Why "Caregiver Mattering" Is Important in Healthcare

A paradox of healthcare spaces is that while they’re places of healing, they can also be very stressful environments. This is true for patients, visitors, and caregivers.

In our exploration of how to create spaces that support health and well-being, we sought out Donna A. Gaffney. She’s an advanced-practice psychiatric mental health nurse, psychotherapist, and educator who’s devoted her career to assisting individuals in their healing process while empowering them to cope effectively with the challenges of stress, trauma, and grief.

What follows are her insights about how mattering helps us all flourish, especially healthcare providers—insights we’re using at Haworth to guide our design of healthcare spaces. And, while Gaffney’s research focuses on those in healthcare, mattering is vital for everyone no matter where they work, learn, or live.   

Mattering Isn’t a Luxury

One of the first things Gaffney shared with us is that mattering isn’t a luxury; it’s foundational to creating resilient communities. Mattering helps us all flourish—individuals, work teams, and the people we serve.

What is mattering? It’s a psychological state where employees feel they make a difference and have value in their workplace. Not mattering makes people feel invisible or insignificant, and it negatively affects mental health. The risks of not mattering are burnout and depression.

Mattering helps caregivers flourish, particularly in the context of trauma as well as literal and figurative storms. “Mattering is not only a buffer against burnout, it may be life-saving,” Gaffney says. In healthcare, mattering develops when individuals feel their competence is recognized, they have positive patient interactions, and they experience appreciation from peers and leadership.

The benefits of mattering are numerous. For individuals, mattering is a protective shield that means less burnout, anxiety, and depression, as well as higher engagement and job satisfaction. For employers, mattering means higher staff retention, reduced recruitment costs, stronger organizational culture, improved morale, greater workforce engagement, and better performance. Mattering facilitates the too-often elusive alignment between employer values and employee experience.

The Value of Communities of Care & Collaboration

“Caregiving, crisis, and change make one thing clear,” Gaffney says. “What sustains us is not only our individual strengths, but also the communities of care and collaboration that we build every day—communities that help us flourish, not just survive.”

Crises, like disasters and pandemics, highlight the need for communities of care and collaboration. But, how do we create these communities? One crucial step is in transforming the healthcare system to value and respect individuals. When we foster communities that connect individuals, sustain them through challenges and changes, and enable meaningful work, we support well-being and mattering.

In healthcare, the reach of communities of care includes caregivers, leaders, researchers, educators, and designers.

The Myth of Self-Care

Healthcare organizations need to be thoughtful when promoting self-care. Too often, self-care messaging puts the onus on the person, creating feelings of guilt and blame or suggesting individuals are not resilient enough. Caregivers already have a lot going on! The myth that caregivers will naturally prioritize self-care overlooks the impact of external pressures and environments on personal well-being.

To counter the myth of self-care, use a holistic approach to address well-being beyond individual responsibility. Organizations can start by recognizing that well-being is more than the absence of illness. Help team members recognize their strengths and weaknesses and develop positive attitudes about themselves. Encourage self-acceptance and self-compassion. Remind caregivers that it’s not selfish to practice self-care.

Designing for Mattering & Connection

Another way healthcare leaders can support caregiver well-being is by creating spaces that promote mattering and community through design elements such as:

• Gratitude walls and storytelling spaces in team refresh areas and breakrooms that help foster a sense of community because they provide opportunities for inter-team recognition.
  
  
• Team hubs and huddle rooms that encourage teamwork and reduce isolation among healthcare workers.
  
  
• Celebration spaces that enhance visibility and recognition of staff contributions, achievements, and milestones, because recognition that is easily seen by all team members helps people feel like they matter.

Flourishing in Healthcare

It’s clear that supporting those who work in healthcare requires a multifaceted approach. “Work-related flourishing is about more than job satisfaction—it involves quality relationships at work, meaning and purpose in professional roles, and integration into the larger community,” Gaffney says.

Nurturing relationships and purpose supports both psychological well-being and physical health. ​Caregivers need to know they are never alone in their work. Designing healthcare environments offers an opportunity to show caregivers that they matter through spaces that help them flourish.