As the demands imposed on physicians continue to increase, so does the need for providing them with accessible—and confidential—mental health support. The Physicians Foundation’s survey shows that 6 in 10 physicians often have feelings of burnout, and more than half of physicians know a physician who has considered, attempted or died by suicide.
Physicians deserve access to mental health care, just like other professions. However, as a clinician, the process of finding mental health support can be much more complicated. Many physicians worry about confidentiality, fearing judgement from their colleagues or even loss of their credentials and license to practice medicine due to intrusive application questions.
Such complications leave physicians feeling stuck and therefore unable to improve their mental health. Which begs the question—what can be done about this?
Insert SafeHaven®, a confidential program for healthcare workers that helps address burnout and mental health conditions. The program, aptly promoted as being “made for clinicians, by clinicians,” includes an abundance of support services for healthcare workers and their families, including counseling sessions, peer coaching, 24/7 virtual assistance and an app for quick and easy access to other well-being resources.
In 2020, the Medical Society of Virginia (MSV) recognized the mounting obstacles that were preventing physicians and other healthcare workers from receiving the mental health support they needed. In response, they introduced new legislation to Virginia’s General Assembly around these issues; and from this legislation, the SafeHaven® program was born.
SafeHaven® has been a huge victory for physicians and healthcare workers, achieving national scope and additional partnership between other state medical societies to offer the SafeHaven® protections and resources in their state. MSVF has supported Arizona and Georgia in passing similar legislation and worked with Pennsylvania and Montana to make significant progress towards removing barriers to mental health care.
SafeHaven® exists as a role model for other health systems, state medical societies and professional associations that are showing their support for the health and wellbeing of medical professionals.
“Burnout is no longer something physicians have to suffer through alone—those participating in SafeHaven® are identifying solutions, healing injuries and rediscovering joy and purpose in their career,” said Carolyn McCrea, Assistant Vice President of Programs at MSV.
Want to learn more about the SafeHaven®program? Visit https://safehavenhealth.org/.
This program was made possible by grant funding from The Physicians Foundation.
