By Katarina A. Lewczyk
During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers, including palliative care caregivers at UMass, experienced a marked increase of stressors due to several factors including restrictions and increased demands, feelings of isolation, and fatigue. To address this, the “Palliative Care Buddy System” intervention was conceptualized, designed, and implemented by the UMass Chan Palliative Care team “with the goal of counteracting personal distress and compassion fatigue as well as improving compassion satisfaction and resilience among team members.”
The study took place between July 2020 and April 2021 in two phases, and included 12 palliative care team members including physicians, nurse practitioners, a physician’s assistant, a social worker, a music therapist, and an administrative assistant. Each team member was paired with a trusted colleague on their team for the study. Efficacy was assessed by a qualitative online survey along with quantitative data collection, and semi-structured interviews. Of the 12 study participants, 10 completed all phases of the study. Ultimately, participants reported the buddy system was a useful, easy-to-implement intervention for mitigating personal distress and compassion fatigue by providing a strong sense of support and connection to team members.
This work was published in the September issue of Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care and was authored by Palliative Care team members, Nancy McCool, LICSW, ACHP-SW, Jennifer Reidy, MD, the Joy McCann Professor for Women in Medicine, chief of the Division of Palliative Care and associate professor of family medicine and community health, Shawna Steadman, MS, RN, ACNP, and Vandana Nagpal, MD, associate program director of the Palliative Medicine Fellowship, associate chief and associate professor of medicine in the Division of Palliative Care.