Wellness Programs at Rutgers Health

The Rutgers Health Joy at Work Mini-Grants Program supports projects that promote a culture of well-being in the work environment. This includes community, collegiality, peer support, respectful/supportive teamwork, a place where people get to know each other as people, feel heard when they voice concerns or suggestions, where they feel like they belong, and where leadership is supportive of such a culture.

Grant applications are accepted each spring through REDCap, with awards ranging from $500 to $1,500. During an annual symposium where recent grantees share their accomplishments, faculty and staff can gain ideas and learn about current projects to foster well-being at work.

Note: Only applications submitted through REDCap will be accepted. We will not accept applications submitted by e-mail.

• Rutgers Health faculty and staff are eligible to apply. The work environment for the grant can include faculty, staff, team members, and/or learners. Interprofessional activities are encouraged. The work environment can be clinical, academic, research, and/or administrative.
• Grants from $500 to $1,500 will be awarded. Please provide descriptive justifications for each budget item. We will not consider applications with sparse or vague budget justifications or requests over $1,500. Refreshments can be included but must not be the focus of the application. Rather, the emphasis should be on the process or program. Funds may cover the cost of a guest speaker. Funds cannot cover travel, conferences, personnel (e.g., will not cover stipends or time for an evaluator or other personnel) or student stipends. We are unable to consider applications with requests for ineligible budget items.
• All qualified applications will be evaluated by a committee using the following criteria:
  • Clarity of objectives and of project summary
  • The need for the project
  • People involved (the project should involve a group of individuals in their work together to promote a culture of well-being, not solely support individual wellness activities)
  • Meaningful evaluation of the impact of the project
  • Longitudinal aspect of the project (the initiatives occur throughout the duration of the project or through activities that occur in day-to-day work to foster well-being)
  • Sustainability of the project beyond the grant funding time (how and if the project will be continued)
  • Reasonableness and justification of the budget
• Preview the proposal questions that can be found on the REDCap application, as well as word count limits, below.

Peer support programs are becoming more widespread among healthcare institutions and academic health centers. Fellow peers are a powerful source of support because they understand the daily challenges and stressors in the work environment.

The One 2 One 2 CARE (Colleagues Aligning to Respond with Empathy) Peer Support Program trains faculty, healthcare professionals, and learners to provide individual support to colleagues who are stressed or in distress. Trained peer supporters can provide scheduled or on-site real-time support when challenging situations arise at work. They can support a peer facing a challenge by offering a listening ear or helping hand.

The CIRCLE (Colleagues Involved in Reaching Colleagues through Listening and Empathy) Peer Talk and Peer Text groups are discussion groups that allow faculty to connect with peers and discuss what it means to be “well at work,” as well as other issues that we might not ordinarily address during day-to-day work. Groups like CIRCLE Peer Talk and CIRCLE Peer Text have been demonstrated to positively impact well-being.

These groups meet synchronously (via an online platform or face-to-face) or asynchronously (by text) every other week. The program is open to all Rutgers Health faculty.

1. Form a group of five to eight colleagues based on your own definition of “peer." This could be members of the same department, specialty, stage of career (years in practice or residency), life stage (having young children), career focus (research, education), gender or ethnic/race background, etc. Assistance in assembling a group can be provided.
2. Select a group leader who will begin the discussion and ensure that all participants meet initially. The group leader will receive themed evidence-based discussion topics every two weeks.
3. Select a type of group:
   • CIRCLE Peer Talk: Meets synchronously using any online virtual platform or face-to-face for one hour every two weeks at a time of your choice.
   • CIRCLE Peer Text: Meets asynchronously via text on a secure platform (WhatsApp) over the week following the release of the topic.

If you are interested in starting a CIRCLE group or connecting with an existing group, or if you have any questions about the program, please contact Norma Hernandez at hernanno@njms.rutgers.edu, or Chantal Brazeau at chantal.brazeau@rutgers.edu.

Watch: Introduction to CIRCLE Groups

Talk Participants

We had a lot of common things to talk about and we understood exactly where we were going and how we felt at that time, so it was helpful, almost therapeutic at times.

We built relationships like we had never before.

It was really just about us and supporting one another, so I think that was the most meaningful part of it.

Text Participants

I think it helped to bring up a lot of issues that we deal with on a regular basis that we sometimes don't appreciate that are more common.

Gave me a sense of community.

It was the shared experience. It was as if I was no longer an island. I had people that were experiencing exactly as if they took the words right out of my own head when they're typing. So I learned a lot.

Special thanks to our faculty and staff partners from across Rutgers University for their ongoing support of the One 2 One 2 CARE, Joy at Work, and CIRCLE employee wellness programs at Rutgers Health. 

Chantal Brazeau
Chief Wellness Officer, Rutgers Health
Professor of Psychiatry and Family Medicine, New Jersey Medical School
Assistant Dean for Faculty Vitality, New Jersey Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Norma Hernandez
Administrator, New Jersey Medical School

Manasa Ayyala
Associate Professor of Medicine, New Jersey Medical School
Director, The Healthcare Foundation Center for Humanism and Medicine, New Jersey Medical School

Ping-Hsin Chen
Associate Professor, New Jersey Medical School

Margaret (Peggy) Swarbrick
ScarletWell Director, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Professor, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
Associate Director, Center of Alcohol and Substance Use Studies

Funding Support

The One 2 One 2 CARE, Joy at Work, and CIRCLE programs were made possible by grants from the Sandra and Arnold Gold Humanism Research Fund, the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, and the ALL IN: WellBeing First for Healthcare coalition.

Continuing support is provided by the Rutgers Health Office of Clinical and Health Affairs.

• Brazeau CMLR, Ayyala MS, Chen P-H, Swarbrick M. "Virtual faculty development peer programmes support physician well-being." Medical Education 56, 5 (May 2022): 554–555. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14748
• Brazeau, C, Ayyala, M, Chen, P, Swarbrick, M. "Creating a Culture of Peer Support for Physicians during COVID-19 using Synchronous and Asynchronous Virtual Peer Discussion Groups." Presentatiton at the International Conference on Physician Health, Virtual Conference, April 26–30, 2021. https://www.international-conference-physician-health.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/ICPH-2021-programme.pdf