Conference Schedule

Health equity isn't solely the concern of governments and healthcare systems. Employers, through the provision of health insurance and benefits, play a pivotal role in mitigating health disparities. Businesses embracing this responsibility not only positively impact local communities but also bolster profits and brand reputation. This presentation delves into defining health equity within the business landscape. It underscores how employers can optimize health benefits, tackle social determinants of health, and leverage data to develop solutions for marginalized populations in their operating areas.

After this session, attendees will be able to:

• Define health equity
• Explain why employers have a role in shaping health equity
• Describe organizational-level approaches for businesses to address social determinants of health and reduce health disparities in their own employees and in the communities they serve
• Discuss the advantages to businesses for making efforts to advance equity

Mental health remains a priority for many employers, but too often, actions are ad hoc, reactive and fragmented, and the actions fail to deliver significant and sustainable results. Although new guidance has emerged in recent years, challenges remain in translating these resources into practice and tailoring efforts to meet the needs of an organization and its workforce. As a result, few employers have a concrete strategy and implementation of comprehensive, evidence-based workforce mental health efforts lags far behind physical health and wellness practices in most organizations. With economic pressures looming and resources stretched thin, mental health programs are also competing with other organizational priorities and run the risk of being reduced or eliminated if they don’t produce demonstrable results and deliver value. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to occur without strategic actions.

This session will focus on the process of developing a concrete mental health strategy for your organization and the elements of a comprehensive plan. Following a brief overview of guidance from the ISO, the World Health Organization, and the U.S. Surgeon General, the presenters will focus on practical ways to improve your efforts regardless of whether you are just starting out or looking to strengthen a well-established program. By reviewing the key parts of a mental health strategic plan, hearing case examples from organizations that have achieved success, and discussing how to apply the lessons learned in their own organizations, participants will be better positioned to develop a workforce mental health strategy that gets results.

Since their popularization in the second half of the 20th century, worksite well-being programs have been focused on participant engagement and outcomes. Early evaluation efforts explored the difference between participants and non-participant outcomes, with the understandable goal of measuring program value. Given that the preponderance of programs have been vendor-sponsored, this objective has been important for the sake of maintaining existing employer clients and attracting new ones. However, the emphasis on program outcomes has significantly and unfortunately - shifted the focus of both vendors and employers away from program non-participants. As a result, employers and vendors alike have become accustomed to accepting participation rates in the 50 percent range as an acceptable "normal".

Growing awareness of health inequities in the United States — and particularly individuals with employer-sponsored insurance—has prompted a critical evaluation of inequities in workforce well-being and employer-provided program offerings. Are these programs accessible and relevant to all members of the workforce? Do they provide equitable value for all employees and their family members? Or do they inadvertently worsen health inequities?

The goal of this session is to bring attention to well-being program non-participants by providing insight into their perspectives and experience. Included is an exploration of reasons and systems-based barriers contributing to non-participation, as well as a discussion of the ways to thoughtfully address these issues and foster enhanced workforce health equity.

In this interactive workshop, Dr. Patrick will share:

• Why empowered refusal is a valuable superskill to help you say "no" in a way that does not invite pushback from others.
• How to identify why you sometimes say "yes" when you want to say "no "
• A practical lens that helps you separate the “good-for-me” from the “not-good-for-me” activities and engagements that come your way.
• A toolkit of three competencies you need to effectively communicate an empowered "no" response.
• A framework to establish and implement personal policies that empower your refusal.
• How to use empowered refusal to manage difficult askers, strengthen your relationships and realize your full potential.

As health promotion professionals, many of us were trained in the core public health competencies including planning, implementing, evaluating and researching. However, curricula often leave out the core human skills of public health and life—resilience, authenticity, vulnerability, flexibility, compassion and more. Research highlights the importance of interpersonal and intrapersonal skills training and application for more effective health promotion as well as more engaged, flexible and resilient health promotion professionals (McPhee 2022).

To intentionally and holistically work to mitigate systemic health inequities, health promotion professionals must have learning environments where they can be authentic, share their lived experiences, and feel safe to have challenging conversations. We must be trained to create space for these vulnerable conversations, particularly because avoiding them or engaging in them with untrained staff often unwittingly replicates the dominant power structures that perpetuate inequities (Muldoon 2021). We can no longer “take the privileged path of least resistance” by avoiding conversations about discrimination because they may be challenging and certainly will be personal because health impacts all of us (Acosta & Ackerman-Barger 2017).

