Email from The Betsy Lehman Center

MARCH 13, 2025

Q&A with Bryan Sexton on “bite-sized” well-being interventions for health care workers

Earlier in his career, Bryan Sexton, Ph.D., was focused on the relationship between safety culture and patient outcomes. But when he saw the profound role played by burnout, he shifted to developing simple interventions for health care workers that decrease burnout while improving work-life balance. Sexton is the Director of Duke University’s Center for the Advancement of Well-being Science and talks with Patient Safety Beat about the “secret sauce” of these interventions, well-being as a social contagion, and what these tools may look like in the future.

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“When we measure culture now, we have as many well-being domains as we do culture domains, and I think that tells a story.”

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Safety news roundup

In recognition of Patient Safety Awareness Week, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is offering free webinars, resources and tools for health care professionals and consumers to raise awareness and inspire action on safety.

Dismissing patient, family, and caregiver concerns tops ECRI's list of Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for 2025. This year’s list features many first-time topics, with an emphasis on opportunities for improvement that could have the largest impact on patient outcomes.

Medical Cannabis: Time to Act, a two-hour virtual forum hosted last month by the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum, is now available online. Topics include current regulations, the lack of evidence-based prescribing guidelines and the possible rescheduling of cannabis to Schedule III.

Are you affiliated with an acute care hospital PFAC? Consider taking part in this 10-minute nationwide survey to study successful Patient and Family Advisory Council practices related to recruitment, executive sponsorship, impact metrics, and more. The survey, which is anonymous, is the work of an academic at the University of Nevada with prior publications about PFACs.

Upcoming events

Mar. 27

Partnering with families for safety: An evolving journey. The Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care hosts a conversation with Dr. Anne Lyren, Chief Medical and Strategy Officer at Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety. Register here

Mar. 31

Applications due for The Joint Commission awards. Individuals and organizations are invited to apply for the John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award and Bernard J. Tyson National Award for Excellence in Pursuit of Healthcare Equity. Apply here

Apr. 11

10 a.m. -

12:30 p.m.

11th Annual Communication, Apology and Resolution (CARe) Forum. The forum will feature presentations, case simulations and more. The in-person event will take place at the Betsy Lehman Center offices in Boston, and a networking hour and lunch will follow the event. There is also an option to join online. Register here

The Betsy Lehman Center is a Massachusetts state agency that supports providers, patients and policymakers working together to advance the safety and quality of health care.

BetsyLehmanCenterMA.gov