The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation awarded $1.4 million to the Wexner Medical Center intended for new technology to help combat workplace-related burnout. Credit: Katherine Simon | Lantern Reporter
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation awarded the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State over $1.4 million Wednesday to develop new technology to reduce work-related stress and burnout.
BWC administrator and CEO Stephanie McCloud said at the press conference Wednesday that the study will improve wellness resources at work.
“It will work to support the mental and physical health of our healthcare workers through the expansion of wellness programs and resources within the work setting,” McCloud said.
The grant funds the Buckeye Pause Bundle, a study including a mindfulness app, wearable biofeedback devices and quiet spaces, Maryanna Klatt, co-principal investigator of the study, said at the press conference Wednesday.
Klatt said the technology had shown reductions in burnout and increases in work engagement.
Dr. Carol Bradford, dean of the College of Medicine, said at the press conference taking breaks can improve productivity in a major way.
“What it’s really going to do is enhance the efficiency and productivity of our entire workforce because a 5-minute pause is going to pay enormous dividends to that individual’s well-being so that they can come back to work and be in a very effective workforce,” Bradford said.
Klatt introduced the Mindfulness in Motion program in 2004 in which groups meet and respond to prompts about what gives them meaning in life. Klatt said this program was later moved online to a website and will soon become an app.
Bradford said the program offers a variety of well-being resources and tools.
“This eight-week program offers pragmatic resiliency tools that can easily be implemented in daily life, like with an app we’re hearing is in development to enhance our own well-being and functionality while mitigating the impact of chronic stress,” Bradford said.
Klatt said the wearable devices include a biofeedback ring and a heart rate strap, which track how relaxed a person is.
McCloud said Buckeye Pause Respite Spaces, or pods, will allow workers to take a break and de-stress in a quiet, sound-proof and private area.
Klatt said these resting pods will feature peaceful music and “nature practices to relax.”
“We have mindfulness meditations, and one thing that we added was some physical things that will help health care providers protect their back, their shoulders, all that other stuff,” Klatt said.
Catherine Quatman-Yates, co-principal investigator of the Buckeye Pause Bundle, said at the press conference the bundle will be implemented at the Wexner Medical Center in January 2023 and later to other healthcare centers and industries across Ohio.
“We’re starting with health care settings, but this is widely applicable to many different workforce entities — including manufacturing where, you know, the busy environment that they’re working in can often make it hard for them to realize that they’re getting stressed — and to find a place to go and pause to relax because there’s so much stimulus going around,” Quatman-Yates said.
McCloud said the grant is part of Gov. Mike DeWine’s challenge to keep Ohioans safe by developing technologies to improve workforce safety.
“I’m hoping that some of the innovations that we are creating — including those today — will not only be for our frontline health care workers, but also for those other large companies where they see burnout, especially when you are in hands-on manufacturing, where mistakes can be quite injurious, or sometimes even fatal,” McCloud said.