Applied improvisation is a well-suited and deeply experiential methodology for this training that enables individuals to practice these skills in a low-stakes, creative environment before needing to utilize them in high-intensity situations because it is “grounded in a culture of support and feedback” (Fu 2019). In this breakout session, there are built-in opportunities for participants to connect and be vulnerable while making meaningful applications to their work and life.

Dr. Ron Goetzel will provide an update on the most recent workplace health promotion research studies including those that address the controversy of whether workplace health and wellbeing programs are effective across multiple outcome measures. He will also address the shift from a return-on-investment (ROI) rationale for these programs to one that emphasizes value-on-investment (VOI).

The session will introduce the APIE Model as a methodology to "Assess, Plan, Intervene and Evaluate" the effectiveness of programs, including business case development, program design, effective implementation and rigorous evaluation. Controversial issues will be addressed including why many well-intentioned programs fail and what ethical standards need to be addressed in designing programs that satisfy the needs of employers and diverse employee populations.

In these unprecedented times, health promotion professionals are responsible for engaging with communities to enhance their understanding of factors that contribute as risks or protections for their health outcomes. Equity in these engagements is vital in ensuring communities receive palatable insights, information, and guidance to optimize population health. These efforts are highly intricate and require integration of classical scientific theory and research applied to contemporary socio-cultural factors. Equity in health promotion requires customized considerations and data-driven efforts to define and assess community compositions, disaggregate original data sources, and develop multi-sector community partnerships. Also, addressing issues that marginalized and underserved communities experience from public health and other systems is critical in recognizing additional efforts that are necessary to build equity and trust in health promotion. By leveraging additional partnerships, health promotion professionals can further optimize ways to meet educational needs of underserved populations in their respective locales. Through combing these components, health promotion professionals can effectively define and apply health education and risk reduction efforts to all communities without bias and in terms they can understand and benefit. The contribution is invaluable to the art and science of public health and to the wellness of populations.

Spending time in natural environments conveys a variety of physical and mental health benefits including decreased blood pressure, improved immune function, decreased anxiety, and overall restoration. While nature is often viewed as a free resource, there are numerous barriers that keep many populations from fully benefiting from nature. Factors such as access, safety, experience, cost and time as well as racism, discrimination and land-based trauma all affect the relationship and sense of belonging to nature for different communities. This interactive session will start by exploring some historical relationships between BIPOC and natural environments and how these impact time spent in nature today. Next, big data tools including cell phone records and social media scraping will be explored to measure current disparities. Finally, we will explore current programs designed to increase access to nature for all and eliminate current disparities. Participants will leave with action-based strategies to enhance time spent in nature in their worksites and communities.

Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) is integrating mindfulness into the workplace culture through a "mindful" approach of addressing six well-being culture building blocks:

• Norms
• Peer support
• Leadership engagement
• Social climate
• Shared values
• Culture connection points

The mindfulness program began in 2020 with the funding approval for a new, full-time, certified mindfulness instructor to join the office of well-being. Only a handful of large organizations employ a certified mindfulness instructor full time (including JHM). While mindfulness has grown to be a broadly adopted individual well-being strategy, it has not yet achieved widespread acceptance by the business community as a strategy to implement within an organization. JHM's mindfulness program includes several specific initiatives including "Live & Work Mindfully", Mindful Monday, the integration of mindfulness into new employee and new manager orientations as well as other institutional events, and the incorporation of mindfulness into ID badges, computer screen savers, and more. Come learn how to strategically position mindfulness within your organizations.

The National Native Network (NNN) is a–CDC-funded, national network of Tribes, tribal organizations and health programs supporting the prevention of commercial tobacco use and cancer among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations across the U.S. The NNN is administered by the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan (ITCM) and operates in collaboration with the California Rural Indian Health Board (CRIHB), the Great Plains Tribal Leaders’ Health Board (GPTLHB), and the South East Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC). As part of a community of tribal and tribal-serving public health programs, the NNN offers technical assistance and culturally relevant resources and shares up-to-date information and lessons learned. The focus of this session will be on how the NNN was created, expanded and evolved over the years through collaboration and partnerships, while using programmatic and evaluation data to identify areas for growth.

