Quarterly News and Updates Jan 2021 |
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As we enter 2021, we bring both hope and resilience to face the many challenges that lie ahead. The announcement of the COVID-19 vaccine signals a beginning phase of recovery, yet we must be vigilant. Essential workers and remote workers each have unique challenges. This issue is dedicated to addressing workers' struggles with balancing work and family caregiving demands.
In this issue, Jennifer Fraone, director of corporate partnerships with the Boston College Center for Work and Family, shares what local employers are doing to support family caregivers. Please check out these ideas and pick some pearls to use in your own organizations. Please also check out our updated COVID-19 Resource page to find valuable new resources from TWH Centers for Excellence across the US. And finally, CPH-NEW has several new Total Worker Health training opportunities…read on to learn what’s happening.
On behalf of the CPH-NEW Total Worker Health Center of Excellence, we wish you a healthy and hopeful New Year.
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Supporting Working Caregivers During COVID: Trends and Strategies
Contributed by Jennifer Sabatini Fraone, MBA, MSW, Boston College Center for Work & Family
COVID-19 has presented a dramatic challenge for working parents and caregivers. Women’s careers, family stability, the economic recovery, and our efforts to make organizations more equitable and inclusive are all at risk. It is essential for organizations to take action, starting with listening to employees and what their needs are - through surveys, focus groups, 1:1 interviews, and meetings with employee resource groups. A holistic Total Worker Health effort is required; having lots of options is important to address a broad range of unique situations.
The Boston College Center for Work & Family collected and summarized information from our corporate partners on the efforts employers have made to support caregivers in their organizations. We have compiled a menu of options that touch on six areas: Flexibility, Well-being and Mental Health, Care Support, Financial Support, Leadership and Culture and Community Support.
Of note, many organizations had some of these supports in place before the pandemic started. Their crisis response has been to supplement those services and re-package and re-communicate them.
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CPH-NEW Training and Continuing Education |
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Remote Team Facilitation for Workplace Safety and Wellbeing: Join CPH-NEW's 12-hour training course to learn how to engage workers in a design process focused on employee safety, health and well-being. Learn from our team engagement experts how to implement the Design Team model used in the Healthy Workplace Participatory Program.
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NEW! TWH Learning Lab: The CPH-NEW Total Worker Health Learning Lab is a continuous learning community. This monthly learning lab will provide space for more advanced training on the Healthy Workplace Participatory Program, as well as important and emerging Total Worker Health topics. If you are looking for ways to engage your workforce in identifying solutions to your organization's most pressing health topics, our facilitator training and these learning labs are for you!
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NEW! Opioid Hazard Awareness Training: This free innovative opioid hazard awareness training module is designed for sand and gravel workers. It fits the requirements of the MSHA Part 46 Health and Safety Refresher Training “Health” section. The 45-minute module comes with a Facilitators’ Guide with slide-by-slide instructions including how to engage training participants through discussion.
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UPDATED! TWH Centers COVID-19 Resources pages featuring new trainings, toolkits, and call-to-actions for improving work-family balance during the pandemic.
Articles:
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Center Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publications:
For News&Views issues and journal articles, please visit the publications page
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Awards and Recognitions
Congratulations to our Center personnel (and past personnel):
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Mazen El Ghaziri, PhD, MPH, RN, assistant professor and associate chair at University of Massachusetts Lowell Solomont School of Nursing, and Lisa Jaegers, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA an associate professor of occupational science and occupational therapy at Saint Louis University, have been awarded $160,830 from the National Institute of Corrections for their project, "Responding to Staff Trauma and Organizational Stress in Prisons and Jail Settings." They will develop evidence-based training to address workplace stress and trauma. This is joint project of CPHNEW at University of MA Lowell, and the Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest at Saint Louis University.
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Congratulations to CPHNEW former Graduate Research Assistant Chandni Shahdev, on her new position with the CDC Foundation as an occupational epidemiologist. Shahdev is part of a team that works with large employers to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19. The team works with big box stores, grocery stores, restaurants and fitness centers – places with a lot of foot traffic and a high risk of infectious spread – to identify their particular risk factors and help them to keep their workers, customers and communities safe in accordance with CDC and local health guidelines.
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CPH-NEW is a NIOSH TWH Center for Excellence |
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