AACOM Joins Partners in Announcing the Health Workforce Well-Being Day of Awareness

Health Workforce Well-Being Day on March 18 and events throughout the month recognize importance of protecting health workers’ well-being

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Bethesda, MD) – Today, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) and its partners in  the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Collaborative kicked off a series of events to recognize health workforce well-being from March 11, and announced March 18 as the annual, national Health Workforce Well-Being Day. The Collaborative is made up of 90 founding partners—including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation. 

To start, the NAM Collaborative celebrated with an event on Capitol Hill on March 11, featuring the Surgeon General, Members of Congress, founding partners and public participants. Related events will occur throughout March (see the full calendar).

“AACOM is proud to be a founding member of this Collaborative and bring much needed attention to the serious issues impacting our nation’s health workers' physical and mental health,” said Dr. Robert Cain, AACOM President and CEO.

A bipartisan resolution to designate March 18, 2024, as the nation’s first Health Workforce Well-Being Day of Awareness has been introduced by U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) to recognize the seriousness of widespread healthcare worker burnout in the United States and the need to strengthen health workforce well-being.

Through the Health Workforce Well-Being Day, the NAM Collaborative and founding partners aim to recognize the importance of protecting health workers’ well-being to sustain our health system and ensure quality patient care. The Health Workforce Well-Being Day is also a day for action—learning from one another on the progress to advance the movement to support health worker well-being, and expand evidence-informed solutions to make system-wide changes to improve health worker well-being and transform cultures.

As part of the NAM Collaborative’s dedication to supporting health professionals, the Change Maker Campaign was launched in October 2023 to mobilize a collective effort to drive change. Today, there are more than 350 health institutions nationwide that have signed up to the NAM’s Change Maker Campaign, declaring their commitment to making health worker well-being a long-term value.

“I am delighted that the nation will recognize our dedicated health workforce by the establishment of the Health Workforce Well-Being Day. I am energized by the national campaign that will foster health workers’ well-being. Together, we can advance the national movement to realize that attending to health worker well-being is not only critical to safeguard the health and safety of health workers, but also to ensuring a high-quality health sector for all,” said NAM President Dr. Victor J. Dzau. “I am proud that the NAM is leading the movement, and that it is gathering a lot of momentum through the Change Maker Campaign. Hundreds of organizations aligning towards this singular cause will be a significant source of change.”

Everyone is affected by the health worker burnout crisis, and everyone can play a role in ending it, from health institutions to members of the public. Healthcare and other institutional leaders can make a difference by committing to establishing well-being as a long-term value. Policymakers are encouraged to prevent and reduce the unnecessary burdens that stem from laws, regulations, policies and standards placed on health workers. Health workers are invited to catalyze their institutions to accelerate their well-being efforts. Members of the public can foster partnerships, trust and mutual respect together with their health providers. Acting together will build recognition that prioritizing health workforce well-being is essential for health workers, patients and the nation.

More details on how health leaders, policymakers, health workers and patients can participate in Health Workforce Well-Being Day, as well as take further next steps in the movement are available at: nam.edu/HWWBDay. Resources are available for all actors, including new Change Makers who are beginning their well-being journeys.

In 2022, the NAM Collaborative published the National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being, calling for identified actors to strengthen the health workforce’s well-being and restore the health of the nation. The Health Workforce Well-Being Day will further the priorities of the National Plan and provide a regular opportunity for collective action.

“This day reminds us that we all have a role to play in tackling the health worker burnout crisis, and we can no longer sit on the sidelines,” said U.S. Surgeon General and NAM Collaborative Co-Chair Dr. Vivek Murthy. “Confronting the long-standing drivers of burnout among our health workers must be a top national priority because our nation’s health depends on the well-being of our health workforce.”

"Our entire health care system benefits when we prioritize the health, safety, and well-being of health workers," said NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard. "Fortunately, there are evidence-informed resources like our Impact Wellbeing ^TM campaign that health systems can use to accelerate or supplement their efforts toward ensuring the well-being of their workers. These tools help leaders drive sustainable, operational level systems change in their hospitals."