There is strong evidence base that implicit bias can have negative, if not disastrous, effects upon medical decision making. When patients are not quickly successful at prescribed lifestyle improvements, they are often labeled as resistant. In health and wellness programming and coaching are we allowing our own bias to treat people the same way? Bias can take many forms — age, gender, race, ethnicity, weight, socio-economic class and more. This workshop will explore how implicit bias can affect our relationships with the people we serve and what we can do to shift our mindsets. We will look at how the stigma resulting from biased treatment and labeling sets up our clients for even more difficulty attaining the success we would like to see them achieve.

When we label people as resistant, we are often missing the real reasons for their lack of success at lasting lifestyle improvement. We will explore what we know about self-efficacy, the transtheoretical model of behavior change, social and environmental determinants of change, client bias and distrust, core competencies of coaching and motivational interviewing and how these topics can help us understand and serve our clients much more fairly, equitably and effectively.

Public school teachers are at risk of burnout and leaving the profession. Evidence-based interventions such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) could reduce emotional distress to help mitigate burnout. A recent study was conducted to examine this. Teachers from a large urban school district were enrolled in an eight-week, employer-sponsored MBSR course to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary psychosocial effects of an MBSR course offered virtually to public school teachers. Participants completed baseline, eight week, and 12 week self-report assessments including questions on MBSR feasibility and acceptability as well as validated measures for stress (Perceived Stress Scale), anxiety (PROMIS Anxiety), depression (PROMIS Depression), mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire), self-compassion (Self Compassion Scale), and burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory). Feasibility and acceptability metrics included rates of recruitment, retention, and MBSR completion as well as open-ended responses on program delivery and engagement. Thirty participants were screened for inclusion and enrolled into the course. Twenty-eight (93%) participants completed the eight-week assessment and 26 (87%) participants completed the two assessments, respectively. Twenty-one (70%) participants completed either 1) at least seven or 2) at least six. Over time, there were significant improvements in all psychosocial measures (Wilcoxon signed-rank p< 0.05, Z=-4.1 to -2.2, ES=-0.8 to -0.5). The emotional exhaustion subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory showed significant reduction at eight and 12 weeks (Wilcoxon signed-rank p< 0.05). Participants reported that a remote MBSR course is feasible, while most seem to consider remote delivery acceptable. Offering hybrid options and strategies to overcome technological issues and enhance engagement may be needed. Improvements in psychosocial measures support potential benefits specifically emotional exhaustion.

Access to one’s desired optimal health and wellness can be inequitable, especially for marginalized populations. As health and wellness practitioners, we must consider the equity of access of those who identify as members of marginalized groups so we can better support their social and emotional wellness. The CDC acknowledges that people from certain minority groups have difficulty getting mental health care, which impacts emotional, psychological, and social well-being. This presentation will expose participants to the reality of inequitable access through experiential exercises. Facilitators will guide participants through case scenarios to identify barriers related to social and emotional wellness that may be encountered. Participants will end by identifying strategies to intentionally infuse cultural humility into interactions that address these barriers experienced by marginalized populations, Ultimately, participants will identify their ability to support patients/clients on their paths to address the barriers to achieving their optimal states of holistic health and wellness.

The topic of menopause is taboo in general but even more so in the workplace. Menopause-age women account for 30% of the US labor force, and menopause impacts many women at the height of their careers. One in four women will experience serious menopause symptoms, costing the U.S. workforce an estimated $1.8 billion of lost working time and each woman over $2,100 in direct and indirect healthcare costs and contributing to a decreased health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes. Menopause has a greater effect on Black and Hispanic women as they experience more menopausal symptoms and higher percentages of adverse work outcomes compared to white women.

Organizations would benefit from creating menopause policies and support for employees before and during menopause through a cross-cultural approach incorporating all dimensions of well-being while addressing challenges with cultural competency and racial and ethnic disparities. Implementing actionable strategies through the lens of social determinants of health (SDOH) serves as a solid foundation to benefit organizations helping employees manage and master menopause.

