SEED Program: The development of a program that has enabled the learning and growth of staff in the response to a community crisis.

Abstract

This paper aims to share a program that took a whole-hospital approach in considering the wellbeing of staff at a time of recovery following the 2019–2020 bushfires. The SEED Program enlisted a person-centred participatory methodology that was embedded within a transformational learning approach. This methodology included collaboration, authentic participation, critical reflection, critical dialogue and listening where the staff voice was the driving factor in the development of strategies for recovery. The SEED Program resulted in the development of five initiatives that included four strategies and a celebration event where staff celebrated their New Year’s Eve in February 2020. The four strategies included the establishment of a quiet room, coffee buddies, Wellness Warriors and 24/7 Wellness. The outcomes from the SEED Program resulted in the development of a more person-centred culture and transformation of staff perspectives in how they understood their role in their learning and learning of others in recovery and support at a time of crisis. The key learnings were the effect of authentic collaboration, the benefit from enabling authentic leadership at all levels within a hospital, and the power of a staff connection to the ‘CORE’ values of the hospital and Local Health District. In conclusion, the staff involved hold the hope that others may benefit from their experience of transformational learning in creating more person-centred workplace cultures while supporting each other to move forward during a crisis. The limitation of the SEED Program was that it was a bespoke practice innovation designed in the moment, responding to an identified need for the staff following a crisis in the local community rather than a formal research approach to meeting the needs of this group of staff.

The SEED Wellness Model: A Workplace Approach to Address Wellbeing Needs of Healthcare Staff During Crisis and Beyond

“…The Chief Executive of ISLHD mobilized additional resources to respond to the psychological impact on the staff. The result was a locally designed and implemented wellness program the staff called SEED (Stability, Encompassing, Endurance and Direction) (42).…”

“…Forty-one staff were consulted within 2 days, and 84 suggestions were themed into five workplace wellness initiatives. The co-design of program initiatives and the immediate followthrough resulted in the staff sense of empowerment, trust, and investment in the process (42). A final focus group was conducted with the goal of naming the initiative.…”

“…The staff chose the word "SEED" to represent stability (staff need for stability moving forward after natural disasters), encompassing (wanting all their colleagues to be encompassed in the various initiatives), endurance (working together to endure the aftermath of the fires) and direction (having a sense of direction for self and for the organization). The initiative was intended to run for three consecutive months and to cover staff across all shifts (for details on the SEED activities and outcomes in the Milton Ulladulla Hospital read) (42).…”

“…• 24/7 Wellness -facilitating 24 weekly wellness sessions in the workplace to promote staff wellbeing [for details, see (42)].…”

A Narrative Inquiry into the Practices of Healthcare Workers’ Wellness Program: The SEED Experience in New South Wales, Australia

“…SEED used a strengths-based approach to ascertain the needs of staff and implement staff-led wellbeing initiatives that build resilience and aid recovery processes. Some of the SEED initiatives that were implemented across different ISLHD sites include: (1) Coffee Buddies—a planned coffee break with a nominated staff member as a form of collective care for each other, (2) Quiet Room—a space inside the hospital for staff to take a moment each day for a quiet reflection, (3) 24/7 Wellness—weekly wellness sessions in the workplace to promote staff wellbeing, (4) (S)Crap book—a communal journal to share and reflect on stressful stories occurring during the pandemic (for details on the SEED model, history, and activities, see [ 20 , 21 ]).…”