How Henry Ford stood up a peer-to-peer emotional support program

Henry Ford’s Director of Physician Wellness, Dr. Lisa MacLean, set up their system-wide “Stronger Together Buddy Program” and dedicates 2-3 hours of her week to monitoring it. She is uniquely suited to run a program like this because of her passion and commitment for providing healing resources and support to her colleagues regardless of their healthcare role.

Additionally, Dr. MacLean’s role as the Director of Physician Wellness position her as an advocate for staff well-being across the larger executive team, giving her multiple opportunities to engage leaders across the system on the value of a peer-to-peer support program. Her connections with lower-level physician leaders also give her visibility into the diverse needs of the staff, enabling her to create a well-rounded program.

When deciding who should run a peer-to-peer support program at your organization, consider choosing a leader who is open-minded, curious, non-judgmental, and caring.

Henry Ford grounds their buddy program curriculum in wellness teachings and uses these teachings to foster conversation between partners. The twelve topics covered reflect the diversity of the wellness space, ensuring that participants receive well-rounded education and support.

Dr. MacLean created the curriculum for Henry Ford’s buddy program. Though she happens to have a background in psychiatry, this isn’t necessary to build a curriculum like this—anyone in the wellness space can create something similarly effective. Dr. MacLean recommends collaborating with those who run physician wellness initiatives at your organizations to ensure the weekly challenges are anchored in evidence-based wellness teachings.

The program is structured on a week-by-week by basis, with each week dedicated to one specific topic. Each weekly email includes a brief teaching on a micro-skill related to the week’s topic and a challenge to complete with your buddy. These challenges are meant to spark meaningful conversations between partners. For example, the first week is dedicated to psychological first aid and the taught skill is how to create psychological safety through listening. The email includes a short paragraph explaining the concept of psychological first aid and instructions on how to deeply listen. Buddies are then asked to practice deeply listening with one another and/or other colleagues.

To help normalize peer and emotional support at their organization, Henry Ford incorporates their buddy program into employee workflow. Staff sign up for the program through an online form which adds their name to a program that tracks all participants. The program color codes participants based on whether they signed up individually or with a partner, allowing Dr. MacLean to see where she needs to make buddy assignments. Assignments are based primarily on two factors:

1. The week the staff member signs up, or their “cohort”
2. Their description of what they want to get out of the program.

Individuals are matched with a buddy from their cohort, which can be anyone from across the entire organization. While Dr. MacLean does try to match up similar job roles, this is not always the case. When a new staff member signs up for the buddy program, they receive a welcome email informing them on what they can expect across the next twelve weeks. At the same time, every Monday, Dr. MacLean sends the email containing the wellness teaching and the challenge of the week to all participants. The predictability of these emails ensures better participation in the program because participants know what to expect each week, allowing them to carve out time from their schedules to dedicate to the week’s challenge.

In addition to regular timing, Henry Ford’s buddy program uses the same curriculum across all participants and buddy assignments remain the same for all twelve weeks. This consistency helps solidify peer support as a normal part of an employee’s schedule, encouraging the formation of meaningful relationships that are protective against burnout and other forms of distress. Embedding these touchpoints into employee workflow makes engaging with one another convenient and adds a level of stability that makes participation simple and easy.

When it comes to emotional support, one size does not fit all. To account for this, Henry Ford allows for some flexibility within their program, giving participants the ability to tailor the it to their own unique needs.

After 12 weeks of running the Stronger Together Buddy Program, Dr. MacLean found that letting buddies decide their own level of commitment encourages more organic relationships to form between peers. With the structure for conversations in place, participants have the freedom to make what they want of those conversations—they aren’t forced to go deep if they don’t need that level of support. The organization also doesn’t tell participants when or how to meet. Some buddies may choose to communicate only over email while others meet via phone or video chat. Some choose to meet with their buddy daily, while others may meet less frequently. Because participation isn’t strictly dictated by the organization, friendships form more naturally.