IHI Tool: Psychological PPE – Promote Health Care Workforce Mental Health and Well-Being

The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating existing issues with health care professional burnout and joy in work that will persist once the more immediate crisis has abated. There is significant interest in health care in the concept of psychological PPE (personal protective equipment) — individual and system-level actions owned by unit and team leaders that provide protection and support for staff’s mental health that can be deployed both before providing care and after a shift has ended.

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement synthesized this research into evidence-based psychological PPE recommendations for use by staff providing care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The recommendations are organized by actions that individuals can take and actions taken at the system level by team and unit-level leaders.