Canadian healthcare workers face alarming mental health challenges, with nearly one in three meeting criteria for probable PTSD, two-thirds reporting clinically significant depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, and 70% experiencing dissociation (McKinnon, 2022). Many also suffer moral distress, prompting some to consider leaving their roles.
Based on research findings, Homewood Health created evidence-informed 1) cultural competency training peer support competency training and 2) tailored mental health treatment programs. The findings demonstrated marked improvements:
- 400 service providers and peer support workers completed the cultural competency training and after training 90%-100% of them felt competent in various cultural and peer support competencies.
- Inpatient care data from 2023, shows 77% of treated healthcare workers fell below clinical thresholds for depression and trauma diagnoses,
- 83% fell below thresholds for anxiety, and three out of four showed clinically reliable improvements in trauma symptoms.
- Outpatient EMHC data shows nearly three out of four healthcare and social assistance professionals experienced reliable improvement in trauma symptoms.
These findings underscore the importance of specialized, culturally competent care in safeguarding the well-being of frontline providers (Shanafelt et al., 2020).
This is why Homewood Health continues to be a national leader in providing healthcare workers with tailored treatment for mental health, trauma, addiction, and co-occurring conditions. Our treatment outcomes consistently surpass the Meridian PHQ-9, GAD-7, and PCL-5 benchmarks in Canada and the United States*.
As healthcare workers continue to navigate the demands of their profession, ensuring they have access to proven, high-quality mental health support is more than just a priority—it’s a necessity for the well-being of individuals, the resilience of our healthcare system, and the communities that depend on them.
References
McKinnon, M. (2022). National Survey of 1,000 Healthcare Workers. Homewood Research Institute.
Shanafelt, T., Ripp, J., & Trockel, M. (2020). Understanding and addressing sources of anxiety among health care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA, 323(21), 2133–2134. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.5893