July 2023 Briefs
Forum23 Speaker Profile
Bey-Ling Sha, PhD, APR, California State University, Fullerton
As we quickly near HERO Forum23, which will be held September 27-29 in Salt Lake City at the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek, we will profile speakers reflecting this year’s theme of “Doing Well by Doing Good: How Responsible Organizations are Addressing Societal Challenges.”
This month, we’re excited to introduce you to Bey-Ling Sha, PhD, APR from California State University, Fullerton, who will be participating in a General Session Panel: Mind the Gap: Putting Science to Work in Health Promotionalong with Leslie B. Hammer, PhD, Oregon Health & Science University; Krystal Sexton, PhD, Shell; and David W. Ballard, PsyD, MBA, Health Enhancement Research Organization on Wednesday, September 27th at 1:30 pm MT. This fast-paced, highly interactive panel session will explore the challenge of balancing the need for rigor with practical demands and limitations, reliance on scientific evidence with the desire for innovation, and the academic views of occupational and public health with the market-driven approaches of the fitness and lifestyle industries.
Interview with Dr. Bey-Ling Sha
Can you provide an overview of your HERO Forum23 presentation? What do you hope attendees will glean from it?
I’m excited to be part of a panel that will essentially ask the audience to think critically about their own consumption and production of research-related communications.
What do you view as the key societal challenges as they relate to worker well-being and how they have evolved over time?
Two key challenges we face right now are conceptual and political. Conceptually, there is disagreement about what exactly constitutes “health” or “well-being.” And politically, it’s a free-for-all about who does or does not get to define those terms.
What drew you to your profession overall and your current role in particular?
The mission of the academic unit that I lead, the College of Communications at Cal State Fullerton, is to prepare communicators to advance democracy in our pluralistic society. I can think of no more-important or more-urgent duty in these current times of our nation’s continued trajectory toward a more-just society.
What superHERO do you identify with and why?
If the mythical gods and goddesses of ancient times could be considered the superheroes of their day, I’d identify most with Themis, the Greek goddess of justice and wisdom, because those are outcomes toward which I continually aspire, both for the world at large and for my own professional and personal growth.
Register
Upcoming Interview with HERO Forum Program Director, David Ballard, PsD
HERO Forum News
HERO Forum23 is just 2 months away! Don’t put off completing your registration to save your spot for our 3-day conference, packed with expert speakers and informative content in five tracks: 1) Making It a Movement: Workplace Health and Well-Being as a Key Driver of the ESG Agenda; 2) Health Protection and Promotion in Hybrid, Remote, and Dispersed Work Environments; 3) Amplifying Efforts in Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises; 4) Measurement and Reporting for Accountable Action; and 5) Critical Thinking and Evidence-Based Decision Making in Workplace Health and Well-Being.
Don’t delay, early bird rates expire on August 11th!
Fourth Annual HERO FitVent Invitational Team Steps Challenge
HERO, thanks to the support of WebMD Health Services, is hosting the 4th annual FitVent – Team Steps Challenge. Join us in this free, five-week activity challenge for fun and prizes. Create a team or join others on an existing team, then get active! It’s more than just steps – you can use our fitness chart to convert dozens of activities to steps.
Compete each week for prizes and overall bragging rights among your friends and colleagues. 2023 will bring a new category of prizes. HERO members will be eligible to win their choice of
50% off their annual HERO membership
OR
One free registration to the 2024 HERO Forum!
This challenge is open to anyone! So, get your co-workers, family, friends or kids together and walk, run, or vacuum your way to fun prizes.
HERO Hub
New this month in the Hub:
Check out the recording of the latest members-only webinar: Should We Go on Defense to Protect Health Screening and Early Detection of Disease? A Conversation about the Braidwood Decision and the Viability of the USPSTF in the HERO Hub (login required).
This month’s featured topic is “Technology and Well-being”. Here are just two of the 14 resources on the topic available in the HERO Hub
Would other members of your organization be interested in viewing these resources? Remember: member organizations receive an unlimited number of log ins, so pass it along.
Click on any item to see the full piece. Log in required to view these resources. Need a log in? Contact Pat Rohner at pat.rohner@hero-health.org
Upcoming Events
Changing the Way We Work: Well-Being in Healthcare Workplaces, Policies, and Practices
The circumstances of the last several years have exacerbated ongoing challenges of stress, fatigue, burnout, and mental strain among healthcare workers, leading to significant turnover, and decreased employee engagement. There is a need to innovate and change how we work by addressing the environments, policies, programs, and practices we use to support healthcare workforce well-being. During this year’s Healthcare Summit, we will connect the dots between employee health and well-being obstacles that healthcare organizations are facing, with potential system-level solutions found in the Total Worker Health® Model, Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) Strategy alignment, and the new Workforce Mental Health and Well-being models.
