The pandemic has changed many aspects about how we work, including the kind of workplace well-being supports employees need.  The need for virtual employee well-being programs has spiked, and the programs currently offered are more popular than ever.  In order to meet the growing demand for new, creative, digital employee well-being programming, new initiatives will be implementing to enhance the work of the small employee well-being team.  These resources will include monthly newsletters on timely health topics, e-campaigns, virtual wellness webinars for employees and their family members, digital educational materials and virtual monthly individual and team wellness challenges.

Levels of stress and anxiety in Canadian undergraduate students have increased in recent years (Booth, Sharma, & Leader, 2015). A survey by the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (2020) suggests the stress typically experienced by undergraduate students has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, students need strategies to succeed in stressful academic situations.

In the upcoming 2021-2022 school year, Drs. Ayesha Khan, Michael Wong (McMaster University), and Dr. Heather Poole (University of Ottawa) plan to implement various open-access mental health and academic resources into their undergraduate courses to support students. These include elements from [1] Growth and Goals Modules (http://www.flynnresearchgroup.com), [2] Guided Mindfulness and Relaxation Exercises (https://wellness.mcmaster.ca), and [3] Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review Method (https://www.khanacademy.org). Currently the team is reviewing these tools because they are all open-access; have benefits for the student experience; and can be implemented in large-enrollment, online, and face-to-face classes.

The project aims to bring mental health and academic support directly to students by embedding a menu of open-access mental health and academic resources into academic courses. If the project is successful, it may offer a promising avenue to support students on a larger scale and reach students who may not otherwise seek campus resources.

This project intends to build upon work initiated by United in Colour, a student-led peer support group for Black, Indigenous, and students of colour in the School of Social Work at McMaster University. After collecting and analyzing data through dialogues and focus groups with racialized students about their experiences over the past few years, this project aims to develop an informed series of webinars on creating safety in the classroom that could be integrated into a variety of course outlines and formats across the academic institution. These webinars would intend to establish standards of engagement in discussion-based courses by including dialogues around tokenism, intent versus impact, and how students can check in with each other and their instructors to facilitate safer spaces. The overall goal of this project is to create an interactive webinar that (1) integrates the perspectives and ideas of marginalized students and (2) supports instructors, TAs, and students in initiating conversations about how the classroom can be a safer learning environment for everyone.

Creativity is a wellness practice that is just as important to your overall well-being as eating well and exercising!  Creative expression has positive effects on brain health, mood, self-esteem, and physical health.  The Creative Well-Being Community project is a pilot taking place with Student Accessibility Services, Student Support & Case Management, Student Affairs Technology Team, & UTS that will focus on the emotional, intellectual & social dimensions of well-being.

A virtual 1 hour hands on workshop will be held once a month that will focus on different creative activities that are fun, gender neutral, and for all skill levels.  No craft or art experience necessary!  Participants are provided with their own Creative Kit which contains all the necessary supplies needed for each activity!  A Microsoft Teams Creative Well-Being Community Hub will be available to all participants to access additional activities and connect with other participants.

The Creative Well-Being Community will provide a place for participants to succeed at creative expression and discover what creative mediums work best for them – inspiring participants to include creativity as an important wellness practice in their lives!  Most importantly – the Creative Well-Being Community will make participants feel GOOD, have FUN, and learn something NEW!

“Writing is not life, but I think it can be a way back to life”. – Stephen King

Mental wellbeing is one of the most important pillars of health. However, the ongoing pandemic, which has greatly threatened our physical health, has also negatively impacted our mental health. The studies and polls that have been conducted during COVID-19 highlight the progressively increasing stress levels and worsening mental health statuses of the Canadian population, especially that of the youth. Thus, maintaining a good mental state during this period of isolation, unrest, and uncertainty is very important.  As we all know, some activities and practices that can be utilized for this purpose are journaling, meditation, and exercise. However, in recent years, creative writing has also garnered attention as an exciting and innovative approach to managing stress and cultivating the wellbeing of the mind. This is in part because it provides a creative way forward to self-expression, reflection, and exploration.

