Fostering Wellness & Resilience for U of U Health Employees
Our Location
Spencer F. and Cleone P. Eccles Health Sciences Education Building
26 South 2000 East
Room 5775
SLC, UT 84112
Center Hours
Available by appointment
Contact Us
801-213-3403
resiliencycenter@hsc.utah.edu
About the Resiliency Center
The Resiliency Center is designed to foster wellness and resilience for all employees within University of Utah Health. The Resiliency Center serves as a hub for coordinating and expanding innovative programming while also housing resources essential to professional fulfillment. We aim to promote personal resilience, reduce individual burden and create an optimal work environment.
- Our vision: Faculty and staff passionate about and energized by work.
- Our mission: Promote faculty and staff wellness through advocacy, collaboration and innovative programming focused on individual and system resilience.
Self-Assessment
If you think you may be suffering from burnout, anxiety, depression, or other disorders, there are a number of screenings that will help you identify whether you may benefit from health services.
- Burnout screening
- Screenings for anxiety, depression, PTSD, & substance use
- University of Utah Health employees can contact the Resiliency Center for a confidential, 20-minute screening for these issues.
If you have questions or would like to follow up with someone after completing the screenings, please contact the Resiliency Center at resiliencycenter@hsc.utah.edu or 801-213-3403 or Employee Assistance Program at 801-587-8319 or 800-926-9619.
Services
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
EAP is a confidential and free counseling service for employees, their dependents, and other family members residing in the employee’s household. EAP provides assessment, counseling and/ or referral for a variety of personal and work-related concerns. EAP can also provide advice and referral related to financial or legal difficulties and senior care assistance.
EAP is offered at multiple locations within the Salt Lake Valley, including at the Resiliency Center.
Please call 801-587-9319 or 800-926-9619 for more information or to schedule an appointment.
Peer Support Program
The Peer Support Program provides institutional-level support to University of Utah Health (U of U Health) employees during, or after adverse clinical events and other stressful situations like medical error or malpractice litigation. The Peer Support Program consists of a network of U of U Health professionals from all backgrounds who are trained as Peer Supporters.
The Peer Support Program is activated via contacting Dr. Jake Van Epps directly at jake.vanepps@utah.edu or the Resiliency Center at resiliencycenter@hsc.utah.edu or 801-213-3403.
Once the program is activated, a Peer Supporter reaches out to you to talk via phone or in-person. These conversations are private and confidential. They are designed to be helpful but are not a substitute for mental health services.
If you are concerned about yourself or your colleague, please contact the Peer Support Program.
Peer Support Volunteer
Please contact the Resiliency Center if you are interested in being a Peer Support Volunteer or if you would like to nominate a colleague to volunteer. Peer supporters are individuals who:
- excel in listening and communication and
- others tend to look up to and seek out for support.
Resilience Consultations
Resilience consultations are available to all University of Utah Health employees. These consultations are designed to provide support, motivation and direction in addressing various aspects of work-life integration.
They can vary in structure and function, including receiving support and referral to EAP or psychotherapy, learning about mindfulness techniques, identifying resources to enhance personal resilience, or exploring how to better advocate for yourself and your team.
For more information, contact the Resiliency Center at resiliencycenter@hsc.utah.edu or 801-213-3403.
Debriefings & Group Support
The Resiliency Center formed a Crisis Response Working Group in November of 2017. The purpose of this group is to design a support protocol for adverse events and provide evidence-based support guidelines to departments for smaller critical events that can be managed as they arise. More information on debriefings and group support will be available soon.
Other Local & National Resources
- In immediate crisis: Call 911, go to your nearest emergency department
- National Suicide Hotline: 800-273-8255
- University of Utah Emergency Department: 801-581-2291
- University Neuropsychiatric Institute: Crisis Line (urgent) 801-587-3000; Warm Line (non-urgent) 801-587-1055
- University of Utah Spiritual Care Team 801-213-2484
- Utah Professionals Health Program(UPHP): 801-530-6291
Programs
The Resiliency Center can customize our services to meet the needs of your group. Some examples from our menu of options include: presentations on burnout, mini-workshops on resilience and mindfulness, facilitation of focus groups, and all-day retreats.
