83.4%) were female, 320 (25.1%) self-identified as Black, and 793 (62.2%) self-identified as White. Across the groups, the mean difference in depression score was significantly different at 6 months (-0.96 [95% CI, -1.52 to -0.40]) and at 9 months (-1.14 [95% CI, -1.69 to -0.58]). The mean difference in anxiety score from baseline to 6 months was statistically significantly larger for those in the intervention group vs usual care (-0.71 [95% CI, -1.25 to -0.17]) and held true at 9 months (-1.06 [95% CI, -1.59 to -0.52]). Conclusions and Relevance: In a trial of health care workers, a proactive digital engagement strategy, including pushed text messaging, mobile mental health assessments, and connection to care, improved depression and anxiety over a 6-month period compared with simply making the same resources available for individuals to find and use. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05028075.

Cross-sectional analysis of healthcare worker mental health and utilisation of a digital mental health platform from 2020 to 2023.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare worker (HCW) anxiety and depression worsened during the pandemic, prompting the expansion of digital mental health platforms as potential solutions offering online assessments, access to resources and counselling. The use of these digital engagement tools may reflect tendencies and trends for the mental health needs of HCWs. OBJECTIVES: This retrospective, cross-sectional study investigated the association between the use of an online mental health platform within a large academic health system and measures of that system's COVID-19 burden during the first 3 years of the pandemic. METHODS: The study investigated the use of Cobalt, an online mental health platform, comprising deidentified mental health assessments and utilisation metrics. Cobalt, serves as an online mental health resource broadly available to health system employees, offering online evidence-based tools, coaching, therapy options and asynchronous content (podcasts, articles, videos and more). The analyses use validated mental health assessments (Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)) alongside publicly available COVID-19 data. Statistical analyses employed univariate linear regression with Stata SE Statistical Software. RESULTS: Between March 2020 and March 2023, 43 308 independent user sessions were created on Cobalt, a majority being anonymous sessions (72%, n=31 151). Mental health assessments, including PHQ-4, PHQ-9, GAD-7 and primary care-PTSD, totalled 9462 over the time period. Risk for self-harm was noted in 17.1% of PHQ-9 assessments. Additionally, 4418 appointments were scheduled with mental health counsellors and clinicians. No significant associations were identified between COVID-19 case burden and Cobalt utilisation or assessment scores. CONCLUSION: Cobalt emerged as an important access point for assessing the collective mental health of the workforce, witnessing increased engagement over time. Notably, the study indicates the nuanced nature of HCW assessments of anxiety, depression and PTSD, with mental health scores reflecting moderate decreases in depression and anxiety but signalling potential increases in PTSD. Tailored resources are imperative, acknowledging varied mental health needs within the healthcare workforce. Ultimately, this investigation lays the groundwork for continued exploration of the impact and effectiveness of digital platforms in supporting HCW mental health.

Teaching hospital five-year mortality trends in the wake of duty hour reforms.

BACKGROUND: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) implemented duty hour regulations for residents in 2003 and again in 2011. While previous studies showed no systematic impacts in the first 2 years post-reform, the impact on mortality in subsequent years has not been examined. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether duty hour regulations were associated with changes in mortality among Medicare patients in hospitals of different teaching intensity after the first 2 years post-reform. DESIGN: Observational study using interrupted time series analysis with data from July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2008. Logistic regression was used to examine the change in mortality for patients in more versus less teaching-intensive hospitals before (2000-2003) and after (2003-2008) duty hour reform, adjusting for patient comorbidities, time trends, and hospital site. PATIENTS: Medicare patients (n = 13,678,956) admitted to short-term acute care non-federal hospitals with principal diagnoses of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), gastrointestinal bleeding, or congestive heart failure (CHF); or a diagnosis-related group (DRG) classification of general, orthopedic, or vascular surgery. MAIN MEASURE: All-location mortality within 30 days of hospital admission. KEY RESULTS: In medical and surgical patients, there were no consistent changes in the odds of mortality at more vs. less teaching intensive hospitals in post-reform years 1-3. However, there were significant relative improvements in mortality for medical patients in the fourth and fifth years post-reform: Post4 (OR 0.88, 95 % CI [0.93-0.94]); Post5 (OR 0.87, [0.82-0.92]) and for surgical patients in the fifth year post-reform: Post5 (OR 0.91, [0.85-0.96]). CONCLUSIONS: Duty hour reform was associated with no significant change in mortality in the early years after implementation, and with a trend toward improved mortality among medical patients in the fourth and fifth years. It is unclear whether improvements in outcomes long after implementation can be attributed to the reform, but concerns about worsening outcomes seem unfounded.

