Isolated Medical Provider Aftercare Team

Isolated Medical Provider Aftercare Team

Potentially challenging clinical incidents, such as those involving children, multiple casualties, or friends or family members of the medical provider, are unavoidable in rural practice. At times, these incidents cause medical providers mental health distress, including burnout, and lead them to avoid or leave rural practice. When medical providers are able to share and talk through challenging clinical incidents in a safe and accepting environment, they have a lower risk of additional or cumulative distress arising at a later time. The Isolated Medical Provider Aftercare Team (IMPACT) is currently being developed by the Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc) and will be will be piloted next fiscal year in the Northern Health Region, and nursing stations within the First Nations Health Authority and Nisga’a Valley Health Authority. The Program will offer peer-to-peer non-clinical emotional support—compassion, empathy, and direction to other helpful resources—to rural physicians and remote community health nurses who have experienced a potentially challenging clinical incident.

Achievements & Impact

Developed accredited curriculum to train IMPACT Peer Supporters

Secured funding from the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues

 

Developed the materials needed to implement the Program

 

Enhanced relationships Northern Health, First Nations Health Authority and Nisga’a Valley Health Authority

 

Continued building relationship with BC Emergency Health Services

 

 

 

Looking ahead

IMPACT Overview

Despite delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, IMPACT made great progress this past year towards future implementation of the Program later in 2021.

In Spring 2020, Drs. Blair Stanley and Jen Rogers provided expertise to create a training curriculum for IMPACT Peer Supporters based on Satir Transformational Systemic Therapy. The curriculum successfully earned Mainpro certification and, in June, the first cohort of peer supporters completed training.

In the Summer months, the IMPACT team worked collaboratively to develop a funding proposal for submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues. After presenting the proposal in September, they were pleased to receive final approval for the further development and implementation of a 1.5 year pilot project.

Approval from the JSC resulted in IMPACT’s official formation as a program. It also led to further development of IMPACT’s infrastructure in the remaining portion of 2020 and into 2021. RCCbc staff, Adrienne Peltonen and Kassia Skolski, developed policies and numerous administrative materials. Several resources, such as toolkits, manuals, and flowcharts, were also developed for BC Emergency Health Services (BC EHS) call dispatchers, who will flag potentially challenging clinical incidents, and IMPACT peer supporters.

The IMPACT team also continued developing strong relationships with representatives from Northern Health, First Nations Health Authority, and Nisga’a Valley Health Authority. After presenting IMPACT to them, the team received their support to implement the pilot phase in their respective health regions.

Also during this time, the IMPACT team continued building its relationship with BCEHS. Materials for call dispatchers were submitted to their teams in preparation for the launch of the pilot; however, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed BCEHS’s ability to start the Program.

In the coming months, IMPACT will officially launch its pilot phase in Northern Health, and nursing stations in the First Nations Health Authority and Nisga’a Valley Health Authority. It will also finalize the development and begin implementation of its communications plan. The Program’s impact will be carefully monitored by Program staff and, when ready, its peer-to-peer support services will be expanded to other rural areas of BC.

How have we shown or built resilience in BC during a challenging year?

“The culture of silence around mental health challenges can be stifling for rural medical providers. Many of us often feel we must be stoic in our response to challenging clinical events that inevitably occur in the course of our work. By breaking down these walls—by offering a friendly shoulder of support from another medical provider who just “gets it”—IMPACT will improve the health and well-being of BC’s rural medical providers. This, in turn, will enable them to take even better care of their patients.”

Dr. Ed Marquis
Medical Lead, Isolated Medical Provider Aftercare Team, RCCbc

Team Members: Adrienne Peltonen, Kassia Skolski

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