As such, this project will provide a platform for the McMaster community to reflect and express their thoughts and feelings through creative formats. This can include formats like short stories, drabbles, poems, proses, haikus, songs, and accompanying artwork. The website that will be created for this project will allow all interested students to actively participate in sharing and expressing their personal creations with each other. Additionally, to provide a scientific basis for this project and encourage further discussion, the website will also provide information about the latest research and published works that address the therapeutic uses of creative writing. The goal of this project is to thus, encourage all of us to dive deep into our minds and use creative writing as a tool to express the simple and complex emotions we feel in our day-to-day lives.

-Nimasha De Silva (Project initiator and Manager)

Cultivating Change: A Food Collective Centre Webseries is a monthly webinar series that will be hosted on the FCC’s website for the 2021-22 school year. The series will address systemic issues of food security, sustainability, and sovereignty through a variety of community speakers and workshop leaders. Cultivating Change aims to raise awareness about the larger inequities of the food system beyond the short-term food services that the FCC typically provides. The series comprises recorded educational videos, each accompanied by a free-to-attend, interactive workshop offered to the McMaster community. The live workshops will teach tangible skills and actions corresponding to that month’s topic of interest: for example, growing and cultivating your own food, anti-black and anti-Indigenous racism in the food system, and the intersection between climate change and food insecurity.

The Health Sciences Library will be piloting a campus employee book club, Host Your Own Book Club. The book club will focus on topics in equity, diversity and inclusion. Each kit will include multiple copies of a single book title, appropriate packaging for transport, and materials for facilitated group discussion. Audio and large print copies will be purchased as needed to ensure materials are accessible for all participants. The project planners, in consultation with stakeholders, will select titles representing a cross-section of diverse voices and cultural experiences. Fiction and non-fiction titles will be included. This project aims to provide employee groups with opportunities to come together to explore complex issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion in a safe peer-to-peer learning environment. Books will be selected specifically to uphold the priorities of the Okanagan Charter and careful attention will be paid to employee wellness. Library staff will be available to assist employee groups with organizing events and if requested, attend sessions and help facilitate discussions. After the first year, the project will be evaluated. If successful, the project will continue and more titles will be added.

Description coming soon.

Thanks to support from the McMaster Okanagan Charter, McMaster PACE will offer FREE exercise and wellness classes for McMaster faculty, staff, and students all summer long! Our team of highly trained and qualified health care professionals will provide classes that focus on strength and aerobic training, mindfulness practice, and “desktivity” breaks for improving home office health.

The McMaster PACE ‘Move Well Program’ aims to promote and elicit positive health behaviour change among McMaster students, faculty, and staff. Increased physical activity, stress reduction, and social support can help to make McMaster learners and workers both healthier and more effective. The program supports the Okanagan Charter’s holistic integration of multiple health dimensions and aims to have a positive impact on participants’ daily lives.

Participation in the program will be entirely virtual: students, staff, and faculty will enroll and participate online, receiving weekly schedules and links to join via email. Free exercise and wellness classes will be provided by Registered Kinesiologists and Physiotherapists using McMaster-licensed Zoom accounts. Our plan is to reach McMaster folks who are working and learning from home, right where they are: in their desk chairs!

Register here: https://forms.office.com/r/Ft5k6XCV8Y and get moving with us starting June 7, 2021.

We are excited to announce to launch of the McMaster Speak-up Advocacy and Allyship: Framework for Engagement against Racism (SAAFER) Initiative. This initiative is funded by the McMaster Okanagan Special Projects Fund and aimed at Faculty of Health Sciences learners, staff, and faculty to recognize and speak up against racism and discrimination. There is extensive research demonstrating the damaging effects of racism and discrimination on the psychological and physical health of Black, Indigenous, and other Persons of Colour (BIPOC individuals). Racism reduces the quality of care provided and contributes to health outcome inequities. It also creates unsafe environments for learners, trainees, and healthcare professionals. This inaugural skills-building and issue-focused workshop series will be offered to students of the Faculty of Health Sciences programs. Our goal is to enhance participants’ confidence in their ability to recognize and combat structural racism at individual, community, and institutional levels through the use of effective communication strategies and institutional resources. This program ultimately aims to promote the emotional health and wellbeing of patients, students and staff by empowering BIPOC students and staff as well as allies to voice any concerns regarding witnessed racism or discrimination with knowledge of how to communicate safely and effectively.

