Building a Stronger Culture of Support: What We Learned from the MASStrong Impact Report

Healthcare workers across Massachusetts are carrying extraordinary demands. Burnout, moral injury, workforce shortages, isolation, and the emotional weight of caring for others affect people in every part of the healthcare system. At the same time, barriers such as cost, scheduling, stigma, long waitlists, language, and cultural fit can make traditional mental health services difficult to access.

The new MASStrong Impact Report shows how structured peer support can help address this need while building lasting capacity within organizations and communities.

MASStrong offers healthcare workers something distinct and complementary to clinical care: a place to connect with people who understand, speak honestly about what they are carrying, and recognize that they are not alone.

Sixteen Months of Growth

During the report period, MASStrong:

• Grew to 25 Implementation Partners across Massachusetts
• Supported 197 peer support sessions
• Recorded 1,755 participant attendances
• Offered 11 Facilitator Training opportunities, with 507 people enrolling and 252 completing training
• Developed 14 curricula for specific professions, communities, and lived experiences

These numbers demonstrate significant reach, but they tell only part of the story. MASStrong is designed not simply to offer more support groups, but to help organizations develop the people, knowledge, leadership, and resources needed to sustain peer support themselves.

From Participation to Ownership

One of the report’s most encouraging findings is the growing shift from GPS-led programming to partner-led support.

Early in the initiative, GPS staff facilitated most groups while partners completed onboarding, training, and organizational preparation. By July 2026, nine Implementation Partners had independently led 76 peer support sessions. Several partners also reported plans to continue offering groups after their funded implementation periods through employee wellness initiatives, community services, and ongoing organizational programming.

This transition is central to the MASStrong vision. Success is not measured only by the number of groups GPS can deliver. It is also measured by how many organizations become equipped to offer high-quality peer support through trusted people who understand their workplaces and communities.

Support Shaped by Community

MASStrong partners include healthcare systems, professional associations, behavioral health and recovery organizations, and community-rooted groups. Together, they serve healthcare professionals, peer workers, caregivers, people in recovery, immigrant and refugee communities, communities of color, LGBTQIA+ people, grieving families, and many others.

Partners are not simply recipients of GPS resources. They help shape how the model is implemented. Through focus groups, interviews, curriculum collaboration, and direct feedback, partners bring professional expertise and lived experience into the work.

This collaboration has contributed to a library of 14 curricula addressing the experiences of healthcare workers, social workers, physician associates, home health nurses, nurses in recovery, caregivers, postpartum people, Spanish-speaking communities, people experiencing grief, and others. Each curriculum adapts the conversation while maintaining the core structure and trauma-informed principles of the GPS model.

Building What Comes Next

The report shows that investing in peer support can create both immediate and long-term benefits. A participant may find connection today, while a trained facilitator or prepared supervisor helps make that support available to many more people in the future.

The first 16 months of this MASStrong initiative have created a strong statewide foundation. The next phase is an opportunity to deepen implementation, expand access, strengthen quality, and continue responding to the changing realities facing Massachusetts healthcare workers.

Most importantly, this work is helping build a Commonwealth where fewer people have to carry the hardest parts of caring for others alone.

Bring MASStrong to Your Workplace

GPS’s MASStrong program offers free GPS trainings, support groups, curriculums, and toolkits for Massachusetts medical, behavioral health, and community care workers and organizations. Eligible organizations can also apply for GPS partnership support and grants up to $10,000.