An Assessment of Faculty Perceptions of Wellness Needs and Strategies to Optimize Engagement With Wellness Resources in Academic Medicine.

OBJECTIVE: Faculty at academic medical institutions are at increased risk for burnout. This study aimed to assess faculty perceptions of wellness needs and identify strategies to optimize engagement with individualized wellness resources. METHODS: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 37 faculty members in one US academic medical center. RESULTS: Participants identified significant barriers to achieving emotional health and wellness goals. Areas where participants identified needing the most support included interpersonal relationships, accountability for wellness goals, career support, financial resources, and mentorship. Most participants were unaware of all wellness resources available at their institution. Participants recommended regular marketing and emphasizing confidentiality of employer-sponsored programs. They also provided feedback on specific dissemination and marketing methods. CONCLUSIONS: This research underscores the need for wellness resources for faculty and the importance of intentional dissemination of these resources to optimize uptake.

Effect of a protected sleep period on hours slept during extended overnight in-hospital duty hours among medical interns: a randomized trial.

CONTEXT: A 2009 Institute of Medicine report recommended protected sleep periods for medicine trainees on extended overnight shifts, a position reinforced by new Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and consequences of protected sleep periods during extended duty. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Randomized controlled trial conducted at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center medical service and Oncology Unit of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (2009-2010). Of the 106 interns and senior medical students who consented, 3 were not scheduled on any study rotations. Among the others, 44 worked at the VA center, 16 at the university hospital, and 43 at both. INTERVENTION: Twelve 4-week blocks were randomly assigned to either a standard intern schedule (extended duty overnight shifts of up to 30 hours; equivalent to 1200 overnight intern shifts at each site), or a protected sleep period (protected time from 12:30 AM to 5:30 AM with handover of work cell phone; equivalent to 1200 overnight intern shifts at each site). Participants were asked to wear wrist actigraphs and complete sleep diaries. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome was hours slept during the protected period on extended duty overnight shifts. Secondary outcome measures included hours slept during a 24-hour period (noon to noon) by day of call cycle and Karolinska sleepiness scale. RESULTS: For 98.3% of on-call nights, cell phones were signed out as designed. At the VA center, participants with protected sleep had a mean 2.86 hours (95% CI, 2.57-3.10 hours) of sleep vs 1.98 hours (95% CI, 1.68-2.28 hours) among those who did not have protected hours of sleep (P < .001). At the university hospital, participants with protected sleep had a mean 3.04 hours (95% CI, 2.77-3.45 hours) of sleep vs 2.04 hours (95% CI, 1.79-2.24) among those who did not have protected sleep (P < .001). Participants with protected sleep were significantly less likely to have call nights with no sleep: 5.8% (95% CI, 3.0%-8.5%) vs 18.6% (95% CI, 13.9%-23.2%) at the VA center (P < .001) and 5.9% (95% CI, 3.1%-8.7%) vs 14.2% (95% CI, 9.9%-18.4%) at the university hospital (P = .001). Participants felt less sleepy after on-call nights in the intervention group, with Karolinska sleepiness scale scores of 6.65 (95% CI, 6.35-6.97) vs 7.10 (95% CI, 6.85-7.33; P = .01) at the VA center and 5.91 (95% CI, 5.64-6.16) vs 6.79 (95% CI, 6.57-7.04; P < .001) at the university hospital. CONCLUSIONS: For internal medicine services at 2 hospitals, implementation of a protected sleep period while on call resulted in an increase in overnight sleep duration and improved alertness the next morning. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00874510.

An innovation tournament to improve medical residency.

