Amid a culture that is contributing to burnout and a loss of a sense of joy in medicine, a chief wellness officer (CWO) can help an organization systematically improve the well-being of physicians and other health professionals.

After thoughtfully assembling a team and identifying existing wellness programs in an organization, it is essential that the CWO lead an effort to define the team’s mission and develop a strategy to achieve it. An AMA STEPS Forward™ toolkit helps health systems and organizations do just that and more.

Defining the mission and developing a strategy to achieve it is the fifth step of the “Chief Wellness Officer Road Map” toolkit that outlines a nine-step approach that CWOs can follow to implement a leadership strategy for professional well-being.

A mission typically is an aspirational statement that “envisions an ideal future state or articulates the purpose behind the program’s creation,” the toolkit explains. The strategy, meanwhile, needs to be a specific plan. That plan should focus on a few critical thematic focus areas that allow the CWO, the team and the organization to accomplish the mission.

“The strategy must be adapted for each organization based on the unique opportunities, priorities, gaps and resources of that organization. While the mission for your center or program can typically be developed in a single session or over a few days, developing a cogent strategy typically takes several months and requires extensive input and review from stakeholders both inside and outside the center,” the toolkit advises.

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