Minimising Employee Burnout in 2024 by Leveraging Digital Health Technologies: Insights from Holly Health

Written by Holly Health

In an era where stress is referred to as the next “epidemic”, tackling staff burnout has become a costly and critical concern for organisations. In the NHS, the strain caused by resource shortages and strikes has compounded the pressures of already demanding staff workloads. In turn, the impact of employee burnout is being felt more than ever by both employees themselves and healthcare organisations. It’s unsurprising to hear there’s no one answer or magic solution to this extensive and complex issue. However, one piece of the puzzle is harnessing the power of innovative solutions that can support, alleviate, manage and prevent symptoms of stress and burnout. 

In this blog, using examples and insights from Holly Health, a digital health and wellbeing coaching service, we'll explore the top ways in which digital tools can help minimise staff burnout and dig into the science behind whether they really work. 

Assessing burnout with digital health checks and questionnaires

At Holly Health, we say that awareness is the first step to meaningful change. By regularly monitoring key health and wellbeing metrics, both employees and employers can gain valuable insights into the prevalence and severity of burnout within their organisation. For example, Holly Health for employees has recently introduced NHS Staff Burnout questionnaires integrated into the health checks user journey for relevant NHS partners. 

Fostering a company culture of work-life balance, trust and support

By gaining an improved understanding of workforce burnout, organisations can in turn introduce necessary interventions and support strategies. However, for this to work effectively, there must be some key principles in place that ensure the user's trust and confidentiality are respected in rolling out the service. For example, with Holly Health for employees, no personally identifiable information is shared back to the employer, and only aggregated data insights are shared for the purpose of learning and improvement. Furthermore, through offering Holly health to employees, organisations can create a supportive environment that encourages employees to set boundaries and prioritise their health and wellbeing, above all. 

Empowering employees with personalised support

A benefit of digital technologies is their ability to deliver personalised support tailored to the individual needs of users, for a fraction of the price compared to less scalable solutions. Through machine learning algorithms and data analytics, apps like Holly Health can offer tailored digital health coaching to address specific goals and challenge areas for its users. Holistic support spanning mental wellbeing, sleep, stress management, physical activity, nutrition, and relationship with food means that there’s something for everyone to take proactive steps towards improving their health and wellbeing. From healthy habit building, mood and energy tracking, guided meditations, and exercise videos, employees can access 24/7 support to incorporate self-care practices into their daily routines. 

Assessing the evidence - do they really work?

In a day and age where ‘wellness’ is a trending buzzword and app stores are saturated with a plethora of physical and mental health apps, it can be confusing to separate the evidence-based tools that work from those that don’t.

Rated within the top health apps for weight management, stress reduction, wellness and sleep by ORCHA (the world's leading health app evaluation organisation), with a score of 90%, and part of the NHS Innovation Accelerator, Holly Health is gaining traction in UK healthcare and beyond. The Holly Health team consists of an academic, scientifically-minded team, who believe in the power of using evidence-based approaches to guide and measure impact. That’s why well-designed qualitative and quantitative research approaches are so important to us and our partners, to determine the effectiveness of the service. 

For example, the most recent patient health outcomes from Holly Health showed that after just 8 weeks of Holly Health:

• 79% of users reported developing new, ‘automatic’ health habits
• 33% reported reduced need for primary care services (such as GP appointments)
• And we saw statistically significant health improvements across measures of exercise, self-confidence, energy levels, long-term mindset towards health and wellbeing and overall personal wellbeing (ONS-4 standardised measures)

Our verdict? Evidence-based digital health tools like Holly Health for employees are a small, but important piece of the bigger picture to tackle burnout

While we acknowledge that digital technologies alone cannot and will not solve some organisational issues that can often contribute to burnout, evidence shows that they can certainly play a significant role in supporting individuals to manage stress, build resilience, improve their overall wellbeing and navigate the challenges of modern work environments more effectively. 

Take proactive steps towards creating a healthier, happier workforce

Join us at the upcoming HETT North conference to learn more about the latest trends and innovations in digital health and wellbeing. Visit our booth (in the AHSN area) to discover how Holly Health can help your organisation minimise staff burnout and promote employee wellbeing.

Read more on our website hollyhealth.io or send us an email at hello@hollyhealth.io