Intensive Training Seminars

Abstract

Abstract

This Intensive Training Seminar will feature the importance of measuring program outcomes and communicating those outcomes to the various key stakeholders engaged in workplace health and well-being programs, including workers, practitioners, sponsors, industry and professional colleagues, and the general public.

The two-day seminar will begin by summarizing the business case for building, enhancing and sustaining workplace health programs. The four key elements that will be addressed are:

• The assessment of the “problem” facing an organization that establishes the business case for initial or continued investment in a program
• The plan, both strategic and tactical, to guide employer decisions regarding priorities and use of scarce resources
• The implementation of evidence-based interventions that align with employers’ and workers’ needs, interests and capacities
• The evaluation of program success in the following three categories: structure, process and outcomes.

Day one will focus primarily on building a measurement and evaluation (M&E) framework that relies heavily on survey data, health risk assessments and access to administrative files that can be used to document a positive return on investment (ROI) and value on investment (VOI).

Day two will then highlight the skills needed to translate, both verbally and in writing, methods and results from “simple” evaluations to more rigorous scientific studies into terms more digestible by key audiences. This addresses the challenge of balancing the need for rigor with practical demands and limitations of real-world settings, reliance on scientific evidence with the desire for innovation, and the academic views of occupational and public health industries with the market-driven approaches of the fitness and lifestyle industries.

Abstract

A critical need exists for health equity interventions to leverage social determinants of health within communities through work settings. This need applies to low-wage and minority workers and other underserved populations, including small businesses in rural locations, employees at risk for substance misuse, and—given postpandemic stress—service providers and caregivers in public health. Moreover, such interventions need to be evidence-based, or at least designed a priori to address health impacts (e.g., Thornton et al. 2017). In addition, providers or facilitators of such interventions should demonstrate multicultural competency. Through support from the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Office of Substance Abuse and Addiction Services, the presenters utilized a pre-existing workplace evidence-based program (EBP) and adapted it for application in underserved rural areas and diverse populations. The U.S. Surgeon General and SAMHSA have recognized the original program as effective in reducing adult substance use risk; peer-reviewed studies also show an improvement in workplace health culture, attitudes toward help-seeking and stigma. Improved social capital—as a way of addressing health inequity—is a core theme of the program.

This adapted, classroom, train-the-trainer workshop is organized as follows:

• Day One: Immersive well-being ripple effect (RWB) training, debriefing, self-assessment and a review of research
• Day Two: Assigned practice and peer feedback, continued practice, marketing, strategy, dissemination and community of practice.
  

The immersive RWB gives participants the direct, experiential groundwork needed to be effective. This component draws upon a multicultural competency review. Discussions offer an opportunity to imagine providing the training to diverse audiences (e.g., BIPOC and LGBTQ communities) and share experiences for best practices.

Abstract

Work is a determinant of well-being, it’s a critical part of life, and it’s a driving element of our physical and mental health (Duffy et al. 2016).

Organizations that acknowledge the complexity of the relationship between work and well-being are making well-being a business priority, and they’re performing better, retaining talent, and seeing other favorable results for their business and their people because of it. There is a surge of interest for organizations to hire or appoint leadership positions charged with forming and executing the strategies for employee well-being. You’ve seen the headlines—"The Rise of the Chief Well-Being Officer,” “More Companies Are Hiring a Chief Wellness Officer,” and “The C-Suite’s New Culture Warrior: The Chief Well-Being Officer.” But what is the essential skillset of a well-being leader? What is the mindset of an individual using their voice, sitting at the leadership table and paving the path of an executive-level well-being leader within their organization?

Health promotion practitioners are primed for this opportunity to lead the future of workforce well-being. In this seminar, participants are invited to develop themselves, to challenge their perspectives about the relationship between work and well-being, to transform how they think and act, to define their own values and leadership style, and to emerge as trusted leaders and enablers of well-being. As work and life continue to blur through the challenges of societal disruption, social unrest, health inequity, increasing work demands, burnout, mental health, financial stress and more, we need systems-thinking leaders who are enablers of well-being in their organizations. This seminar will focus on building confidence for health promotion in well-being professionals to take on high-level leadership positions and become the chief well-being officers of tomorrow.