Following this Summit, participants will be able to:
- Identify and discuss trends in healthcare workplace policies, programs and practices that lead to unintended burdens on healthcare workers.
- Identify successful workplace well-being practices that can be adapted and implemented in healthcare settings to retain care teams and inform strategy.
- Discuss future directions for healthcare research to explore system-level changes to positively impact healthcare workforce well-being and organizational outcomes.
For more information and to register, visit: the Forum23 platform
(If you need to register for the Healthcare Summit but do not intend to register for Forum23, please contact Ariane Mistral at ariane.mistral@hero-health.org)
A HERO Members-Only Event
Power Shift: How Employers are Responding to the Changing Needs and Preferences of Their Workforce
Tuesday, September 26, 2023 | 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm MDT
Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek
This HERO “power shift” Think Tank seeks to identify those methods and tools that assess the needs and values of today’s changing workforce. We will discuss changes in employee preferences related to demographics and changes in work arrangements and identify key factors related to employees’ sense of belongingness in organizations. In discussing drivers of disengagement and discontent, we intend to surface those strategies and approaches that increase employee satisfaction and commitment to organizations. We will explore how employee health and well-being initiatives can be organized in support of sustainable cultures of caring and trust that attract and retain a robust workforce.
Learning Objectives
Following this Think Tank, participants will be able to:
List methods and tools that assess the needs and values of the workforce and discuss changes in employee preferences related to demographics and changes in work arrangements.
- Identify key factors related to employees’ sense of belongingness in organizations and discuss drivers of social isolation, disengagement, and disenfranchisement.
- Describe interventions, whether via policies, programs, or environmental changes, that improve employee satisfaction and retention.
- Discuss novel strategies that have been designed to address changes in employee needs and preferences and the new ways we work.
- Explain effective evaluation approaches that help organizations determine whether their employee retention and satisfaction initiatives are working.
- Illustrate case examples of organizations that have improved their organizational effectiveness in adapting to changes in employees’ needs, values, and preferences.
If you would like to register for the 2023 Fall Think Tank but do not intend to register for Forum23, please contact Ariane Mistral at ariane.mistral@hero-health.org
University Summit 2023
Save the Date for the 2023 HERO University Summit
Join your colleagues on October 30th from 12:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST to discuss well-being and Mental Health on Your Campus – Measures that tell the story and inspire impact.
HERO Learning Series
HERO Healthcare Summit Advance Webinar
Applying the US Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and well-Being in Healthcare and Beyond
August 23rd, 12 pm – 1 pm ET. Registration Opens August 1st
To tee up this year’s Healthcare Summit discussion, join HERO as we discuss the state of Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being and share the latest findings from the U.S. Surgeon’s General report in a free, open-to-the-public webinar on August 23rd, 12 pm – 1 pm ET.
We will focus on the five essentials for workplace mental health and well-being with a special emphasis on healthcare settings. Guest speakers will discuss organizational policies and practices to positively impact workforce well-being. During this interactive webinar, Ryan Sledge, VP of Workplace Health & Safety at HCA, will facilitate a conversation with Dr. Lisa MacLean, Chief Clinical Officer, Henry Ford Health, and Cheryl Paxton-Hughes, Principal Consultant at Cornerstone OnDemand.
Please check our webinar page for upcoming Learning Series webinars, as well as HERO Forum23 preview webinars open to all.
- A special open session from the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions BEOS IC. Advancing Workforce Health: Lessons from Metro Nashville Public Schools on a Comprehensive Approach to Obesity in Employee Populations. July 26, 10:00 am – 11:30 am ET. Zoom Link: Zoom Access via Link
- HBR: Tension Is Rising Around Remote Work. The social contract between employer and employee is front and center in the conflict of work from home (WFH) v. return to office (RTO). HBR provides a framework toward resolution.
- AJHP: The Most Influential Women Leaders in Health Promotion. Congratulations to the HERO friends named in this editorial by HERO Senior Fellow Paul Terry.
- HBR: Research: The ESG Issues That Matter Most to People. According to JUST Capital’s 2022 Survey, the public prioritizes treatment of workers (44%) over other categories (communities, customers, shareholders and governance, and the environment) when considering corporate behaviors. Creating jobs that pay fairly is at the top of the list, followed closely by health and well-being, career development, and work-life balance.
