Understanding and Preventing Burnout among Public Health Workers: Guidance for Public Health Leaders

Burnout Intervention Planning Guide

This planning guide is part of the training Understanding and Preventing Burnout among Public 

Health Workers: Guidance for Public Health Leaders. It is designed to help you identify key 

demands, resources, and opportunities for change at each level of the IGLOO model. To get 

started, think about your target population for a possible burnout prevention intervention. This is 

generally the work group, team, or department you supervise, manage, or lead. Once you have a 

work unit in mind, respond to the questions and prompts provided. 

Instructions

Part 1 is designed to help you focus on identifying key demands, resources, and demand-resource 

gaps. You can then find ways to address these gaps at multiple levels. To use this tool, consider 

the question in each row. For each question, consider influences that impact your workers at each 

level of the IGLOO framework (individual, group, leader, organization, and overarching context). 

Each level has a corresponding column in the table. Consider each box for every question, even if 

you do not necessarily identify an idea/thought for every single level. 

For Part 2, focus on one or two strategies that you have identified to reduce burnout risk. Reflect 

on these strategies and provide more detail regarding how you can put each strategy into action. 

The questions provided in that section will help you to identify the key design elements and 

contextual considerations that can impact the success of your intervention. 

You can complete this guide on your own as a leader, manager, or supervisor. However, we also 

suggest gathering input from individual workers, work teams, and other leaders in the 

organization to avoid missing any areas of concern or areas of opportunity. You could even 

incorporate this into a team meeting as a group brainstorming activity. 

Example

To help you to have a general idea of how this tool can work, we have filled in an example on 

pages 2 through 4 based on the following scenario:

The supervisor of a community health division within a city health department wants to reduce 

burnout risks among the workers they manage. There are a lot of passionate, engaged workers in 

this unit, but recent turnover and rejected funding requests have put a damper on motivation. 

Many are putting in extra hours and trying to find creative solutions to make their programs 

successful but feel unappreciated. 

Using the tool

Once you review this example and the Module 10 materials, you can try this activity yourself. A 

blank copy of this planning guide is provided for your use below. For more information, visit 

Module 10 of the training. 
Understanding and Preventing Burnout among Public Health Workers: Guidance for Public Health Leaders

Part 1: Burnout Intervention Planning Guide (Example)

Individual Group Leader/ Manager/ 

Supervisor Organization Overarching Context

What demands are 

experienced most 

frequently or are 

most difficult to 

manage? 

A very difficult 

demand is a high 

workload; There’s a 

lot of work to do with 

staff changes and 

many workers are 

putting in extra 

hours. 

Following staff 

changes, a frequent 

demand is poor 

communication and 

coordination. New 

team members have 

not learned fully how 

to work together.

A difficult demand 

from the leader level 

is unclear 

expectations or poor 

delegation of 

responsibilities since 

staff members have 

changed. 

At the organization level, 

insufficient staffing and 

organizational 

constraints from 

technology systems that 

are not user friendly are 

difficult demands. 

In the broader context, 

an insufficient 

understanding of 

what this team is 

doing and lack of 

community 

commitment can be 

difficult demands. 

What key resources 

are needed to meet 

the 

difficult/frequent 

demands?

An individual level 

resource could be 

taking more time for 

rest and restorative 

breaks to avoid 

burning out with such 

high workload 

demands. 

The team may benefit 

from the resource of 

role clarity and 

broader social 

support to help one 

another navigate 

change. 

An important 

resource from the 

leader could be clear 

expectations and 

performance 

feedback. Feedback 

can help workers 

know when they need 

to slow down or when 

they need to pick up 

the slack to help their 

team. 

Investment in userfriendly technology is 

one clear resource. 

Perceived

organizational support

can also let workers 

know they are 

appreciated and cared 

for. This broad resource 

can help when practical 

resources, like staffing, 

are limited. 

Community support

from some key 

community members 

can be an important 

resource. These 

resources can even be 

leveraged to be 

creative in developing 

programs when funds 

are limited. 

Why is there a gap 

between the 

frequent/difficult 

demands and 

needed resources? 

