Wellness & Well-being Highlights October 30

Wellness & Well-being Highlights

for the

Week of October 30, 2023

This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog consists of topics on how the poor well-being of workers has been linked to chronic health conditions to how stigma continues to take a toll on both pilots and construction workers to how prisons are partnering with colleges to assist inmates with earning degrees. Today, I wish to shed some light on the topic of mental health and how non-traditional entities within our communities have stepped up to address a major public health crisis across the USA. During COVID, I noticed that St. Louis County Public Library offered a series of webinars covering aspects of mental health on a regular basis (i.e., stress management, nutrition, yoga, etc.). Having time on my hands, I participated in most of what was presented by various partnering regional agencies. To this end, it was no surprise that when I visited my local branch, a few weeks ago, they were providing Harm Reduction supplies (i.e., Narcan) as well as private appointments with licensed Social Workers free-of-charge. When I was I child, I never viewed my public library as a source for anything but books or a quiet place to study. Now, it warms my heart that an entity so remotely related to mental health (at least in my mind) is filling a much-needed void because federal government officials and/or agencies have failed to respond in a timely/appropriate manner. A sign of the times seems to be that teachers and police officers must ‘double-up’ as social workers, firefighters as paramedics, librarians as mental health supporters, and so on. Whether or not this phenomenon is due to a lack of funding, a worker shortage, or because humans are such complex beings a true professional can no longer remain occupationally myopic, I am proud to see that leaders in my community broke away from turf-mentalities and rigid job descriptions, in the name of the greater good, to serve their patrons…many of whom NEED—but cannot afford—these resources!

Source: https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/library-services-homeless-mental-health-e1f513b7

Public Libraries & Mental Health

Homelessness & Brutal Winters

Food Insecurity

Employers target HC costs

Employers & Harassment, etc.

Workers / Poor Well-being / Chronic Conditions

MH & HC Workers

MH / Struggling Pilots / Stigma

MH Stigma in Construction

Meta sued for MH harm to Youth

Teens / Parents / Tracking Phones