Well-being for trainees caring for homeless veterans.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Public Health
• Psychology

Background:

• Health care trainees face significant stress and burnout when caring for homeless patients due to complex medical, psychiatric, and social needs.
• This can lead to feelings of inadequacy and exhaustion, impacting trainee well-being and potentially patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a well-being toolkit for interprofessional health care trainees working with homeless veterans.
• To assess the toolkit's impact on trainee burnout, stress, resilience, and mindfulness.

Main Methods:

• A half-day workshop introduced well-being practices to 15 trainees and 6 faculty members.
• 14 evidence-based practices were selected for a toolkit, comprising personal and team-based tools displayed as clinic posters.
• Validated measures of burnout, stress, resilience, and mindfulness were administered pre- and post-intervention.

Main Results:

• Trainees reported no increase in burnout or stress levels throughout the academic year.
• Resilience and mindfulness showed positive trends, with trainees valuing team-based tools more than personal ones.
• Trainees expressed greater confidence in using team-based well-being strategies.

Conclusions:

• Team-based well-being interventions may be more effective than personal strategies for supporting health care trainees caring for marginalized populations.
• Residency programs and training sites should consider implementing team-focused well-being initiatives to mitigate trainee burnout.