Workers do not feel 

they have enough 

time for breaks and 

breaks are not 

encouraged because 

others are working 

after hours too. This 

resource of rest 

seems inaccessible 

and even selfish when 

everyone is working 

extra hard.

Because the workload 

has not eased up, the 

team really has not 

taken time to slow 

down and integrate 

new team members. 

New staff are given 

minimal information 

because the existing 

staff are swamped. 

This supervisor 

actually does not 

have a lot of 

experience with 

seeking or giving 

feedback. There are 

also limited 

opportunities with 

the current 

scheduling of work 

and traditional 

performance review 

practices. 

Staffing is driven by a 

number of factors –

there is not enough 

funding to hire as many 

people as are needed and 

there is a lack of 

qualified applicants. The 

software systems could 

change, but the health 

department leaders are 

worried that now is not 

the time for a big 

change.

Most workers in this 

department really do 

not have time to 

connect with the 

community like they 

would want. They 

organize programs and 

initiatives on limited 

resources and cannot 

adequately promote or 

connect with 

influential community 

members. 
Understanding and Preventing Burnout among Public Health Workers: Guidance for Public Health Leaders

Individual Group Leader/ Manager/ 

Supervisor Organization Overarching Context

How can you 

address gaps? 

(Demand reduction, 

resource 

enhancement, or 

both)

Demand reduction:

Remove or reduce 

work tasks. Consider 

if there are any work 

tasks that are 

unnecessary or could 

be reallocated to be 

less burdensome.

Resource 

enhancement: 

Encourage taking 

restorative breaks 

(group walks, social 

lunch). Options that 

may be led by the 

leader or organization 

include increased 

staffing and 

facilitating job 

crafting.

Demand reduction: If 

workers are not 

taking the time to 

train new staff well, it 

may be important to 

reallocate duties so 

proper training can 

occur. Related to this, 

consider whether 

work tasks need to be 

simplified, realigned, 

or otherwise 

redesigned.

Resource 

Enhancement: 

Create opportunities 

for these new 

workers to get to 

know one another 

through a social 

outing. Use meeting 

time to intentionally 

review 

responsibilities to 

gain more clarity. 

Training could also be 

provided for 

productive team 

communication. 

Resource 

enhancement: 

Provide leader 

training on feedback 

seeking and delivery 

strategies. This could 

be done through an 

external consultant or 

internal resources, if 

available. A time for 

feedback can also be 

incorporated into 

regular meetings –

this could include 

recognizing someone 

who has gone the 

extra mile and 

bringing attention to 

areas for the team to 

improve. 

Demand 

Reduction/Resource 

Enhancement: You can 

remove constraints and 

create a resource by 

researching and 

purchasing a better 

software system. A 

better system could help 

new employees get up to 

speed quicker and 

existing employees save 

time. Adding more staff 

is another key way to 

increase resources and 

reduce demands on 

current workers. 

Resource 

Enhancement: To 

make sure workers are 

better connected, 

incorporate spending 

time with community 

partners into formal 

job duties and allow 

time for it. Being more 

integrated with key 

community members 

could help to offer 

more successful 

programming, which 

also helps workers see 

the benefits of their 

work. The broader 

organization can also 

invest in better 

publicizing the work 

that the health 

department does so 

that the community 

has more awareness. 
Understanding and Preventing Burnout among Public Health Workers: Guidance for Public Health Leaders

Part 2: Design Elements and Contextual Considerations 

(Example)

From the strategies you identified to address demand-resource gaps, pick one or two that seem 

most realistic to implement in your work environment. Use the following questions to further 

establish how you could go about making the desired changes. 

Essential Design Elements

1. What are you going to change? 

A better software system will be introduced, which is more user-friendly and better addresses 

worker needs (increasing an available resource and reducing constraint-related demands). In 

introducing this system, training will be provided to units that will use this tool (increasing 

worker knowledge and efficacy to use the resource).

