Open AccessBibliotherapy-based Wellness Program for Healthcare Providers: Using Books and Reading to Create a Healthy Workplace
Author(s) -
Natalia Tukhareli
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the journal of the canadian health libraries association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.159
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1708-6892
DOI - 10.5596/c17-010
Subject(s) - bibliotherapy , context (archaeology) , recreation , reading (process) , health care , medical education , psychological resilience , psychology , resilience (materials science) , work (physics) , medicine , engineering , political science , psychiatry , psychotherapist , paleontology , law , biology , mechanical engineering , physics , thermodynamics
Within the context of benefits of a healthy workplace, bibliotherapy is seen as an effective way of promoting health and wellness to hospital employees. The paper will present a detailed description of an innovative informational and recreational bibliotherapy-based reading program for healthcare providers developed and implemented by a Health Sciences library, in collaboration with the Occupational Health department. The methodology involved an extensive review of the bibliotherapy research and best practices in the UK and North America. The mechanics, benefits, and challenges of the program will be discussed. The program evaluation included an internal survey to the hospital employees. The evaluation results show that the bibliotherapy program has provided a new venue to address work-related stress and promote health, well-being, and resilience within the organization. Moreover, it helped to expand opportunities for collaborative projects and partnerships for the library as well as increase visibility of the library within the organization.