Colleague Care - Implementing a staff peer support program

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Occupational Health
• Psychology

Background:

• Healthcare professionals are increasingly recognized as 'second victims' following adverse patient events.
• Peer support programs are emerging as a crucial non-clinical intervention for staff well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a reproducible methodology for establishing staff peer support programs in healthcare settings.
• To share practical steps and learnings for implementing localized peer support initiatives.

Main Methods:

• Outlined the initiation, customization, engagement, launch, and maintenance phases of a peer support program in a NSW health service.
• Detailed the process within a multi-hospital and multi-service organization.

Main Results:

• Dedicated resourcing and executive support were critical for program success.
• Key challenges included broad staff engagement and establishing trust in confidentiality.

Conclusions:

• Staff peer support programs offer a valuable, practical approach to supporting healthcare workers affected by adverse events.
• The presented methodology and insights can guide the implementation of similar programs in diverse healthcare services.