Ken Yeager
Standing for Stress, Trauma and Resilience, The Ohio State University’s STAR program supports not just patients and families, but also health care providers. Part of its goal is getting physicians to acknowledge their vulnerabilities.
“For the longest time, you weren’t allowed to say you’re weak,” says Ken Yeager, program director. “Our staff sees this every day. To think they don’t acknowledge how hard this is doesn’t make any sense.”
The unfortunate truth of health care is that there is always risk.
Even when physicians do everything right, people can die. This can make many health providers feel powerless.
“The thing that brings people into health care is their desire to help,” Yeager says. “The things that bring them into health care are the very things that make them vulnerable to compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.”
The program has spread throughout central Ohio, providing trauma and stress-related services. These services include a peer support system, which is specialized to hospital units and helps the providers support each other, using their knowledge and experiences to empathize with one another.
“The better care you do of the health care provider and their psychological needs, the more energy, the more positivity they have to share with the patient,” says Yeager.
Lindsey Capritta is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
