June Brief
Hot! Hot! Hot!
Hot off the press, we’re thrilled to publish the proceedings from the Winter Think Tank on “Brain Health and the Aging Workforce.” HERO Senior Fellow Paul Terry offers his perspective in the latest HERO Blog post.
HERO continues to work with UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Business Collaborative for Brain Health and AARP’s Brain Health Action Advisory Committee to educate and empower employers to support their workforce. In March, HERO Research Fellow Mary Imboden edited an issue of Knowing Well, Being Well in the AJHP on “Maintaining Brain Health: An Imperative for Successful Aging and Business Performance.”
And since we’re all talking about the summer heat, here’s a reminder to limit exposure to extreme heat for the health of your brain. Psychology Today published a helpful article on “Brain Under Fire: The Consequences of Excess Heat Exposure.”
Stay cool!
Karen & the HERO Team
Additional resources on Brain Health:
Member Updates
HERO Scorecard
The HERO Health and Well-being Best Practices Scorecard in Collaboration with Mercer© (HERO Scorecard) Benchmark Reports
Calling all Health and Welfare Consultants! Client planning season will be here before you know it, so why not get ahead of the need for benchmarking data and explore what the HERO Scorecard data can do for you and your clients.
- Fill in the gaps where standard health plan design data falls short, often only reporting on tobacco surcharges, premium reduction incentives, EAPs and/or support programs through 3rd party vendors.
- Provide a broader insight into companies that range in size from 100 to 25,000 employees.
To support your exploration of the benchmark reports, HERO has created a training video, designed to provide greater detail on the value and application.
We invite you to review the video and reach out to HERO Research Fellow Colleen Saringer at colleen.saringer@hero-health.org for more information.
Don’t let the summer pass you by, register NOW!
Join your colleagues at
The Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel
For learning…
Facilitating and endorsing individual and organizational transformation is crucial for fostering healthy workplaces and dynamic, enduring cultures. While many recognize the importance of adapting to evolving circumstances through trust and collaboration, resistance to change often arises when individuals lack strong connections to their environment, colleagues, or mission. Conversely, a sense of belonging within an organization flourishes when our values resonate with an inspiring purpose. Trust in the motivations and efforts of our peers further enhances openness to change, making even the most challenging transformations appear achievable.
And for fun…
Watch for announcements on special events, fitness, and exploring Baltimore with Forum attendee discounts!
With thanks to Forum24 sponsors:
Mercer, Ochsner Connected Health, Sword Health, Dario, and Merative.
2024 HERO Healthcare Summit
Championing Healthcare Workplace Safety and Well-Being: Addressing Violence, Harassment, and Mental Health
October 9, 2024
1:00 – 5:00 pm ET (Networking Lunch @12:00 pm ET)
In Conjunction with HERO Forum24
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. The 2024 HERO Healthcare Summit will explore how the workplace serves as a social determinant of health, emphasizing workforce safety, violence prevention, and worker well-being.
Sponsored by:
2024 HERO University Summit:
Where You Belong.
Explore Drivers of Belonging for Faculty and Staff
in Higher Education
October 9, 2024
1:00 – 5:00 pm ET (Networking Lunch @12:00 pm ET)
In Conjunction with HERO Forum24
The 2024 HERO University Summit will explore belonging for faculty and staff within higher education organizations with emphasis on better understanding belonging, the relationship with holistic well-being, and the key drivers that can improve one’s sense of being accepted and included by those around them. Hear from experts in areas of organizational culture, teams, well-being, and inclusion on the impact of belonging within the higher education ecosystem.
Sponsored by:
2024 Fall Think Tank
Lifestyle, Environmental, and Pharmacological Interventions for Obesity: How Employers Can Strike the Right Balance Amid the GLP-1 Craze
October 7, 2024
9:00 am – 12:00 pm ET
A free members-only event in conjunction with HERO Forum24
This Think Tank will explore the benefits and drawbacks of GLP-1s and similar drugs, illustrate how employers are integrating them into their health benefit offerings (or not), and delve into the opportunities to more systematically integrate lifestyle as medicine into benefit strategies as a precursor of, adjunct to, or substitute for pharmacological interventions.
HERO Member Hub
This month’s featured topic is the HERO Hub Learning Series.
The newest installation of past webinar recordings from the HERO Learning Series is now available. Log into the HERO Hub to access these sessions, available for a limited time.
Leslie Hammer, PhD, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences at OHSU; Oregon Health Workforce center, Portland State University
Research evidence indicates that psychosocial stressors such as low supervisor support and high work-life stress are negative occupational exposures related to poor psychological and physical health, negative work outcomes, and adverse effects on families. These associations suggest that Occupational Health Psychology and Total Worker Health® interventions such as leadership support trainings may be helpful in mitigating effects of workplace psychosocial stressors on health and well-being. This presentation will review workplace psychosocial stressors and leadership training approaches to reduce stress and improve psychological and physical health, highlighting several examples from randomized controlled trials conducted by the research team that crosses over between Oregon Heath & Science University and Portland State University.
Catch it before it disappears!
There are only a few days left, watch Workplace Wellness Law 101 with Barbara J. Zabawa, JD, MPH, Center for Health & Wellness Law, LLC.
This session will highlight the major laws that impact workplace wellness programs, including the Affordable Care Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, State licensure laws, worker’s compensation and Fair Labor Standards Act.
Don’t have a login? Contact Tris at pat.rohner@hero-health.org.
Member organizations may have an unlimited number of logins, so pass it on.
HERO Swag Store
With summer approaching rapidly, check out the HERO Swag Store for all your summer needs! From t-shirts to keep you cool, to water bottles and duffel bags to stay well hydrated and prepared for your next outdoor adventure. We have it all!
Members: Log in to the MEMBERS ONLY store for discounts on all HERO swag.
HERO RECOMMENDS
Resources and Readings
- HBR: Why Companies Should Disclose Their Lack of Progress on DEI. Research reveals benefits to transparency about diversity struggles. Don’t underestimate how meaningful this disclosure can be to employees, customers, and stakeholders.
- Modernizing Care for Obesity as a Chronic Disease: A How-To Guide for Employers. This guide from Milken Institute provides an employer resource for comprehensive approaches to obesity care, centered around education, culture change, benefit design, and public policy.
- HBR: How “Carewashing” Alienates Employees. To protect against ‘carewashing’, this article provides recommendations for organizations to help foster cultures of care through trust, empathy, psychological safety, and integrity.
- HBR: Leaders Need to Reframe the Return-to-Office Conversation. A timely piece centered around the employee voice from authors Mark Mortensen and Amy C. Edmondson.
- HBR: How to Get Your Team to Actually Speak Up. Speaking of the employee voice, what can managers do to help employees feel safe to voice their opinions?
- Surgeon General Issues New Advisory About Effects Social Media Use Has on Youth Mental Health
- Workplace Outcome Suite© (WOS) EAP Industry Global Report No. 6: Use and Effectiveness for Over 140,000 Counseling Cases from 2010 to 2022. Dr. Mark Attridge brings us this comprehensive study profiling EAP use and the effectiveness of counseling for work-related outcomes.
