Protected Time for Self-Care for Veterans Health Administration Employees

Objectives Employee Whole Health (EWH) empowers VA employees to take charge of their well-being by integrating self-care into their workday, but employees lack time to participate. Methods Employees at three VA medical centers participated in a 12-month feasibility cohort study to protect 60 minutes of time per week for self-care. Questionnaire data were collected at three time points and qualitative data at two time points. Pilot offerings included education and complementary and integrative health modalities for well-being. Results Employees enrolled spring 2021 (n = 312). Complete-case regression analyses indicated significant improvements in wellness culture, resiliency, self-efficacy, perceived stress, and flourishing at 12 months. Multiple imputation analyses confirmed improvements except for self-efficacy. Qualitative findings supported quantitative findings. Conclusions Providing protected time for self-care was feasible and supported improvements in well-being. However, high workload was identified as an ongoing barrier to participation.