Many attitudes and behaviors have been found to prevent mental illness and support well-being. They fit into categories such as adaptability, safety, presence, connection, health behavior, and purpose. Fortunately many employees are trying to adopt one or more proactive mental health attitudes and behaviors. Managers can support their employees’ efforts to flourish. They can help create workgroup subcultures that embrace proactive mental health. This breakout session will teach managers how to:

• Share a proactive mental health vision.
• Serve as role models.
• Influence key organizational decision-makers.
• Align day-to-day cultural influences with positive practices.
• Create a supportive social climate.
• Track and celebrate progress.

A 2022 study published in the British Medical Journal made a compelling argument for the intricate connection between patient safety and health equity, patients from racial/ethnic minority and low-income backgrounds or those with disabilities were significantly more likely to experience preventable and in many cases, hospital-induced, adverse patient safety events (Wade et al. 2022). It has been well established that Black women in the United States are significantly more likely to die in childbirth than their white counterparts, and that their infants are more likely to die in the neonatal period when cared for by white physicians (Greenwood, et al. 2020). More than one in five adults identifying as LGBTQIA+ identifying adults report avoiding or delaying healthcare because of discrimination and over 25% of racial/ethnic minority seniors report experiencing discrimination based on their race/ethnicity from healthcare providers. Cultural competency, humility and sensitivity are essential to addressing these health disparities and eliminating health inequities. Health inequities, which exist because of unnecessary, unjust, or unfair barriers to health, are compounded and enabled by a myriad factors, including those internal to the healthcare delivery system as well as those external to it. In this presentation, Dr. Olayiwola will explore root causes of health and healthcare inequities and the implications of these inequities on health care costs, patient experiences, patient safety and clinical outcomes. We will also explore solutions to address and mitigate health inequities at the organizational, team and individual levels. Attendees will leave the lecture with actionable tools and solutions they can implement in their daily practice for equitable, safe, and culturally competent care.

In these unprecedented times, health promotion professionals are responsible for engaging with communities to enhance their understanding of factors that contribute as risks or protections for their health outcomes. Equity in these engagements is vital in ensuring communities receive palatable insights, information, and guidance to optimize population health. These efforts are highly intricate and require integration of classical scientific theory and research applied to contemporary socio-cultural factors. Equity in health promotion requires customized considerations and data-driven efforts to define and assess community compositions, disaggregate original data sources, and develop multi-sector community partnerships. Also, addressing issues that marginalized and underserved communities experience from public health and other systems is critical in recognizing additional efforts that are necessary to build equity and trust in health promotion. By leveraging additional partnerships, health promotion professionals can further optimize ways to meet educational needs of underserved populations in their respective locales. Through combing these components, health promotion professionals can effectively define and apply health education and risk reduction efforts to all communities without bias and in terms they can understand and benefit. The contribution is invaluable to the art and science of public health and to the wellness of populations.

Many attitudes and behaviors have been found to prevent mental illness and support well-being. They fit into categories such as adaptability, safety, presence, connection, health behavior, and purpose. Fortunately many employees are trying to adopt one or more proactive mental health attitudes and behaviors. Managers can support their employees’ efforts to flourish. They can help create workgroup subcultures that embrace proactive mental health. This breakout session will teach managers how to:

• Share a proactive mental health vision.
• Serve as role models.
• Influence key organizational decision-makers.
• Align day-to-day cultural influences with positive practices.
• Create a supportive social climate.
• Track and celebrate progress.

Healthcare organizations use surveys to measure clinician functioning and tailor interventions. However, clinicians with marginalized identities respond less frequently to surveys, potentially leading to nonresponse bias. This bias, due to systematic differences between respondents and non-respondents, may compromise survey validity, skew outcome estimations, and impede the development of equitable interventions. In this study, we found that non-respondents were 4.98 times more likely to leave the job immediately following a survey, and the difference remained significant for five subsequent quarters. There was no significant difference in response rate by demographic variables. We used machine learning with EHR and HR also IS data to gain additional insights beyond those garnered from surveys alone. In particular, preliminary results show that nonrespondents not only are more likely to leave, but they are also ess productive and have different risk drivers for burnout and turnover. Overall, we find that utilizing readily available, objective data from EHR and HRIS systems in addition to existing survey results could allow for a more comprehensive view of the workplace, enabling healthcare leadership to develop truly inclusive wellbeing programs.

Applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine— a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern; physical activity; restorative sleep; stress management; avoidance of risky substances; and positive social connections—to a worksite wellness program is a unique and effective population health strategy. Doing so provides prevention for chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity increases well-being and decreases burnout among program participants. Learn how the Case Western Reserve University Wellness Program addresses lifestyle medicine through strategic development of multi-week, skills-based, behavior change programs. This session will describe a comprehensive approach to addressing lifestyle medicine at work, thereby increasing the likelihood of healthy behavior adoption and maintenance. Learn how to support organizational health needs and positively impact well-being through effective integration of lifestyle medicine principles.

Excess stress, burnout, anxiety, fatigue, reactivity and even perfectionism are results of time pressure and a sense of urgency brought on by 24/7 workaholic social norms and time compression. Many studies as well as common observations indicate that a lack of time is a primary reason (aka “excuse”) for not participating in wellness programs or failing to follow up on initial plans. However, time here mostly refers to clock time. There are other more uplifting and nourishing views of time. The mindset shift and capacities provided in this session are simple tools for cultivating healthier time attitudes.

In the field of health promotion, there is a gradual mindset shift from health to wellness, to well-being, and to wholeness. This shift is connected to how providers (e.g., wellness coaches and directors) can bring and foster presence with their clients and employees. Being present in one’s life requires well-being, and providers bring great value when they can support others by saying “My well-being is worth my presence.” This highly interactive session provides exercises for bringing presence based on the presenter's book series Quest for Presence. Related capacities of acceptance, flow, and synchronicity will also be reviewed with time for self-assessment and discussion. This session aligns personal and professional development. It is “time” for wellness/well-being providers to help themselves and others get off the disease-promoting treadmill. It is time for our entire field to “do time” differently.

Since their popularization in the second half of the 20th century, worksite well-being programs have been focused on participant engagement and outcomes. Early evaluation efforts explored the difference between participants and non-participant outcomes, with the understandable goal of measuring program value. Given that the preponderance of programs have been vendor-sponsored, this objective has been important for the sake of maintaining existing employer clients and attracting new ones. However, the emphasis on program outcomes has significantly and unfortunately - shifted the focus of both vendors and employers away from program non-participants. As a result, employers and vendors alike have become accustomed to accepting participation rates in the 50 percent range as an acceptable "normal".

Growing awareness of health inequities in the United States — and particularly individuals with employer-sponsored insurance—has prompted a critical evaluation of inequities in workforce well-being and employer-provided program offerings. Are these programs accessible and relevant to all members of the workforce? Do they provide equitable value for all employees and their family members? Or do they inadvertently worsen health inequities?

The goal of this session is to bring attention to well-being program non-participants by providing insight into their perspectives and experience. Included is an exploration of reasons and systems-based barriers contributing to non-participation, as well as a discussion of the ways to thoughtfully address these issues and foster enhanced workforce health equity.

In this interactive workshop, Dr. Patrick will share:

• Why empowered refusal is a valuable superskill to help you say "no" in a way that does not invite pushback from others.
• How to identify why you sometimes say "yes" when you want to say "no "
• A practical lens that helps you separate the “good-for-me” from the “not-good-for-me” activities and engagements that come your way.
• A toolkit of three competencies you need to effectively communicate an empowered "no" response.
• A framework to establish and implement personal policies that empower your refusal.
• How to use empowered refusal to manage difficult askers, strengthen your relationships and realize your full potential.

American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) women experience higher cervical cancer incidence than white women. Regular Pap tests reduce at least 80% of cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates. When committing to a cervical cancer screening event, providers, and health system staff must address the physical, spirtual, mental and emotional needs of their clients. Locally planned Pap-a-Thons afford tribal health clinics the time to pay attention to each client and address culturally respected cervical cancer screening practices. The Bay Mills Indian Community successfully increased cervical cancer screening in their clinic population by hosting a Pap-a-Thon. The success of this event resulted in the development of the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan's (ITCM) Pap-a-Thon Toolkit. The Pap-a-Thon Toolkit is designed to tailor a women’s health event to unique communities. We will walk through the toolkit, share lessons learned and consider adaptations to the community the audience services.

