Holistic Employee Health Award: Halton Healthcare takes a holistic approach to employee health

Halton Healthcare’s health, safety and wellness team serves staff at three community hospitals and numerous community-based services. Credit: Halton Healthcare.

Halton Healthcare strives to foster a culture of total well-being that meets staff where they are, both personally and professionally. The healthcare organization, comprised of three community hospitals and many community-based services, offers a range of programming to educate staff and connect them with resources to care for their physical and mental health.

Initiatives like the Pet Pause pet therapy program through St. John Ambulance and the Fostering Well-being Through Leadership training series, launched in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), have proven popular. So has Love Yourself Day, which offered self-care initiatives, blood pressure clinics and other services to staff on a walk-in basis this past Valentine’s Day. Throughout the year, Halton Healthcare also distributes a series of newsletters and hosts seminars on topics such as addictions and smoking cessation, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, burnout, resiliency for working parents, and more.

“It is incredibly important to us that staff feel supported, heard, and connected, which ultimately helps us foster a strong culture of wellness across the organization,” says Alexis Gamble, director of health safety and wellness, organizational development and volunteer services at Halton Healthcare. “Our team embeds holistic wellness into Halton Healthcare’s culture through a program built on what our staff need. We conduct annual staff mental health surveys to understand how we can best support our staff both inside and outside of our walls.”

Those mental health surveys help inform the topics for webinars hosted by both internal and external partners throughout the year.

Support when it’s needed most

When asked which initiatives Gamble and chief human resources officer Michele Leroux take particular pride in, they cite two. “We are especially proud of our support our staff (S.O.S.) team, which provides proactive mental health support and resources for teams, as well as our crisis support team, which offers immediate support to staff following traumatic incidents,” says Leroux.

“Together, these initiatives strengthen our commitment to staff wellness and ensure support is available when it’s needed most,” Gamble adds.

These teams’ efforts are also backed by an employee and family assistance program (EFAP) that offers confidential counselling, coaching, information and support for a variety of issues relating to mental health, health management and improving personal and workplace well-being.

Looking to the future

Halton Healthcare believes a strong well-being program must constantly evolve and, so, always has one eye to the future.

“Our next major focus will be empowering all staff – regardless of role – with the skills, confidence, and support to use effective de-escalation approaches. As healthcare faces the challenge of being the top sector in the province for workplace violence, we are determined to lead with compassion, resilience, and a renewed commitment to protecting and uplifting our teams,” says Leroux.

For organizations hoping to follow Halton Healthcare’s example and take a more holistic view of employee health and wellness, Gamble offers the following advice.

“Design programs that are responsive to the wants and needs of staff. Leverage surveys, polls, data, and other relevant sources to gather meaningful feedback during the planning process. This approach ensures a clear understanding of what employees require to feel supported, valued, and engaged in program development,” she says. “It’s also important to think creatively and provide resources that enhance well-being both within the workplace and beyond.”