The Health Workforce Well-Being Day is March 18, the anniversary of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act being signed into law. The act aims to reduce and prevent suicide, burnout and mental and behavioral health conditions among health professionals.

"Across the country, day after day, our health workers care for all of us, yet they endure an incredible toll on their own well-being because of how our health care system operates," said Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation CEO Corey Feist, JD, MBA. "It will take all of us taking immediate and ongoing action to build a system where health workers can thrive, including policymakers who have the ability to reduce administrative burden for health workers everywhere."

About the burnout crisis

Health workforce well-being is essential to ensuring health professionals are able to provide high-quality, personalized, and respectful patient care. Health workers have been increasingly strained by their work environments, and as the pressures put on our health workers increase, anxiety, depression, burnout and overall dissatisfaction have skyrocketed. Health worker well-being is one of the greatest threats to our health care system: it’s estimated that burnout costs the U.S. healthcare system at least $4.6 billion annually, and in 2023, nearly half of health workers reported often feeling burned out, up from a third in 2018. A healthy workforce means healthy patients and communities.

About the Change Maker Campaign

More than 350 organizations have signed up to be NAM Change Makers by committing to making health worker well-being a long-term value. This commitment is a top priority outlined in the National Plan. The inaugural cohort of Change Makers was featured at the NAM’s celebratory event on March 11, and organizations are invited to sign up on a rolling basis. The NAM Collaborative will continue to highlight Change Makers’ important progress.

About the NAM Clinician Well-Being Collaborative

The NAM’s Clinician Well-Being Collaborative is a network of leaders and representatives of many major health organizations and health systems across the United States. The Collaborative is co-chaired by Dr. Dzau; Dr. Murthy; Pamela Cipriano, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, 29th President, International Council of Nurses and Past Dean, University of Virginia School of Nursing; Thomas J. Nasca, MD, MACP, President and CEO of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; and Darrell G. Kirch, MD, President Emeritus of the Association of American Medical Colleges. All Collaborative members are founding partners of the Health Workforce Well-Being Day. Since 2017, the Collaborative has identified evidence-based strategies to improve clinician well-being at both the individual and systems levels. Learn more about the NAM Collaborative at nam.edu/ClinicianWellBeing. Register to receive updates at bit.ly/NAMListserv. For questions, contact ClinicianWellBeing@nas.edu.

About AACOM

Founded in 1898, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) is the leading voice for the education and training of physicians who practice osteopathic medicine in settings across the medical spectrum—from primary care to the full range of medical specialties. We support our member colleges of osteopathic medicine in their efforts to attract and train individuals who are fueled by a desire to make a difference in our healthcare system by treating the whole person and building a future emphasizing health and wellness for all people. Today, more than 35,000 future physicians—25 percent of all U.S. medical students—are being educated at one of our 41 accredited colleges of osteopathic medicine, encompassing 66 teaching locations in 35 states. To learn more about AACOM, please visit our website.

About NIOSH

NIOSH, as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is the federal institute that conducts research and makes recommendations for preventing work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths. The Impact Wellbeing^TM campaign is sponsored by CDC/NIOSH, with funding support from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. For more information about NIOSH visit www.cdc.gov/niosh/impactwellbeing.

About the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation

The Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation’s vision is a world where seeking mental health care is universally viewed as a sign of strength for health workers. We believe every health worker should have access to the mental health care and professional well-being support that they may need, at every moment in their career. We carry out this mission by accelerating solutions, advancing policies, and making connections that put our healthcare workforce’s well-being first.

The Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, alongside Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global and the CAA Foundation and Creative Artists Agency, co-founded and co-lead ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare, a coalition that focuses on systems-level, evidence-based solutions to improve healthcare worker mental health and well-being and shift the cultural stigma around health workers accessing mental health services. For more information, visit drlornabreen.org.

Contacts:

Joseph Shapiro
Director of Media Relations
(240) 938-0746
jshapiro@aacom.org

Christine DeCarlo
Senior Manager of Media and Public Affairs
(202) 603-1026
cdecarlo@aacom.org