May 2 to 8 is Mental Health Week in Canada.
We know that our wellness plays a significant role in our mental health. This is one of the many reasons Staff and Medical Staff wellness is one of our 9 strategic priority initiatives for 2022. In case you missed it, you can read more about this and what makes wellness important at Providence in Fiona’s CEO Message.
“Here in the Mental Health Program, we spend long hours helping others address their mental health challenges. What we sometimes forget is that to help others, we have to take care of ourselves as well. Health care professionals wouldn’t ignore their own medical issues but too often we neglect our own mental health,” says Blaine Bray, Program Director, Mental Health.
“We have faced a very hard few years in our profession and if we are going to continue to help others we cannot ignore the toll our work can take on our mental health. I would encourage all PHC staff to periodically check in with themselves and to take advantage of the numerous resources we have available. Our own well-being and that of those we serve depends on it.”
Work is currently underway to develop and implement a wellness plan for the organization. In the meantime, below are a few wellness resources and initiatives currently available at Providence.
For example:
Learning Hub courses
Introduction to Mental Health in the Workplace:
• For Employees
• For Managers and Leaders
Understanding and Addressing Compassion Fatigue and Burnout
Understanding and Addressing Vicarious Trauma
Stress Management – Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
Getting Started with Mindfulness
Building and Sustaining Resilience (new)
Adler Telehealth: Confidential counselling services available to PHC staff through Adler Community Health Services (ACHS). If interested in seeking services, please fill out this form. A clinician will follow-up to discuss appropriate options and resources.
PHC Thrives: Web-based mental health and wellness resources available to all staff, including articles, stories, links to support systems, and educational videos. Check out the site here. You can also find a video library, which includes the Adler Wellness check-in videos, here.
Not Myself Today: Relaunch – coming soon! A workplace mental health program that includes an online portal with learning modules about mental health. Stay tuned to PHC News for updates and news on this program’s relaunch at PHC.
Staff Discounts: PHC has partnered with many community organizations and businesses to get PHC staff preferred rates. For example, the meditation app “Ten Percent Happier” is offering a one-year subscription to health care workers, for free! Be sure to take a look!
Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP): PHC’s EFAP is delivered by Homewood Health, a professional, confidential, and proactive service to support you with a wide range of personal, family, and work-related concerns.
Transit incentives: Great news, transit-riders: starting June 1, PHC staff and medical staff can receive 15% off Compass Card monthly and Stored Value Passes. Get all details here.
Let’s Move: Love research and exercise? Are you keen to add some more movement to your day? Maybe you love all things apps and technology? Turns out, you can have it all with this research study-meets-exercise initiative! The UBC School of Kinesiology, in conjunction with Providence Health Care, is recruiting participants for their newest study: COVID-19 Pandemic and Exercise for Health Care Workers Trial. And it comes with access to a free fitness app.
A one-pager of wellness resources has also been created to give you a quick reference on what’s available and how to contact / connect with each resource or tool. You can check it out here.
Bottom line: the better we feel at work, the better we are able to care for others. It’s time that we start to think of our wellness as being essential to our everyday work.
If you have a wellness idea that could make a big difference to you and your colleagues, please send your idea to Ideas: Forward. If you have questions about the staff and medical staff wellness plan or feedback on wellness at PHC, please be in touch: missionforward@providencehealth.bc.ca.
