Health professionals have suffered more intensely than any other population group from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The increase in the demand for care has caused greater stress situations, with strenuous working hours, often with few means and being exposed to a greater degree to the virus. A situation that has led, in many cases, to physical and psychological problems.
Aware of this situation and in order to guarantee the well-being and care of those who care for the health of others, Grupo Policlínica has launched the program Taking care of you. This is a pioneering initiative in the health sector that offers nearly 550 professionals who work in its health centers (located in different locations on the island of Ibiza) a series of activities and services aimed at improving physical, emotional, mental and nutritional health, as well as encouraging training, personal growth and family reconciliation.
“Caring for you arises at the end of 2021 to improve the well-being of our staff, both inside and outside the hospital. Make it possible for them to work-life balance, make it possible for them to have a program to improve their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being…”, explains David Medina, General Director of Grupo Policlínica
The Eivikids nursery is open from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. every day
The plan offers more than 200 places a week to carry out dozens of different activities such as guided yoga classes, cardio functional, pilates or dance; Physiotherapy and osteopathy sessions, or psychology and nutrition consultations, with flexible hours. “There are also emotional intelligence workshops and stress management workshops, as well as external activities, in summer, such as paddle-surfing, kayaking, sailing… And also other types of training, such as English classes or sessions of coaching”, details Medina. “There are more than 50 different activities every week, which can be chosen for free,” says the general director of the health group.
Adapted schedules
Access to activities is done through a system of credits per month, “which are enough to do all the activities you want to do during the week. The credit system is more of a way to organize and record who has gone to what and above all to see what needs to be increased or what needs to be put less because it doesn’t fill up. It is more than anything a statistical issue,” says Medina.
Almost all the activities are practiced in the group’s facilities directed by external professionalswith an adapted schedule, but when it is possible they can also be done in streaming. The objective is that everyone can participate, “constant surveys are carried out asking what can be improved, if the schedules are good for you, what would be your preferred schedule. And so we are trying to adapt to the needs”, emphasizes the director of Grupo Policlínica. They are also open to suggestions and the incorporation of new activities, since it is an open program. Medina assures that the response is being good, with more than 500 different users who have accessed the activities at least once.
Yoga, pilates, dance, physiotherapy, osteopathy, English or ‘coaching’, among the activities
An initiative that has been very well received, according to Media, is the nursery, which is called Eivikids. In order to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family life for workers, it is open from Monday to Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., “and allows you not only to take your child to the nursery during normal working, school, but also in case of being on guard. And with a program of activities there, so that he is not only taken care of, but also entertained”.
In addition to the scheduled classes that take place regularly from Monday to Friday, within the framework of the Taking Care of You program, sports tournaments on weekends of paddle tennis, basketball and other seasonal activities such as paddle-surfing or sailing. “It’s a way of making pineapple and that people from different departments of the company who sometimes don’t get to see each other during working life, can generate links that would otherwise be very complicated,” admits Medina.
The philosophy of Caring for you is promote the personal growth of employeesstrengthen their emotional management, help them stay physically active and active and follow a healthy diet, offer them tools to deal with stress, so that they can better reconcile their professional and family life and also help them get to know each other better and interact with their colleagues in relaxed spaces, by work margin.
More exposed to anxiety and depression
A report from the World Health Organization warns that, due to the healthcare pressure caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, health professionals are experiencing higher levels of anxiety and depression compared to professionals in other areas. Research shows that up to 43% of frontline workers have experienced significant levels of anxiety, with a prevalence of 27% in nurses and 17% in doctors.
In Spain there are some 940,000 people working in health care, including doctors, nurses and non-health personnel from the public and private sectors, and protecting the well-being of these professionals is essential. For this reason, programs such as the one implemented by Grupo Policlínica, which He has been working since the end of 2021 on the start-up of Caring for you, in which he has invested more than 300,000 euros. Due to its size, diversity and economic and organizational effort, it is a plan that aims to highlight in Spain the importance of promoting the well-being of the healthcare community.
As the president of the group, Francisco Vilás, indicates, “this program was born with the mission that all our professionals participate easily and comfortably in activities with one goal: to put themselves ahead”.