"Circle Up," an inexpensive, easy-to-implement, and broadly-applicable process for coordinating clinical care, uses brief and inspirational planning or after-action conversations like those convened by sports coaches or platoon leaders to improve both care quality and the mental health of the staff.
Summary The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the stresses that frontline healthcare workers encounter on the job. We implemented a process called "Circle Up," which creates a regular time and place for problem-solving and connection, to promote better communication and improve the psychological well-being of care teams. Participants report greater interprofessional peer connectedness and less psychological distress. They feel encouraged to speak up more throughout the day and with colleagues they would not normally approach. Circle Up offers a proactive, rather than reactive, process of peer support that seems to work synergistically with clinical process improvements.