Dedicated to improving the wellness of all LHSC employees, Where Wellness Works supports an organizational culture of health and resiliency. The team provides programs, supports and resources.
Where Wellness Works aims to promote physical, mental/emotional, social, spiritual/mindfulness and intellectual wellbeing.
Nicole Yawney, Indigenous Youth Wellness Consultant at Children’s Hospital, recently received a Canadian Impact Award from Children’s Hospitals Week. She is being recognized for connecting her patients and their families with traditional healing.
Health Promotion
The workplace environment and job structure have a role to play in the health of workers. The psychosocial stressors of job strain, shift work, and excessive physical work load are associated with a variety of behaviors that lead to poor health such as smoking and lack of physical activity [5, 6].
Creating a workplace culture where healthy choices are supported is one of the core goals for where wellness works lhsc. To address this challenge, we are integrating health promotion as part of our work to advance our organizational culture and support our staff in achieving their optimal wellbeing.
To assist us in promoting and encouraging healthy behavior, we are partnering with the ExerCYse Is Medicine team to provide opportunities for students to become certified health coaches. We are also testing an innovative app called CARROT Wellness that rewards individuals for achieving their personal health goals.
Education & Training
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is proud to offer a variety of education and training opportunities for employees. These programs are designed to enhance the professional development of our staff and physicians and provide them with skills in a wide range of topics related to their work.
For example, LHSC has developed a pilot program called CYdekicks, whereby trained health coaching students from ISU help participants achieve their physical activity goals. Using principles of motivational interviewing, CYdekicks offers individuals a way to establish and sustain regular habits of physical activity.
Another education and training initiative is the Kenkwite’:ne Healing Space, which provides a culturally informed environment for Indigenous patients and families at LHSC. This space allows for a variety of traditional Indigenous practices and healing methods such as sharing circles, smudging, drumming circles and teachings from Elders/Knowledge Keepers.
Prevention & Screening
Getting screened is one of the best things you can do for your health and well-being. This is because screenings can identify conditions before they become serious and treat them early.
Some preventive screenings can help you find problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes so that you can have them treated before they cause serious disease or even death. Your doctor may also recommend screenings for some cancers.
A good way to make sure you get recommended screenings is by talking to your provider about what tests are right for you. They can tell you the most effective screenings for your age and risk. They also can talk to you about how frequent screenings should be. For example, your doctor may want to have you screened for colorectal cancer every year or two years. Your doctor might also recommend vaccinations to prevent certain types of cancer.
Community Engagement
Community engagement is the process of working with the community to build relationships and foster trust. It is vital to creating positive, lasting relationships and it can help you develop a socially responsible organisation.
Communities that engage in multiple forms of community engagement have higher levels of health, wealth, resiliency, and capacity to confront crises. They also have stronger social networks and lower rates of structural racism, socioeconomic disparity, and unequal opportunity.
Whether you are planning a national project or a smaller service, engaging with the wider community can be an essential part of your process. By getting the right people involved in your plans, you will save time and avoid unforeseen roadblocks along the way that could set you back months or even years.
Government agencies are often interested in obtaining public input on specific decisions, analyses, or sets of alternatives before they go forward with a project. They may use comments periods at public meetings, feedback sections on their website, or brief surveys housed on the agency’s home page to solicit input.