2. Who will be impacted? 

All workers in the department are going to be affected because they all use this software 

system. This change will also impact interdependent work units. If services are temporarily 

slower as workers adjust, the new system could also impact community members. Do not 

neglect to consider specifically how the effectiveness of any solution can only be enhanced if

careful consideration is given up front to fitting the people who will have to work with the 

new tool, system, or process (in this case, new software system).

3. Why is this intervention so important (and to whom)? 

The constraints caused by a poor software system are avoidable demands that can impact 

workers over time. A user-friendly system is a resource that can improve efficiency. It also 

allows them to focus on tasks they find the most meaningful, such as their program design 

and implementation for the community. There will be an initial cost in time and money for 

this system, but the increase in efficiency will be worth it. This will also help to speed up the 

process of onboarding new employees. Consider not just the general importance of 

addressing this concern, but try to identify whom in particular is most affected by and cares 

most about these constraints being resolved.

4. How will this intervention work? 

The intervention will reduce constraint-related demands and increase resources by having 

reliable and user-friendly software. Data entry will be easier when it is integrated with other 

systems the team is using. The new software will also speed up training time for new hires 

who had trouble with the old system. This intervention will also signal that the organization 

cares about making work easier rather than unnecessarily cumbersome. Training will help to 

increase effectiveness by making sure workers have the necessary knowledge and confidence 

to use the new system. 
Understanding and Preventing Burnout among Public Health Workers: Guidance for Public Health Leaders

5. Where will recipients experience this intervention? 

Supervisors will incorporate the training into regular professional development activities, 

which typically occur during the winter months when this team has fewer programs running. 

This intervention will primarily reduce stress at work, which may benefit their non-work life 

too. 

Additional Considerations

6. What additional resources would your team/organization need to successfully address the 

demand-resource gap you are targeting?

We will need time in the workday devoted to training on this new technology. We will need 

the monetary resources to purchase this software system. 

7. Whose support do you need to make this happen? 

The workers themselves will need to be supportive and ready for change. The overall 

organization needs to support implementation (e.g., allowing time, communicating why 

change is occurring). 

8. If this intervention were successful, what would change? 

Processing time/data collection time should increase. Workers should experience less 

frustration from constraint-related demands. 

9. How can you measure what you expect to change before, during, and after your 

intervention is underway? 

We can analyze data already being gathered, such as processing time. We can also assess

employee reactions through group discussions and/or surveys. 

10. When could you start? What is your timeline to implement this strategy? 

During the next professional development cycle would be ideal. This occurs when workers are 

in slower months in terms of their programming. We can specifically begin the transition in 

October and evaluate the impacts at each quarter of the following year.
Understanding and Preventing Burnout among Public Health Workers: Guidance for Public Health Leaders

Part 1: Burnout Intervention Planning Guide 

Use this blank version as a template to fill in your evaluation of your own work team/department. 

Individual Group Leader/Manager/ 

Supervisor Organization Overarching Context

What demands are 

experienced most 

frequently or are most 

difficult to manage? 

What key resources are 

needed to meet the 

difficult/frequent 

demands?

Why is there a gap 

between the 

frequent/difficult 

demands and needed 

resources?

How can you address 

gaps? (Demand 

reduction, resource 

enhancement, or both)
Understanding and Preventing Burnout among Public Health Workers: Guidance for Public Health Leaders

Part 2: Design Elements and Contextual Considerations 

From the strategies you identified to address demand-resource gaps, pick one or two that seem most realistic to 

implement in your work environment. Use the following questions to further establish how you could go about 

making the desired changes. 

Essential Design Elements

1. What are you going to change?

2. Who will be impacted? 

3. Why is this intervention so important? 

4. How will this intervention work?

5. Where will recipients experience this intervention? 
Understanding and Preventing Burnout among Public Health Workers: Guidance for Public Health Leaders

Additional Considerations

6. What additional resources would your team/organization need to successfully address the demand

resource gap you are targeting?

7. Whose support do you need to make this happen?

8. If this intervention were successful, what would change?

9. How can you measure what you expect to change before, during, and after your intervention is

underway?

10. When could you start? What is your timeline to implement this strategy?