Military health care professionals now have mobile app to keep them healthy

Military health care providers now have a mobile application to help keep them productive and emotionally healthy as they cope with burnout and compassion fatigue.

The Provider Resilience app, from the Defense Department's National Center for Telehealth and Technology also known as T2, is the first mobile application for health care professionals to build resilience for the stress in their lives.

"Dedicated clinicians often put their patients first, and their own needs second," said Dr. Robert Ciulla , psychologist and director of T2's mobile health program. "The app was designed to fit easily into the busy lives of health care workers and remind them to be mindful of their own emotional health."

The app opens with a dashboard that shows a "rest and relaxation" clock, a resilience rating and update buttons that provide easy access to the four main areas affecting the resilience rating: R&R clock, Burnout assessment, Professional Quality of Life Assessment and resiliency "builders and killers." The ProQOL scale, developed at Idaho State University, allows users to rate their secondary trauma.

The personal resilience rating is a combination of the ProQOL assessment, vacation clock, burnout scale and a customizable list of questions that contribute to building or reducing resilience. 

A burnout scale lets users rate themselves on their feelings of being happy, trapped, satisfied, preoccupied, connected, worn out, caring, on edge, valuable and traumatized.

The app's toolbox encourages users to reduce stress with restful breaks with educational videos, inspirational cards, patient testimonials and stretching exercises.