Archive for category: Worker Wellness News

For many decades, organized labor has played a key role in establishing minimum safety standards in the US workplace. These efforts have mainly focused on the physical aspects of safety (i.e., falls, chemical exposure, noise reduction, etc.). More recently, public health professionals have identified that in order to better protect workers, the workforce eco-system must address the whole person. To this end, a major goal of establishing a WWP is to ensure that all workers have access to timely information regarding their mental aspects of safety on the job and in the community. In so doing, we will offer programming and advice on issues related to work-life balance, wellness, and well-being.

As the WWP develops, we will seek partnerships with local community agencies so that programming can be tailored to local needs. It is our intention to have a presence in towns across the state as a means to deliver training and/or perform research that informs our future activities for the benefit of all workers.

Wellness & Well-being Highlights

for the

Week of January 16, 2022

• The Green Monster
• Purdue Pharma (1)
• Purdue Pharma (2)
• War on drugs (1)
• War on drugs (2)
• Meth & Homelessness
• Great resignation / Welfare / Men without work
• MH in the workplace
• Hybrid work is exhausting
• Blue Mondays & Productivity
• Time for change?
• Healing ceremonies
• Lack of care after suicide attempts
• Can anxiety benefit you?
• Exercise & Anxiety
• Moms group releases tension
• Hospitals borrowing Military tactics
• Anticipatory Grief
• Pleasant, engaged, and meaningful
• Normalizing MH days
• STL County Police & Public Wellness
• COVID’s toll on health & wealth
• Patron saint of MH?
• Dorothy Day: A saint?
• Renaming mental illness & Stigma
• Thru the eyes of an 11-year-old
• Children & COVID
• Parents and lingering pain of online school
• Sex advice from the elderly
• Student loans (1)
• Student loans (2)
• Terminal disease and one’s future
• Dementia and youth
• Supporting workers after a brain injury
• Canadian researchers & Concussion testing
• Former football star & MH
• SLU OT program helps the Homeless
• Ice & Snow Safety
• How baby’s scent impacts women vs men
• Battle for power
• Union membership dips (1)
• Union membership dips (2)
• Respectful negotiations
• King Soopers strike ends
• The Workers’ Moment?
• Parents step in
• Youth step up
• Teens driving big rigs?
• Wealth gap (1)
• Wealth gap (2)
• Long overdue recognition
• Small towns loving Amazon?
• The age-old value of water

NOTE: The links provided above are for informational purposes only. None of these serve as a substitute for medical advice one should obtain from his/her own primary care physician and/or mental health professional.

For many decades, organized labor has played a key role in establishing minimum safety standards in the US workplace. These efforts have mainly focused on the physical aspects of safety (i.e., falls, chemical exposure, noise reduction, etc.). More recently, public health professionals have identified that in order to better protect workers, the workforce eco-system must address the whole person. To this end, a major goal of establishing a WWP is to ensure that all workers have access to timely information regarding their mental aspects of safety on the job and in the community. In so doing, we will offer programming and advice on issues related to work-life balance, wellness, and well-being.

As the WWP develops, we will seek partnerships with local community agencies so that programming can be tailored to local needs. It is our intention to have a presence in towns across the state as a means to deliver training and/or perform research that informs our future activities for the benefit of all workers.

Wellness & Well-being Highlights for the Week of January 2, 2022

• Starbucks workers walkout
• Chicago teachers locked out
• MH workers are unionizing
• The global supply chain’s kinks
• Getting your dream job
• Burnout & Sabbaticals
• The IOC’s dilemma: Forced labor in China
• Vax testing mandate hearing
• Wristbands & COVID
• MH resources for employers
• Dashboard: MH in the construction industry
• How to beat decision fatigue
• Opioids / Death / Prison
• Empathy in the New Year
• A shot to fight the opioids crisis?
• Vending machines used to fight the opioids crisis
• Food insecurity & our military
• States debate how to fund 988 (Suicide Prevention Lifeline)
• MH crosses party lines
• Therapists warning about MH in USA
• MH & Sheriff’s team
• MH & First Responders
• MH & 911 calls
• MH & your local library
• MH & Therapist burnout
• How physical issues impact MH
• Can you recognize YOUR mental illness?
• COVID & Children’s MH
• Decreasing suicides via Rap
• MH on college campuses
• Remote learning & Student MH
• Stress & School disruptions
• Stress: Ancient wisdom / Modern life
• Stress & your Heart
• Limiting telehealth
• Keeping your resolutions
• Healthy eating habits
• Help w/ isolation & grief
• Grief & the brain
• Supercharging your brain
• US Rep Raskin’s reckoning
• Jimmy Carter’s fear
• Psychedelic drugs: Promises & Perils
• Cubans & Natural remedies
• A Brown / NFL / CTE
• 10 fitness hacks for 2022
• Breathing exercise
• Healthy eating habits for 2022
• COVID & better relationships
• Webinars:
  • Navigating change (Jan 11 @ 6p CT)
  • QPR Training (Jan 27 @ Noon CT)

NOTE: The links provided above are for informational purposes only. None of these serve as a substitute for medical advice one should obtain from his/her own primary care physician and/or mental health professional.

For many decades, organized labor has played a key role in establishing minimum safety standards in the US workplace. These efforts have mainly focused on the physical aspects of safety (i.e., falls, chemical exposure, noise reduction, etc.). More recently, public health professionals have identified that in order to better protect workers, the workforce eco-system must address the whole person. To this end, a major goal of establishing a WWP is to ensure that all workers have access to timely information regarding their mental aspects of safety on the job and in the community. In so doing, we will offer programming and advice on issues related to work-life balance, wellness, and well-being.