Mindful Self-Compassion – (Short Course) * (SC-MSC) is for McMaster University employees who are in a helping professional role or a role in which you directly support students who wish to add another skill to the self-care toolkit.

MSC-SC is an empirically-supported training program that combines the skills of mindfulness and self-compassion to enhance our capacity for emotional wellbeing.

Participant Eligibility: Must be in a role in which you support students.  Must have approval from supervisor to participate in the entire program.  Must be a current employee of McMaster University.

Registration: Maximum of 23 participants in an online version adapted version of the course. Staff must register (1^st come, first serve basis) to reserve their spot at adrewh@mcmaster.ca. Once the session commences, the group is closed to new registrants.

Course Overview

1. What is Self Compassion?                             Tues. Sept. 14^th, 3:00pm-4:30pm
2. Practicing Self Compassion                           Tues. Sept. 21^st, 3:00pm-4:30pm
3. Discovering your Compassionate Voice  Tues. Sept. 28^th, 3:00pm-4:30pm
4. Self-Compassion and Resilience                         Tues. Oct. 5^th, 3:00pm-4:30pm
5. Self Compassion and Burnout                         Tues. Oct. 12^th, 3:00pm-4:30pm
6. Making it Count                                               Tues. Oct. 19^th, 3:00pm-4:30pm
7. Retreat                                                            Sat., Oct. 2^nd, 9:00am-11:30am

Fostering a Psychologically Safe Workplace Throughout the Transition to a Hybrid Work Environment

As the economy re-opens and we contemplate an increased presence of workers on campus, we understand that some employees may experience feelings of anxiety, fear, stress or overwhelm.  Anxiety and apprehension about returning to previous or new ways of working and engaging with others is natural and expected. One way that we can support the psychological health and well-being of our employees is by preparing managers and supervisors with the skills to effectively support and assist their teams with the transition to a hybrid workforce – where some employees will work on-site, while others will continue to work remotely, in some capacity. Through education sessions and resources, leaders will enhance their understanding of the personal and environmental factors that can have an impact on employees’ mental health during times of change and uncertainty, and gain valuable tips and tools for navigating a changing workplace in ways that promote psychological well-being at McMaster

Project Overview

MOSPF provided funds to bring online group music therapy to McMaster University undergraduate students as a means to proactively manage stress and anxiety. As of October 2020, online group music therapy became a proactive wellness option and data has been collected to explore its efficacy in managing stress and anxiety.

Project Performance and Outcome

The project has successfully made online group music therapy available to undergraduate students at McMaster University.The sessions were delivered online opposed to the original application which proposed in-person group music therapy. Online group music therapy has been provided to a total of 26 undergraduate students, and a total of 22 online group music therapy sessions have been facilitated. A total of 11 online verbal therapy groups were facilitated as part of this project. As a result of funding later received from the Milne McGrath Hamilton Community Foundation, we were able to cover additional costs and the cost of the analysis of the cortisol. Data collected from students in the music therapy groups were compared to data from the standard of care and to 12 students in a control group (no interventions). Our preliminary results thus far indicate that online group music therapy reduces the experience of stress and anxiety as measured by standardized psychometric tools and cortisol. Additionally, attendance was the highest in the music therapy groups in comparison to the verbal-based groups.

Comments

We are grateful for the support of McMaster Okanagan Special Project Funding. As students transition back to campus, and we continue to navigate the fall out of the pandemic, proactive mental health supports will continue be paramount.We plan to continue offering online group music therapy in the Summer and Fall semester, 2021 and to continue gathering data.

