Let’s Dance!
Spring is in the air, literally in the form of pine pollen coating every surface in NC, but it’s also the season of NCAA March Madness and talk of going to the “big dance.”
Ever since I heard HERO Board member Janis Davis-Street describe this DEI metaphor, it’s the first thing I think of when I hear about dancing: Diversity is exhibited when everyone is invited to the party. Equity occurs when everyone has the opportunity to be on the dance floor. Inclusion is allowing each individual to have a voice in the music selection.
HERO’s voice has been invited recently in multiple ways: as a NIOSH Total Worker Health® Affiliate; in published articles in HR Daily Advisory and BenefitsPro; and in several convenings in April and May, including the 34th Annual Art & Science of Health Promotion Conference, 2024 CUPA-HR Spring Conference, OhioHealth Employer Summit, 2024 ICHLC Annual Meeting, and The Healthcare Innovation Congress. Will you be attending – I’d love to connect with you!
Your voice is also vital to what we can do and accomplish together. The Forum24 Call for Presenters deadline is fast approaching and has been extended slightly to adjust for the holiday weekend. The final
deadline is Wednesday, April 3rd, at 5:00 PM EDT. Also, we’re accepting nominations for the 2024 HERO Workplace Health and Well-Being Awards until April 30th.
It’s an exciting time for HERO, and I invite you to ‘dance’ with us. Now, if only my UNC Tarheels can bring home the trophy!
Together,
Karen
Member Updates
Call for Presenters Submission Deadline is Approaching!
You have a few more days to organize and submit an abstract to speak at HERO Forum24 and the HERO Healthcare Summit, October 7-9th in Baltimore. We are accepting submissions for 60-minute breakout sessions originally through March 31st, but due to the holiday weekend we have extended the deadline to April 3rd.
HERO welcomes submissions from all organizational sectors. You do not have to be a HERO member to submit an abstract and speak at the HERO Forum.
Registration for Forum24 will be opening within the first week of April!
2024 HERO Healthcare Summit
Championing Healthcare Workplace Safety and Well-Being: Addressing Violence, Harassment, and Mental Health
U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics found that healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience a physical attack while working than other types of workers. Workplace violence and harassment extends beyond physical injuries, also taking a toll on worker mental health and well-being, employee retention and recruitment, and overall care delivery. HERO Healthcare Summit 2024 will explore how the workplace serves as a social determinant of health, emphasizing workforce safety, violence prevention, and worker well-being. Guest speakers will share research, innovative policies and practices, and real-world examples to address workplace violence in healthcare settings across organizational levels (e.g., culture, communication, training). Speakers will also present information that exemplifies the myriad ways healthcare workplaces serve as drivers of health and solutions to protecting and improving worker well-being.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the unique challenges that healthcare workers face regarding workplace safety, violence prevention, and mental well-being.
- Explain the impact of workplace violence and harassment on marginalized and vulnerable healthcare workers.
- Discover post-incident strategies and models that support victims and witnesses impacted by workplace violence.
- Identify effective strategies for creating a culture of safety in healthcare workplaces across organizational levels.
Join us in Baltimore October 9th to speak at 2024 Healthcare Summit! Submit your abstract online in conjunction with HERO Forum24. For more information, read abstract submission guidelines.
2024 HERO University Summit: Where You Belong
Explore Drivers of Belonging for Faculty and Staff in Higher Education
An extension of HERO Forum24 on Wednesday, October 9th, from 1:00-5:00 PM, in Baltimore, MD.
HERO Award Nominations
The HERO Workplace Health and Well-Being (HWB) Awards honor dedication and commitment to the field and acknowledge outstanding achievements in the practice of HWB in the areas of Leadership and Research. Honorees are asked to share their experiences in HWB with their peers at the HERO Forum during the awards presentation.
We are accepting nominations for these four awards:
- The Bill Whitmer Leadership Award is shaped by and honors the decades of hard work and vision in the field of health and well-being (HWB) by Bill Whitmer (co-founder and former CEO of HERO).
- The Mark Dundon Research Award is presented to the professional who most closely embodies the outstanding work in the area of HWB research by Mark Dundon (co-founder and former Chairman of the Board of HERO).
- The Jerry Noyce Executive Health Champion Award is presented to a person of senior leadership status (CEO, CFO, VP) who has made an outstanding contribution towards the advancement of HWB within their company.
- The Heart of HERO Award is presented to a person directly involved in the day-to-day operations of health and well-being (Wellness Directors, Health Managers, Human Resources) who has made an outstanding contribution towards the advancement of HWB within their company.
