Wellness & Well-being Highlights June 24

Wellness & Well-being Highlights

for the

Week of June 24, 2024

This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog highlights how our Military system’s mishandling of recent mental health crises has resulted in more suicides—to how heat impacts your brain and why employers need to take action—to the US Surgeon General’s call for placing WARNING labels on social media in an attempt to protect our youngest and most vulnerable citizens…and the pushback to his efforts. This week I would like to discuss the concept of SOCIAL HEALTH. Up to this point in my blog, I have focused on the importance of balancing the PHYSICAL aspects of safety with the MENTAL aspects of safety. This past week, I found an article making the case for moving beyond the above-mentioned binary model. As such, the author, Kasley Killam, posits that while physical health deals with one’s body and mental health is about one’s mind…SOCIAL HEALTH focuses on relationships. I have to say that at first glance this seemed like a sub-topic under the mental health umbrella. However, upon reading the entire article, I admit that Killam is on to something…. Since COVID, there has been a lot said about isolation, loneliness, and the importance of connection. As I reflect on writing my doctoral dissertation nearly 20 years ago, I recall a book that positively impacted my work which was certainly ahead of its time by Robert Putnam: Bowling Alone. It is interesting to see how aspects of Putnam’s book have played out in Killam’s work. A couple of Killam’s finding’s that hit home are (a) over the past 20 years the amount of time people spend alone has increased by 24 hours per month and (b) ~20% of adults in the USA do not have anyone to reach out to for help. This lack of connection has negative effects on our nation’s health as it can increase the risks of strokes by 32%, dementia by 50%, and early death by 29%. Some may say: How does this apply to worker wellness? Research shows that worker loneliness costs the US economy over $400b/year in lost productivity. In the end, connection is not only good for the individual but society as well. Why? Because by maintaining old and/or forming new connections we can create opportunities to develop meaningful and innovative approaches to contemporary issues. Here are 3 SOCIAL HEALTH take-aways that may be worth considering going forward:

While not everyone is lonely…We ALL must spend time with family and friends;
Coping is not enough…We ALL need to flourish and we cannot without meaningful relationships; and
Do NOT wait for a crisis—NOW is the time to act…Be proactive in developing and nurturing your relationships.

Source: https://amp.theguardian.com/wellness/article/2024/jun/14/what-is-social-health

EEOC Guidelines / Harassment / Contractors

US Military & Suicides

Employers / Employees / HEAT

HEAT & Your Brain