Project Overview

The Student Success Centre and Mac’s Money Centre hosted a Financial Reality Expo as part of Financial Literacy Month in November. The objective of this event is to educate students about financial planning, including issues such as budgeting, credit, identity theft prevention, investing, saving, student loans, financial aid, awards and more. 

Events

1. Financial Wellness Webinars: Finding Ways to Save, Coping with Financial Stress, How to Deal with Debt, How to Build a Strong Credit Score, How to Use Credit Cards Effectively.
2. Money, You and COVID-19 (Instagram Live): November 12, 11:00 a.m. – 11:40 a.m. Instagram Live on @MacSSC hosted a candid conversation to discuss how COVID-19 has impacted your finances over the past eight months. What have been some of the challenges? What have we learned about our relationship with money? Our guest host, Rubina Ahmed-Haq, personal finance expert and news personality, will answered questions live and helped us discover how we can improve our relationship with money.
3. Financial Goals for 2021 January 7, 11:00 a.m. – 11:40 a.m. Instagram Live on @MacSSC with guest Rubina Ahmed-Haq, personal finance expert and news personality talking about all the ways to deal with holiday debt and how students (and all of us) can better manage our money in 2021. 

Project Performance and Outcome

Events supported student health by providing students with resources to reduce financial stress and gain confidence in their financial decision-making skills. The project saw 39 attendees. 

The Grad-Visory-Participatory Action Team for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Graduate School’s goal was to organize a stakeholder advisory group with/of/and for graduate students with disabilities and other diverse, intersecting identities. The ‘Grad-Visory’ intended to build community and mobilize change by informing equity, diversity, and inclusion strategies and student experience programming. The group collectively produced a set of Five Key Take-Aways and Action Steps to support the university’s EDI implementation strategy, which summarizes the primary concerns, perspective, and recommendations from the graduate students involved.  

Just Walk: Hamilton-Burlington is a not-for-profit McMaster led community walking program led by local healthcare professionals and McMaster University staff and students. Since September of 2018, Just Walk has facilitated free, fun, and supervised weekly walk events in both Hamilton and Burlington, where each walk begins with a an informative 5-minute health-related discussion delivered by a healthcare professional, followed by a walk led by student volunteers. By pairing health education with supervised walking opportunities, Just Walk: Hamilton-Burlington aims to make credible health information and safe opportunities to exercise more accessible to individuals living in our area.

The McMaster Okanagan Special Project Fund was able to provide money towards the creation of McMaster hosted website for our Just Walk program.

The Just Walk website as a stand-alone resource has allowed us to get information out to the McMaster community and the public regarding the befits of active living; and specifically walking and hiking. However, since the COVID virus restrictions were initiated in March 2020 we have been unable to plan and host walks and hikes.

Project Overview

The Student Sustainability Ambassadors Program (SSAP) was born in January 2020 when it was identified that McMaster student sustainability initiatives co-exist in silos.Through funding from the Okanagan Special Project Fund, SSAP was developed jointly by Hospitality Services and the Academic Sustainability Programs (ASP) Office. The mission of SSAP is to support student leadership, action, experiential learning, personal and professional development, and collaboration focused on sustainability.To achieve this mission,SSAP provides a virtual platform (a private Facebook group) where students can come to connect, collaborate, share and gain resources, and grow as sustainability leaders in their communities.

To learn more about the program, click here.

Project Overview

During the ‘20-’21 academic year, McMaster University Library’s Sustainability Committee hosted monthly events with the goal of involving our campus community in learning about and taking action to live more sustainably. These virtual events were a way to meet new people and connect with the McMaster community, even when we could not physically be on campus. We offered opportunities to learn about Indigenous environmental activists in Canada, practice habits for sustainable lifestyles, to learn about historical conceptualizations of environmental action, and learned about the impact of growing a native plant garden, as well as taught participants how to get started with their new seed packets.  

Project Performance and Outcome

Our goal was to provide opportunities to learn about sustainability and climate change, and through highlighting library resources such as documentaries, experts ranging from professors, archivists, and PhD candidates, through live workshops and events as well as through the creation of resources that could be interacted with at participants leisure though social media, library guides, and more, we met our goal. 

