Co-creating non-digital, digital and AI-supported solutions to safeguard healthcare workers across European hospitals.
Healthcare professionals, especially those working in hospital settings, face extraordinary levels of stress and pressure. Surgical pathways, in particular, are intense, with long hours, complex procedures, and life-or-death decisions becoming a regular part of the job. Over time, these factors contribute to a rise in burnout, stress-related illnesses, and high turnover rates among healthcare workers, impacting not only the professionals but also the quality of patient care.
The COVID-19 pandemic further intensified these stressors, revealing systemic vulnerabilities in healthcare systems across Europe. While some interventions to improve wellbeing and resilience exist, there is still a significant gap in understanding what combination of solutions works best, especially in high-stress, surgical environments. Many healthcare workers continue to experience job dissatisfaction, mental exhaustion, and disengagement from their roles due to the lack of comprehensive support.
In response to these challenges, the KEEPCARING project was initiated with the goal of fundamentally improving the well-being of healthcare professionals across the European Union.
Evidence-based, low-tech interventions that change daily team practices on the ward and in the operating room.
eHealth and Virtual Reality solutions designed for clinicians, validated in real clinical environments.
Explainable AI to help managers and surgical caregivers choose the interventions that match their context.
These tools are designed to reduce stress and enhance resilience in healthcare workers at every level — individuals, teams, and organizations. KEEPCARING not only focuses on current healthcare providers but also addresses the needs of aspiring professionals, such as students and trainees, preparing for demanding hospital careers.
We map stress and stressors experienced by (aspiring) healthcare providers in their specific settings.
We assess digital and non-digital solutions to reduce stress at individual and team level.
We study job crafting among (aspiring) health professionals as a route to reduce stress at the source.
We develop a platform using explainable AI to help hospital managers and surgical caregivers choose solutions matched to their context.
All solutions and the portal will be developed in co-creation with end users, including two professional associations in our consortium. Legal and ethical expertise is provided across partners and through our Advisory Board to ensure privacy and ethical guidance in this sensitive context.
KEEPCARING will provide solutions to improve wellbeing among healthcare professionals and students, thereby reducing burnout and improving the number of healthcare students entering the workplace.
Our organisational solutions will empower individuals and employers to understand and act on stressful situations in their specific setting. Cost-effectiveness analyses will be used for policy recommendations to ensure sustainable uptake among policy makers, funders, and employers.