Health promotion practitioners are primed to lead the future of practice for workforce well-being. But leading well-being goes beyond traditional problem-solving and requires dynamic, people-focused methods. The organizations that acknowledge the complex relationship between work and well-being are making well-being a priority, and they’re performing better, retaining talent, and seeing other favorable results for their businesses and their people because of it. In The U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being published, in 2022, Dr. Murthy takes a clear stance on this, stating, "Organizational leaders, managers, supervisors, and workers alike have an unprecedented opportunity to examine the role of work in our lives and explore ways to better enable all workers to thrive within the workplace and beyond".

In this session, participants will explore the leadership styles that are connected to positively impacting well-being and flourishing for employees. Participants will be invited to challenge their perspectives on the relationship between work and well-being and to begin their own development journey to becoming trusted leaders of well-being.

According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD), “substance use disorder costs employers $81 billion annually through lost productivity and absenteeism, turnover and recruitment costs, workplace accidents, health care expenses, and disability and workers' compensation”.

The idea of addressing substance abuse in the workplace is daunting for most leaders. They often lack the confidence, knowledge, and tools necessary to engage in these courageous conversations and take the necessary actions that can potentially save lives. But what is at stake if they continue to ignore or pretend the problem is not affecting the workplace?

During this interactive workshop, you will hear how Isabelle’s personal story of overcoming addiction has led her to become a leader in the field of addiction awareness, education, and prevention. Participants will be introduced to the NCS and NORC Substance Use Cost Calculator tool and will be presented with staggering data about the prevalence and impact of substance use, misuse, and abuse in the workplace. Isabelle will provide participants with key strategies for preventing substance use disorders in the workplace and ways in which leaders can remove barriers to seeking help. Participants will receive practical guidance on taking immediate actionable steps toward mitigating the problem and fostering a workforce that supports recovery.

Access to one’s desired optimal health and wellness can be inequitable, especially for marginalized populations. As health and wellness practitioners, we must consider the equity of access of those who identify as members of marginalized groups so we can better support their social and emotional wellness. The CDC acknowledges that people from certain minority groups have difficulty getting mental health care, which impacts emotional, psychological, and social well-being. This presentation will expose participants to the reality of inequitable access through experiential exercises. Facilitators will guide participants through case scenarios to identify barriers related to social and emotional wellness that may be encountered. Participants will end by identifying strategies to intentionally infuse cultural humility into interactions that address these barriers experienced by marginalized populations, Ultimately, participants will identify their ability to support patients/clients on their paths to address the barriers to achieving their optimal states of holistic health and wellness.

The topic of menopause is taboo in general but even more so in the workplace. Menopause-age women account for 30% of the US labor force, and menopause impacts many women at the height of their careers. One in four women will experience serious menopause symptoms, costing the U.S. workforce an estimated $1.8 billion of lost working time and each woman over $2,100 in direct and indirect healthcare costs and contributing to a decreased health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes. Menopause has a greater effect on Black and Hispanic women as they experience more menopausal symptoms and higher percentages of adverse work outcomes compared to white women.

Organizations would benefit from creating menopause policies and support for employees before and during menopause through a cross-cultural approach incorporating all dimensions of well-being while addressing challenges with cultural competency and racial and ethnic disparities. Implementing actionable strategies through the lens of social determinants of health (SDOH) serves as a solid foundation to benefit organizations helping employees manage and master menopause.

Inflation is rising, the economy seems to be making daily headlines, and employees are concerned that their paychecks aren't going to stretch. Financial wellness is vital to overall employee well-being, but how do you incorporate programs that move the needle? Many wellness professionals don’t have the background to offer financial wellness services and struggle to offer programming that makes a difference in employees’ bottom lines. In this session, a financial services organization’s wellness coordinator brings you actionable steps to change the way you view and implement financial wellness programs. You will get a clear view of how financial wellness can help associates make gains in their finances while implementing other positive behaviors. From financial education to plans such as a wellness reimbursement account, you will learn how financial wellness can be built for your employee population and the gains both the organization and the employees will find.

Despite the disparities that exist in men’s health, this topic is often overlooked in health promotion efforts. This may happen for many reasons, including the fact that oftentimes, professionals don't recognize that there is a disparity, and if they do, they aren’t sure how to address it.

