LeadingAge New York Adviser Adviser LeadingAge NewYork Spring 2019 final | Page 36
Feature
Combating Burnout by Developing
Resiliency
By: Carl Bloomfield, AAI, vice president and managing director at Graham Company;
and Siddharth Ashvin Shah, MD, MPH, CEO at Greenleaf Integrative
A
cross the country, there is a crisis at hand for
organizations and their staff. More than
ever before, individuals, especially in the
health and human services industry, are
experiencing increased stress on the
job resulting from the ever-increasing
expectations placed on them.
Professionals in New York are no
exception to this, and those in the
aging services industry in particular are
experiencing high-
consequence levels of distress
With residents of New York living longer than
and burnout on the job. This is not a surprise given the difficult
and oftentimes traumatic situations direct care workers face on
ever before, the population aged 85 and above
a regular basis – like the death of a longtime resident – and their
has increased 26 percent over the past 12 years,
tendency to be relentlessly dedicated to those they care for. In
addition, these professionals must operate in highly demanding
and nearly one-sixth of residents are over 65,
environments and are expected to do more with less.
according to a 2019 report.
With residents of New York living longer than ever before, the
population aged 85 and above has increased 26 percent over
the past 12 years, and nearly one-sixth of residents are over 65, according to a 2019
report. This is producing an increased need for care, but also presents the challenge of
accommodating that demand given the growing workforce shortage. In fact, the American
Health Care Association (AHCA)/National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) recently
cited that the annual turnover rate for assisted living resident assistants and personal care
aides is approximately 36 percent. All of these stressors combined are impacting the New
York direct care workforce in several
ways.
The solution lies in creating a shared
Cumulative stress in aging services
responsibility approach to developing a
organizations can lead to systemic
dysfunction and lower quality of care
resilient workforce.
of those at the facility. That’s because
unmanaged stress levels and burnout
impact engagement, judgment, decision-making and situational awareness. The result? The
most obvious and widely known impact is high employee turnover, as evidenced by the
numbers above. For example, a caregiver may leave the organization if the psychological
effects they face from a resident’s bullying are not handled properly. Less known among
aging services organizations is that this also creates more risk. We, however, see in claims
that stress does factor into risk. For instance, a caregiver’s high stress level may result in an
error because he or she had a delayed reaction time or made a poor decision, leading to an
insurance claim against the direct care worker and the associated facility.
The good news is that aging services organizations can address the issue before it escalates
further. The solution lies in creating a shared responsibility approach to developing a
resilient workforce. Knowing that a certain level of stress is inevitable for all workers,
(See Combatting Burnout on page 44)
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Adviser a publication of LeadingAge New York | Spring 2019