As the WWP develops, we will seek partnerships with local community agencies so that programming can be tailored to local needs. It is our intention to have a presence in towns across the state as a means to deliver training and/or perform research that informs our future activities for the benefit of all workers.

Wellness & Well-being Highlights

for the

Week of December 19, 2021

• Labor lesson from a previous pandemic
• Kellogg’s strike ends (1)
• Kellogg’s strike ends (2)
• Amazon & Labor (1)
• Amazon & Labor (2)
• Amazon & Labor (3)
• Amazon’s warehouse culture
• China’s forced labor
• 60k STL jobs not coming back soon
• Stress / Burnout / Resignations
• Proper PPE for Women
• MO teachers in distress
• Anxiety & Office delays
• Prison & Talent
• Amazon & Worker suicides
• College & Student suicides
• Judge overturns Sackler settlement
• Children’s MH & Pandemic
• Death & Distress in America
• COVID testing, etc.
• Mental Illness & COVID
• Non-COVID patients are struggling
• Proof of vax makes jobs easier
• The power of Fun & COVID
• Sober & Curious: Mindful drinking
• MH / Trauma / Invisible bruises
• Tips for restful sleep
• Info overload & Well-being
• Stopping negative self-talk
• Declutter your mind
• Holidays & Grief (1)
• Holidays & Grief (2)
• Lessons from grief
• Grief is love
• Student loan payment extension
• Are we cursing more?
• Non-pro athletes & CTE
• esports & Your kids
• Upcoming webinar: Chair yoga

NOTE: The links provided above are for informational purposes only. None of these serve as a substitute for medical advice one should obtain from his/her own primary care physician and/or mental health professional.

About our Worker Wellness Program (WWP):
For many decades, organized labor has played a key role in establishing minimum safety standards in the US workplace. These efforts have mainly focused on the physical aspects of safety (i.e., falls, chemical exposure, noise reduction, etc.). More recently, public health professionals have identified that in order to better protect workers, the workforce eco-system must address the whole person. To this end, a major goal of establishing a WWP is to ensure that all workers have access to timely information regarding their mental aspects of safety on the job and in the community. In so doing, we will offer programming and advice on issues related to work-life balance, wellness, and well-being.

As the WWP develops, we will seek partnerships with local community agencies so that programming can be tailored to local needs. It is our intention to have a presence in towns across the state as a means to deliver training and/or perform research that informs our future activities for the benefit of all workers.

Wellness & Well-being Highlights

for the

Week of December 5, 2021

• Starbucks union in Buffalo
• Kellogg & Striker replacements
• Wages / Low skilled workers / Amazon
• Worker shortages / Pay / Organizing
• Omicron & MH
• The next global pandemic: MH
• Reducing poverty & Improving MH
• US Surgeon General & Youth MH crisis
• Warning: Youth MH crisis
• Report: Youth MH crisis
• MH screening tool
• CO & MH investigation
• Impact of school lockdown drills
• When children’s brain develop too fast
• OD prevention
• Opioids story (1)
• Opioids story (2)
• STL & Fentanyl
• US Civil war & Opioids
• Sacklers update
• Cultivating resilience
• Being your own life coach
• Stretching / Energy / Mobility
• The toll of poor sleep
• More on grief
• Pain & Guilt
• EQ & BS
• Work-Life balance & Returning to the office
• Webinar:
• Herbal Teas

NOTE: The links provided above are for informational purposes only. None of these serve as a substitute for medical advice one should obtain from his/her own primary care physician and/or mental health professional.

Each week Dr. John Gaal provides us with a Workers’ Wellness Update. This update provides workers, community partners, and more with important articles that he has curated. Below are links to the articles. We hope you enjoy one, a couple, or all of the articles.

About our Worker Wellness Program (WWP):

For many decades, organized labor has played a key role in establishing minimum safety standards in the US workplace. These efforts have mainly focused on the physical aspects of safety (i.e., falls, chemical exposure, noise reduction, etc.). More recently, public health professionals have identified that in order to better protect workers, the workforce eco-system must address the whole person. To this end, a major goal of establishing a WWP is to ensure that all workers have access to timely information regarding their mental aspects of safety on the job and in the community. In so doing, we will offer programming and advice on issues related to work-life balance, wellness, and well-being.

As the WWP develops, we will seek partnerships with local community agencies so that programming can be tailored to local needs. It is our intention to have a presence in towns across the state as a means to deliver training and/or perform research that informs our future activities for the benefit of all workers.

Wellness & Well-being Highlights

for the

Week of November 21, 2021

How unions lift workers

Cannabis / Unions / MO

Minimum wage hike for federal contractors

Biden / Unions / Green energy

Grocery workers & Customer hostility

J Baker: A cultural icon from STL

Courage / Tennis / China

Debunking the Thanksgiving myth

Italy’s MH system: Taking a turn for the worse?

Dealing w/ pandemic burnout

A post-pandemic you?

Workers: The cost of being unvaxed?

Delay in office re-openings

Congress & NFL

Future of telehealth?

Gratitude & Happiness

Schools & MH days

Holidays & Social anxiety

Misunderstanding mindfulness

Mindfulness & Psychiatric patients

Responsibility / Freedom / MH

Grief after a suicide loss

Addressing grieving parents

Exercise & Appetite

The dark side of resilience

Giving better gifts

Opioids & Pharmacy chains (1)

Opioids & Pharmacy chains (2)

Protecting your brain & Concussion test

Athletes fearing CTE (1)

Athletes fearing CTE (2)

Opium business & Taliban

Plants & New medicines

NOTE: The links provided above are for informational purposes only. None of these serve as a substitute for medical advice one should obtain from his/her own primary care physician and/or mental health professional.