To begin a submission, click here:
2024 HERO Health & Well-Being Awards Nominations Form
Deadline for 2024 submissions: April 30th
HERO Hub Updates: New Content
This month’s featured topic is “Participation Strategies.” Here are just two of the 14 (and growing) resources available in the HERO Hub on this topic.
Would other members of your organization be interested in viewing these resources? Remember, member organizations receive an unlimited number of logins, so pass it along.
Click on any item to see the full piece. Login required to view these resources. Need a login? Contact Pat Rohner at pat.rohner@hero-health.org
UPCOMING EVENTS
Spring Virtual Think Tank
Mark your calendars now for the next members-only Think Tank. We’re pleased to welcome Dr. Jessica Grossmeier back to the HERO team as Senior Fellow – Education. Jessica will bring her wealth of expertise in health and well-being and measurement back to HERO, and we couldn’t be more excited!
Recent research indicates there is a disconnect between how employers feel they are doing to support employee health and well-being (HWB) and how employees say their employers are actually doing.1 Measurement and evaluation practices tracked on the HERO Health and Well-Being Best Practices Scorecard in Collaboration with Mercer© indicate that most employers fall short when it comes to tracking the performance of their HWB initiatives. 2 With the desire to make timely improvements to address emerging needs, it’s easy to fall into the trap of making decisions for the workforce without adequately soliciting insights from them. So, when it comes to designing and evaluating workplace well-being efforts, how do we know what to measure?
Join us at the HERO Spring Think Tank to discuss the following (and more):
- What tools and resources exist to support a more holistic approach to workforce health, safety, and well-being?
- What can we do to address misalignment between employer perceptions about their support for workforce HWB and perceptions from their workers?
- If we measure positive improvements, how do we know we’re not missing negative trends in areas that we’re not measuring?
- How do we make meaningful sense of and integrate all of the data, informing effective decision making about translating the insights into action?
5 CHES/MCHES Credits Available
Sponsored by Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO), a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. This program is designated for Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES) and/or Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES) to receive up to 5 total Category I contact education contact hours. Maximum advanced-level continuing education contact hours available are 5. Provider ID#101039
Remember: HERO member organizations may register up to three individuals for virtual Think Tank meetings. ALL members will have access to recordings and materials in the HERO Hub after the Think Tank.
Healthy Aging Coalition session on Brain Health, April 11,
12:30 – 2:00 PM ET
In collaboration with AARP, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s and HERO.
Virtual attendance:
MOBILE:
US: +16699006833, 84591707650# or
+19294362866, 84591707650#
MEETING URL:
https://tivityhealth.zoom.us/j/84591707650
MEETING ID:
845 9170 7650
HERO COMMITTEES
HERO prides itself in our ability to connect science and practice through member-driven committees. All HERO members are encouraged to participate in one or more committees for the additional value accrued in the people you meet, the insights you gain, and the ability to contribute to published articles, white papers, case studies, webinars and other tools.
What’s new with HERO committees?
Two new articles highlight HERO research published in AJHP by HERO researchers and members of the Research and Workforce Mental Health and Well-being Committees:
- HR Daily Advisor: Tips and Best Practices for Conducting an Employee Mental Health Assessment. Readily available mental health assessments are a key first step in helping protect and quantify employee mental health while adhering to the highest standards of confidentiality and data privacy.
- BenefitsPro: Helping employers factor mental health into benefits programs. Notes the importance of employee mental health assessments, aligning with EAPs, and gauging program effectiveness through measurement and benchmarking.
HERO RECOMMENDS
Resources and Readings
HERO Recommends:
988 Partner Toolkit | SAMHSA. This new resource video features crisis counselors, professors, and peer specialists explaining what people can expect when they call, text, or chat 988.
Mental health at work after the COVID pandemic | Safety and health at work EU-OSHA (europa.eu). Includes data and an in-depth analysis of the psychosocial risk factors, work-related stress and poor mental health that increased during the pandemic and remain a significant problem in workplaces. What happened, what has changed, and what does the future hold?
Management Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review – Mark C. Bolino, Sarah E. Henry, Jacob M. Whitney, 2024 (sagepub.com). From the Journal of Management, this scoping review of 69 articles on management issues discusses how the pandemic affected individuals, teams, and organizations.
Fighting Loneliness on Remote Teams (hbr.org). Learn four evidence-based strategies to build community in remote teams.
World Happiness Report | Gallup. What are the factors that contribute to human wellbeing? This 2024 update focuses on differences based on stage of life.
Economic Systems as a Structural Driver of Population Health Introduction to Workshop Series | National Academies. Introduction to a series of workshops focused on Elevating the Structural Drivers of Population Health, hosted by the Roundtable on Population Health Improvement.