Two large national studies of resident duty hours incidentally revealed surgical and medical resident dissatisfaction with residency training. Aiming for an inclusive and democratic approach to improve graduate medical education, we conducted a national innovation tournament--reaching out to the program directors of all 474 US internal medicine residency programs to invite them and their residents and associate program directors to participate. Participants could submit multiple ideas as individuals or teams in four domains: [1] resident well-being and personal and professional development; [2] resident education and clinical preparedness; [3] resident sleep and alertness; and [4] patient safety. Residents and program directors were reinvited to rate ideas, whether they had submitted ideas themselves or not. We used a schedule of lottery-based prizes to stimulate the submission and rating of ideas and encourage engagement. 164 residents and program directors from 51 different programs submitted 328 ideas. 153 residents and program directors from 48 different programs submitted 15,345 ratings of ideas. Winning ideas aimed to reduce residents' work burden or improve their mental health, sleep, eating, or relaxation or reflected technical fixes to the operations of residency, such as changing vacation schedules and the timing of pay. The results of this tournament provided actionable suggestions to improve residency training now being tested in our own residency programs. Innovation tournaments drive engagement and generate value by their opportunities for inclusion and by shifting problem solving to the end user.

Increasing access to mental health supports for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond through a novel coaching program.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to heightened anxiety, distress, and burnout among healthcare workers and faculty in academic medicine. Penn Medicine launched Coping First Aid (CFA) in March 2020 in response to the pandemic. Informed by Psychological First Aid principles and therapeutic micro skills, CFA was designed as a tele-mental healthcare service for health system employees and their families delivered by trained lay volunteer coaches under the supervision of licensed mental health clinicians. We present an overview of the model, feasibility and utilization data, and preliminary implementation and effectiveness outcomes based on cross sectional coach (n = 22) and client (n = 57) self-report surveys with a subset of program users in the first year. A total of 44 individuals completed training and were certified to coach. Over the first 24 months of the program, 513 sessions occurred with 273 clients (119 sessions were no-shows or canceled). Follow-up appointments were recommended in 52.6% (n = 270) of sessions and 21.2% (n = 109) of clients were referred for professional mental health care. Client survey respondents reported CFA was helpful; 60% were very or extremely satisfied, and 74% indicated they would recommend the program. Our preliminary findings suggest that CFA was feasible to implement and most clients found the service beneficial. CFA provides a model for rapidly developing and scaling mental health supports during and beyond the pandemic.

COBALT: Supporting the mental well-being of the health care workforce with technology-facilitated care during Covid-19 and beyond.

Two-thirds of health professionals facing the clinical demands of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic experience psychiatric symptoms, including post-traumatic stress, anxiety, substance use, depression, insomnia, and suicide.1,2 Compounding matters, access to mental health services is poor, quality is variable, and stigma is prevalent. COBALT, a digital mental health and wellness platform developed at Penn Medicine, was designed to support health care workers, offering a combination of self-directed resources, virtual group sessions, and individual appointments with a stepped care model of providers, including peers, resilience coaches, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists. In COBALT's first 11 months, the platform saw approximately 10,000 users, 200,000 page views, 1,400 one-on-one appointment bookings, over 1,000 group appointment reservations, and 158 interceptions of employees contemplating self-harm. COBALT reveals the unmet demand for mental health support among health professionals and provides a model for both expanding the supply of and streamlining access to services.

Exploring Residents' Well-Being and Burnout via Qualitative Ecological Momentary Assessment.

PURPOSE: Most of what is known about resident burnout and wellness comes from cross-sectional snapshot surveys. The purpose of this study was to elicit qualitative perspectives on wellness from a cohort of internal residents over time using ecological momentary assessment. METHOD: Drawing on principles of ecological momentary assessment, 13 different open-ended survey prompts were delivered between October and March during the 2019-2020 academic year. Participants were 88 randomly selected internal medicine residents from 4 internal medicine training programs in the Northeast. RESULTS: The response rate was 95%. Three main themes regarding wellness were self, program/education environment, and medical/structural system. A fourth theme, the desire to provide quality patient care, cut across all other themes. The patient care theme repeatedly stressed residents' desire to spend more time with patients. The self theme primarily reflected messages about personal emotions and the need for work-life balance and wellness. The program/education environment theme reflected the value of learning, teamwork and community, and program culture. The medical/structural system theme showed that residents' experiences were shaped by the efficiency of their days and largely a product of their schedules and administrative support. Closing advice to future trainees was optimistic and reassuring. CONCLUSIONS: While findings support much of what has been learned via single-occasion survey snapshots, an ecological momentary assessment design allowed a deeper dive into contextual associations. The results affirm the primacy of patient care and also highlight the value of teamwork and culture. Peers and program leaders are heavily influential in setting the tone for the learning experience, whether for the day or with a more enduring message of respect and support. There is opportunity to maximize high- or higher-value learning experiences for residents and find solutions to reduce and reframe the perceived "low-value administrative work" that is part of care coordination.