Enhancing Resilience and Connection: SigBee^® Implementation After the Maui Wildfires

Area of Science:

• Mental Health
• Digital Health Interventions
• Disaster Response Psychology

Background:

• Disaster service providers experience significant mental health challenges (burnout, anxiety, secondary trauma).
• Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) show promise for individual mental health in responders.
• Existing DMHIs often overlook team dynamics crucial for disaster response.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine baseline characteristics predicting engagement with SigBee®, a digital team check-in intervention.
• To assess how SigBee® impacts individual resilience and team connection among disaster responders.
• To evaluate SigBee®'s effectiveness in supporting healthcare workers during disaster response.

Main Methods:

• A three-month pilot of SigBee® involving 22 disaster service providers.
• Pre-implementation surveys measured resilience, well-being, and team connection.
• Correlation analyses linked baseline measures to platform engagement and SigBee® domain scores.

Main Results:

• Participants reported high baseline resilience and interpersonal trust.
• SigBee® usage correlated significantly with resilience measures (PR6 Tenacity).
• Aggregated resilience scores consistently correlated with PR6 Health.

Conclusions:

• Baseline resilience is a strong predictor of engagement and outcomes with DMHIs.
• Digital check-ins can foster self-reflection and enhance individual resilience.
• SigBee® shows potential for improving both individual mental health and team dynamics in disaster response.