Project Overview

Resident Affairs and Concerts in Care Ontario joined forces create a series of professional development events under the banner “Music – The Forgotten Pillar of Mental Health.” Dr. John Miller of McMaster Resident Affairs developed the concept to address ongoing stress and mental health issues among his constituents. 

Objectives

1. To expose the medical community and especially resident learners to the concept that music has a central role in our social network, our social growth and fundamental as to how we communicate. Music has an impact on our mental health, our trust, our memory, and our mood.  

1. To develop a model for future interaction amongst involved partners promoting research and interest in this field. 

The concert-lecture format was chosen to showcase both expert speakers and select musicians who would work together to demonstrate current strategies that combine music and medicine. 

The series was to take place in person, in both McMaster’s LiveLab and in clinical settings in the Spring 2020.  Covid-19 ended that prospect.  However, five concert-lectures were presented online via Zoom in November 2020 and February-March 2021. Three of the concert-lectures were recorded and are posted on both the Concerts in Care Ontario website and on the PGME- Residents’ Affairs website 

Speakers and musicians reported positive experiences and excellent learning, and the series took advantage of new technology to overcome restrictions on musicians performing in the same space with each other and speakers working simultaneously. 

Project Performance and Outcome

This pilot project successfully presented 5 aspects of music as a pillar of mental health.  Expert leaders in the field discussed their clinical programs where music had been integrated into patient care programs.   

We drew on our personal and professional connections to bring together presenters from provincial and national programs, as well as talented well-known musicians who worked well with the presenters to create a musical setting for a broad exchange of ideas and discussion. The sessions offered personal experience for the residents, as the experts shared how they had created programs for communities and for clinical environments.  

Project Overview

The project was designed to encourage and support students, staff, and faculty in adopting an active and sustainable transport mode for trips connecting McMaster, surrounding neighbourhoods, and other Hamilton destinations. The project was led by McMaster’s Multi-Modal Transportation Advisory Committee which is comprised of a broad range of campus stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff representatives, and community partners. The Committee’s aim is to encourage active and sustainable mobility among students, faculty, and staff through education, programming, and policy change. 

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered programming on campus, with the suspension of in-person non-essential or extracurricular activities being in place as of March 2020. Furthermore, few students were living on or near campus since both terms had complete remote learning. 

Project Performance and Outcome

Most of the project’s intended goals were successfully achieved. It is important to note that these goals are multiyear and ongoing. MOSPF enabled the Multi-Modal Transportation Advisory Committee to accomplish important progress towards promoting active and sustainable travel at McMaster, which laid the foundation for continued work in years to come.

Create and disseminate an active transportation map: The Multi-Modal Transportation Advisory Committee’s Vice-Chair (Elise Desjardins) mentored a student group through SUSTAIN 3S03: Implementing Sustainable Change. The students surveyed other students to identify popular destinations that students want to reach by bicycle. They then developed several online cycle maps to those destinations through Ride With GPS, which are featured on the Student Wellness Centre’s website.

Revitalize an active transportation website as a hub of information and resources: Information and resources related to active transportation is scarce on McMaster’s webpages. Therefore, the Multi-Modal Transportation Advisory Committee identified a need for a “one-stop shop” where students, faculty, and staff could access information about cycling. The website was developed using MOSPF and features a variety of topics related to cycling (e.g., benefits, safety, bike handling, cycle routes and maps, and local/provincial resources). The online hub is currently featured on the Student Wellness Centre’s website.

Offer cycling education programming: The project completed one virtual bike repair session with New Hope Community Bikes in November 2020. This workshop helped 7 students develop knowledge for ongoing bike maintenance. We also offered a subsidy for bike tools, which 1 student purchased. Although attendance was significantly lower than outlined in the initial application, the Multi-Modal Transportation Advisory Committee was impressed by interest in this virtual session given that most students were not located in Hamilton over the past year or were not cycling regularly. 

Further details coming soon.