History
HCEI is a charity founded at Boston in 1992 in response to the stress and burnout that AIDS caregivers faced. Founder R. Scott Boots had volunteered with HIV consumers and also older adults and personally experienced the negative impacts of compassion fatigue.
In order to understand and respond to the needs of caring people, HCEI developed its own moderator’s guide and held the first-ever nationwide focus groups with both paid and unpaid caregivers. From Boston to Cedar Rapids, HCEI documented their experiences and needs, then created its seminar “Celebrating Compassion: Beating Burnout” which has been presented to thousands of persons internationally. Also, because experiences vary, teams of care providers from Iowa traveled to Boston to meet with HIV care providers and consumers to compare notes and prepare for the future. Originally focused on support for paid and nonpaid care providers, HCEI has adapted its seminar for a variety of audiences including persons living with minority stress and also persons who do “emotional labor”. Stress management is not an area that most organizations and funders have historically invested in, so HCEI created its seminar, outreach, and international networks with only volunteer support. Even so, in 2004 HCEI became the first organization to create international collaborations around burnout prevention for caregivers. |
"The delivery of the information was excellent, relevant, and appropriate" 
1995. Multidisciplinary teams from Iowa visited Boston for week-long exchanges with HIV providers and consumers, comparing solutions, building alliances, and enhancing care and access back home.
"Helped me remember that I need to take care of myself first" HCEI held the first-ever nationwide focus groups with both paid and nonpaid care providers to document the experiences and needs of providers. Below is the final report from focus groups held in Kansas City in 1998. 
Working with HCEI, thousands of people across the globe have been reminded of how to better identify stress and respond in healthy ways. HCEI remains eager to collaborate with other forward- thinking persons and organizations.
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