This session will provide an overview of the current state of men’s mental health. Because men can often face significant, and unique, barriers to positive mental health, the session will focus specifically on this dimension of health. A showcase of health promotion efforts that focuses on men’s mental health and what makes these programs successful will be included. There will be a discussion on the importance of framing health promotion efforts utilizing both cultural competency and an approach rooted in intersectionality. This session will conclude with participants developing talking points to effectively advocate for men’s health from this lens. These talking points can be utilized at all stages of program planning, implementation and evaluation to advance health equity for men.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Lifestyle changes required for healthy chronic disease self-management can be further complicated for individuals facing social and economic challenges. Innovations in primary care delivery in recent years have shown the value of care interventions outside visits with primary care providers, such as digital health programs. Well Dot, Inc., partnered with Church Health, a charitable clinic in Shelby County, Tennessee, that serves Memphis' underinsured, to evaluate factors associated with the adoption of, and engagement in, a digital platform designed to advance member health (the Well app). The Well App uses an unprecedented combination of personalized digital guidance, motivation, and rewards paired with concierge human support from Well Guides to engage members in the advancement of their health. In this session, we will review how a digital-human hybrid experience applies modern behavioral economics to engage members, empower action-oriented health behavioral change, and amplify existing resources towards improving individuals’ whole health, as tested in this clinical setting for underserved populations.

Cultural tides are shifting— Over 7% of the US population identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community, and Gen Z represents an impressive 25% of that community. While we celebrate increasing acceptance and visibility, disparities in health, communication, and access persist. Stressors stemming from historical discrimination and contemporary backlash place LGBTQ+ individuals of all ages at elevated risks for physical and mental health inequities.

However, amidst these challenges lie opportunities to enhance the health outcomes of LGBTQ+ individuals, and in doing so, enrich our broader society. In this presentation, we will embark on a journey to empower participants in understanding their roles as active allies and advocates.

As a physician-scientist-epidemiologist, Dr. Michelle A. Albert has had a longstanding commitment to health equity. She is engaged in cutting-edge research that innovatively seeks to incorporate “biology” with social determinants of health to transform cardiovascular disease (CVD) science and healthcare of global populations (i.e,“the biology of adversity”). A central component of her current work focuses on developing innovative implementation strategies to curb adversity related CVD risk, particularly in women and diverse racial and ethnic populations with a focus on cumulative toxic stress.

Spending time in natural environments conveys a variety of physical and mental health benefits including decreased blood pressure, improved immune function, decreased anxiety, and overall restoration. While nature is often viewed as a free resource, there are numerous barriers that keep many populations from fully benefiting from nature. Factors such as access, safety, experience, cost and time as well as racism, discrimination and land-based trauma all affect the relationship and sense of belonging to nature for different communities. This interactive session will start by exploring some historical relationships between BIPOC and natural environments and how these impact time spent in nature today. Next, big data tools including cell phone records and social media scraping will be explored to measure current disparities. Finally, we will explore current programs designed to increase access to nature for all and eliminate current disparities. Participants will leave with action-based strategies to enhance time spent in nature in their worksites and communities.

Inflation is rising, the economy seems to be making daily headlines, and employees are concerned that their paychecks aren't going to stretch. Financial wellness is vital to overall employee well-being, but how do you incorporate programs that move the needle? Many wellness professionals don’t have the background to offer financial wellness services and struggle to offer programming that makes a difference in employees’ bottom lines. In this session, a financial services organization’s wellness coordinator brings you actionable steps to change the way you view and implement financial wellness programs. You will get a clear view of how financial wellness can help associates make gains in their finances while implementing other positive behaviors. From financial education to plans such as a wellness reimbursement account, you will learn how financial wellness can be built for your employee population and the gains both the organization and the employees will find.

Community Catalyst’s mission is to build the power of people to create a health system rooted in race equity and health justice, and a society where health is a right for all. Since 2021, Community Catalyst has supported the CDC’s adult vaccination efforts through the Vaccine Equity and Access Program (VEAP) with the goal of increasing vaccination coverage for adults in racial and/or ethnic populations experiencing disparities in the US. Over the past two years, Community Catalyst funded over 90 community-based organizations (CBOs) to develop and implement effective health communication and community engagement strategies designed to increase adult vaccination coverage, with a focus on COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.

