Spotlights: Professional Associations Relational Strategies
We spotlight professional associations - including accrediting and certifying bodies and professional organizations that support and represent members - across the Actionable Strategy areas. Our intent is not to capture every professional association working to improve well-being. Rather, we highlight the work of organizations that other professional associations, health and public safety organizations, and individual workers and learners might seek to advance.
Strengthening Leadership
Spotlights
The Council on Social Work Education partners across organizations to provide leadership development, trainings, and resources through their Advancing Interprofessional Education initiative.
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) offers training and technical assistance about leadership development, including the Advocacy Leadership Program, which focuses on training emerging leaders to build advocacy efforts in their health centers and communities, and Leadership development and career advancement training programs, which cover topics that include Workplace Emotional Intelligence Tools, Systems Orientation for Clinical Leaders, and Leading Curiosity, Creativity and Innovation
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has a leadership development program including their leadership academy, which has free leadership resources such as assessments, webinars, videos, a discussion board. Their student org (NSSLHA) also has leadership resources for students.
Commitment & Governance
Spotlights
The American Nurses Association established the Magnet® Recognition Program to advance a model of shared governance in which transformational leadership and structural empowerment are essential components to ensure nurses have voice in their organizations.
The American Medical Association’s Joy in Medicine Health System Recognition Program recognizes organizations working to improve physician satisfaction and reduce burnout. The roadmap identifies organizational commitment (e.g., investment in formalized well-being infrastructure, executive leadership, data, and strategic plans) as one of six key criteria.
Empowering Worker & Learner Voice
Spotlights
The American Pharmacists Association and the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Association’s The Pharmacist’s Fundamental Responsibilities and Rights outlines pharmacists’ fundamental responsibilities and duties, including seeking resolutions regarding workplace concerns without fear of intimidation or retaliation.
The American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, in partnership with other national organizations, provides resources and a learning network in their Building Trust initiative. In partnership with AcademyHealth, they provide Trust in Health Care: Insights from Ongoing Research and a Developing a Trust Research Agenda.
The Association of American Medical College (AAMC) offers a Restorative Justice in Academic Medicine Facilitator Training. The purpose of this program is to “learn [about] a relational framework that can help [audiences] navigate difficult issues and how to respond to instances of individual or communal harm in ways that support active accountability, deeper understanding, shared decision making, and the prevention of future harms.”
Aligning Values
Spotlights
The Joint Commission introduced a voluntary, advanced Health Care Equity Certification program in 2023 aimed at providing a structure to guide organizations in achieving health care equity. In addition, they recognize the potential burden of their standards and have been working to reduce and revise existing standards.
The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education’s standards for PharmD programs include a number of requirements aligned with advancing patient and community-centered care, including competencies in patient-centered care, population health, social determinants of health, and patient advocacy.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has long recognized the central role of advocacy the health and well-being of children. As such, the AAP provides resources such as the AAP Advocacy Guide to become an effective advocate and their advocacy training modules, and advocates at the federal and state level on a range of issues that impact children, families, and pediatricians. Some of their current priorities include health care access and coverage and firearm violence prevention.
Improving Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Spotlights
In 2021, a coalition of leading nurses’ associations started the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing. The Commission has released a number of resources, including Project ECHO® on Racism in Nursing, a program that connects DEI experts with nurses, provides training on how racism manifests in the nursing profession, and teaches skills to confront racism in the workplace and Racism’s Impact in Nursing Survey Results, which is an infographic showing the results of their nationwide survey.
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) authored the AAMC Framework for Addressing and Eliminating Racism at the AAMC, in Academic Medicine, and Beyond. It outlines the steps that AAMC is taking to become an anti-racist, diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization.
The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) provides access to diversity, equity, and inclusion resources and tools geared toward occupational therapy practitioners. This includes DEI research and articles on a variety of topic, such as racial identity development, the intersection of mental health and DEI in the occupational therapy workplace, and implicit bias in occupational therapy, A Framework for Addressing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Everyday Practice for Occupational Therapy, Transgender & gender-diverse inclusive resources
Measuring Well-Being & Accountability
Spotlights
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education includes specific resident well-being requirements and includes well-being related questions (e.g., “able to raise concerns without fear”) in the resident/fellow survey.
The American Nurses Foundation conducted a COVID-19 Survey Series which includes a Mental Health and Wellness Survey. A full report of the findings can be found online, along with a data visualization that allows audiences to sort by different categories of interest (e.g., state of employment, role, and race).
The American Medical Association (AMA)’s Joy in Medicine Recognition Program recognizes organizational achievement and effort in six areas to improve physician satisfaction and reduce burnout. The program requires organizations to assess physician wellbeing. The AMA also created an Organizational Biopsy, which uses surveys to assess organizational culture, practice efficiency, self-care, and retention.
