# Engineering Whole Health into Hospital Care to Improve Wellness: The M-Wellness Laboratory (M-Well)

> **NIH AHRQ R18** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2022 · $497,566

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT:
The University of Michigan’s Patient Safety Learning Laboratory (M-Well Lab) will design, implement, and
evaluate innovative, systems-based approaches that can improve patient safety by expanding the ways in
which we enhance the wellness of hospitalized patients and their healthcare providers. The wellness of
patients is inextricably linked to the emotional, mental, and physical health of their providers. Poor provider
wellness negatively impacts the entire healthcare organization, reducing both care quality and patient
satisfaction. Additionally, provider burnout is associated with increased risk of patient safety incidents and
poorer quality of care due to reduced professionalism. Identifying ways in which to improve wellness for
both patients and their providers thus presents a novel opportunity to improve patient safety. We propose 3
related specific aims. We will start by systematically analyzing the experience of both patients and
physicians through the healthcare system using a tool borrowed from engineering, mapping a “customer
journey” of patients and physicians in order to better understand time constraints and opportunities to
improve their wellness. Specific Aim 1, based on the Circle of Health model, will enhance patient wellness
by designing, implementing, and evaluating a Whole Health inpatient bundle of integrative medical
practices. Specific Aim 2 will address provider burnout and enhance wellness through two interlinking
projects. First, we will conduct a national survey of hospitalists to better understand elements that promote
physician wellness, focusing on possible protective factors such as religiosity and spirituality. Second, we
will design and implement educational interventions intended to teach hospitalists how best to foster “sacred
moments” in the hospital setting. Specific Aim 3 will build on Specific Aims 1 and 2 by developing programs
to promote interconnectedness between patients and physicians, using architectural design, human factors,
and the arts to design an optimal hospital room healing environment.
By connecting investigators from diverse disciplines – engineering, medicine, nursing, human factors,
architectural design, pastoral care, business, and others – all of whom share a common interest in using
healthcare engineering to enhance patient safety, we will cover the full spectrum of translational research:
problem analysis and design; solution development, evaluation, and implementation; and ultimately,
dissemination. We will develop and test novel approaches that have the potential to save lives, reduce
medical costs, and improve patient and family satisfaction with the healthcare they receive, while
simultaneously enhancing the emotional, mental, and physical health of their providers.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10492345
- **Project number:** 1R18HS028963-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** SANJAY K SAINT
- **Activity code:** R18 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** AHRQ
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $497,566
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10492345

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10492345, Engineering Whole Health into Hospital Care to Improve Wellness: The M-Wellness Laboratory (M-Well) (1R18HS028963-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10492345. Licensed CC0.

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