To support these efforts, Community Catalyst provided one-on-one and group technical assistance and structured learning opportunities, CBOs were also provided a robust immunization toolkit designed through needs assessments and in-depth interviews. Preliminary evaluations indicate that the campaign and toolkit were well received in communities and supportive of the diverse range of communication needs in the individual communities. The complete evaluation results will be shared along with the tools and resources most helpful for community-level communication strategies, resource needs for CBOs, and technical support required for a dispersed national communications campaign.

This practice-based presentation demonstrates that with effective support and technical assistance, CBOs can be an essential part of a viable strategic effort to improve public health outcomes for racially and ethnically diverse, hard to reach, and disparately impacted communities. Public health practitioners, particularly in efforts requiring a complex ground strategy, can identify how to effectively partner within communities to increase the reach and effectiveness of their programs.

There is strong evidence base that implicit bias can have negative, if not disastrous, effects upon medical decision making. When patients are not quickly successful at prescribed lifestyle improvements, they are often labeled as resistant. In health and wellness programming and coaching are we allowing our own bias to treat people the same way? Bias can take many forms — age, gender, race, ethnicity, weight, socio-economic class and more. This workshop will explore how implicit bias can affect our relationships with the people we serve and what we can do to shift our mindsets. We will look at how the stigma resulting from biased treatment and labeling sets up our clients for even more difficulty attaining the success we would like to see them achieve.

When we label people as resistant, we are often missing the real reasons for their lack of success at lasting lifestyle improvement. We will explore what we know about self-efficacy, the transtheoretical model of behavior change, social and environmental determinants of change, client bias and distrust, core competencies of coaching and motivational interviewing and how these topics can help us understand and serve our clients much more fairly, equitably and effectively.

According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD), “substance use disorder costs employers $81 billion annually through lost productivity and absenteeism, turnover and recruitment costs, workplace accidents, health care expenses, and disability and workers' compensation”.

The idea of addressing substance abuse in the workplace is daunting for most leaders. They often lack the confidence, knowledge, and tools necessary to engage in these courageous conversations and take the necessary actions that can potentially save lives. But what is at stake if they continue to ignore or pretend the problem is not affecting the workplace?

During this interactive workshop, you will hear how Isabelle’s personal story of overcoming addiction has led her to become a leader in the field of addiction awareness, education, and prevention. Participants will be introduced to the NCS and NORC Substance Use Cost Calculator tool and will be presented with staggering data about the prevalence and impact of substance use, misuse, and abuse in the workplace. Isabelle will provide participants with key strategies for preventing substance use disorders in the workplace and ways in which leaders can remove barriers to seeking help. Participants will receive practical guidance on taking immediate actionable steps toward mitigating the problem and fostering a workforce that supports recovery.

Despite the disparities that exist in men’s health, this topic is often overlooked in health promotion efforts. This may happen for many reasons, including the fact that oftentimes, professionals don't recognize that there is a disparity, and if they do, they aren’t sure how to address it.

This session will provide an overview of the current state of men’s mental health. Because men can often face significant, and unique, barriers to positive mental health, the session will focus specifically on this dimension of health. A showcase of health promotion efforts that focuses on men’s mental health and what makes these programs successful will be included. There will be a discussion on the importance of framing health promotion efforts utilizing both cultural competency and an approach rooted in intersectionality. This session will conclude with participants developing talking points to effectively advocate for men’s health from this lens. These talking points can be utilized at all stages of program planning, implementation and evaluation to advance health equity for men.

Our country has been battling the current opioid epidemic for decades. Tragically, the number of military personnel and veterans who struggle with wellness, addiction and mental health issues is considerably higher than civilians. This breakout session will address the additional causative factors adversely affecting those who have served our country so valiantly, along with strategies and programs to integrate into community, medical and mental health practices. The presentation will include health-promoting, veteran-specific information and questions that wellness advocates, caregivers and healthcare professionals need to ask veterans under their care. This includes screening patients for military history, veteran-specific health risks, treatment modalities, and more to help our veterans reach and sustain overall wellness and sobriety. Overall wellness programs include screening tests, immunizations, social connectedness, recreational therapy, physical activity, spiritual presence, healthy living, stress management, disease prevention and more.