Contact us at resiliencycenter@hsc.utah.edu or 801-213-3403 to discuss your ideas.
Communication Skills
Utah Advanced Communication Training (UACT)
UACT is a hands-on, interactive all-day workshop that aims to expand the communication skills of health care providers and staff. Led by a core group of communication experts, topics covered include: techniques for quickly building patient trust, delivering bad news, disclosing medical errors, conflict de-escalation, and how to use Risk Management as a helpful resource. Upon completion of UACT, all participants will leave with a new set of practical communication tools to use during their next patient or peer interaction.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is awareness with openness, flexibility, curiosity and kindness. The Resiliency Center offers a variety of mindfulness programs to learn and engage in.
Try out this 15 minute mindfulness exercise by Professor Trinh Mai.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
MBSR is an intensive training in developing mindful awareness and accessing our innate capacity for health, healing, and growth.
Wellness Champions
Wellness Champions across departments & divisions of University of Utah Health act as change agents by identifying needs within their group. They are assisted in implementing a practical and evidence-based intervention to improve health and wellness, while measuring the outcome of their efforts.
Participants in the Wellness Champions program include faculty and staff from all over University of Utah Health with an emphasis on enhancing personal resilience, improving efficiency of practice, and further establishing a culture of wellness.
Learn more here. Program Contact: Jennifer Ellen Mueller, Director, Wellness Champions programs: jenniferellen.mueller@utah.edu
Faculty & Staff
Amy Locke, MD
Chief Wellness Officer
Associate Professor
Department of Family & Preventive Medicine
Megan Call, PhD
Associate Chief Wellness Officer
Director, Resiliency Center
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry
Jake Van Epps, PhD
Well-Being Specialist, Director of Peer Support
Jamuna Jones, LCSW
Well-Being Specialist
Jennifer Ellen Mueller, MSPH, CHES
Director, Wellness Champions Programs
Wellbeing Specialist, Team Empowerment
Research Manager, Wellness Champions Programs
Betsy Holm
Program Manager
801-213-3403
Mike Day
Operations Manager
801-213-1477
Mindy Vanderloo, PhD
Research Development Associate
Piper West
Academic Programs Manager
News & Events
Utah Advanced Communication Training (UACT)
UACT is a hands-on, all-day workshop that expands the communication skills of health care providers, residents, fellows and clinical staff. All UACT participants will gain new communication tools to enhance patient or peer interactions. Skills include techniques for quickly building patient trust, delivering bad news, disclosing medical errors, conflict de-escalation, and properly using Risk Management.
Mindfulness in Medicine
Enhancing Quality of Care, Quality of Caring, and Resilience. Mindful Practice® programs were created by the University of Rochester Medical School to help advance the quality of health care, improve provider relationships with patients and colleagues, and enhance self-awareness, wellness, and resilience of health professionals. Participants have shown improvements in burnout scores, presence, attentiveness, and curiosity, allowing for greater awareness and insight into their work. Three approaches--narrative medicine, appreciative inquiry, and mindfulness--have been used to acquire the skills that transform participants' overall clinical approach.
Everyday Mindfulness
Experience our own renewal and rebirth. Through mindful practices, we will reconnect with ourselves and our lives. This four-week course serves as an introduction or a refresher to the full eight-week MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) course, covering primary MBSR lessons and practices.
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
MBSR is an intensive training in developing mindful awareness and accessing our innate capacity for health, healing, and growth. Guided instruction in various practices is provided, including sitting and walking meditation, body scan, gentle yoga, and mindful communication. CME is offered for this class.
Osher Center for Integrative Health at University of Utah Services
Osher Center for Integrative Health
At University of Utah Health we focus on providing a customized and integrated approach to empower patients, employees, trainees, and health care professionals to live a healthy life. We are an integral part of the health care solution that maximizes preventive care—the health in health care.
