Mental health program gives employees important information and tools

When Claire Jore, a secretary with the Covenant Health medical device reprocessing team, signed up for a mental health course at work last spring, she didn’t know how much she needed it.

“I couldn’t even pinpoint what one thing (was wrong),” says Claire. “It was just a lot of little things, and as a result (of taking the course), I ended up making some positive changes in my life.”

Clair was a participant in The Working Mind Healthcare, a program designed to promote mental health for workers in the healthcare industry while reducing the stigma of mental illness. Developed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, the program was initiated at Covenant Health in April 2024 to provide information and tools to help employees manage their mental health.

There are a lot of mental health programs available for employees but very few that address it within the context of the healthcare setting, says Lyn Beddoes, spiritual care manager. It was this sector focus that appealed to her when she took her training to become a facilitator for the new program.

“The healthcare version is more geared toward addressing situations that could come up in health care. There are a lot of (healthcare) examples and statistics,” says Lyn.

The program offers two options: one for employees and the other for leaders. The employee version is five hours long, while the leader version is just over seven hours. The additional time covers topics such as how to best support someone who has taken a leave or is returning from one.

The Working Mind teaches that mental health can fluctuate throughout the day and move across a continuum. It provides practical information, tools and resources that can be applied on the work site and help when people find themselves in stressful situations.

One of the tools is a scale that employees and leaders can use to self-assess their mental health on any given day. The scale is based on a continuum that progresses from a healthy “green zone” all the way up to a “red zone,” which indicates severe symptoms of mental distress.

When Claire did her self-assessment, she was surprised to discover that she checked as many questions in the “orange zone” as she did and that her mental health was not as good as she expected. As a result, she reached out to Homewood Health, the service provider for Covenant Health’s employee and family assistance program (EFAP) for support.

In the first four months since the launch of The Working Mind at Covenant Health, 165 staff have taken the employee version of the program, and 142 leaders have taken the leader version. Of those participants, almost all felt they had increased confidence that they could recognize and keep track of changes in their mental health and in the mental health of those around them, says Patricia Tallon, manager of psychological health and wellness.

Misty Zisin, a clinical nurse specialist at Covenant Health’s Villa Caritas facility, was one of those participants. “You leave the course that day with the ability to start utilizing the tools and the resources you are given,” she says.

Misty took the program with her colleague, Helen Pulido, a unit manager at Villa Caritas. Helen found that the program resonated with her because, being in a caring field, healthcare workers often overlook themselves and focus on the person they are serving, she says. This situation often continues until the worker breaks down, either in the workplace or at home.

We normalize (this situation) as part of life, as part of stress,” says Helen. 
Another helpful part of the program is that it provides a team or unit with a shared language, says Lyn. It is much easier to communicate when you can simply tell your colleagues that you are not doing well and heading quickly toward the red zone. This provides key information that can help team members work together and support each other.

“The Working Mind gives permission for healthcare providers to take care of themselves,” says Lyn.

Claire says that her mental health is currently mostly in the green zone and that her improvement has been thanks to the support she received through the EFAP and small changes she has made like setting boundaries.

“Things happen in your life, and you just take it and take it and take it, and you don’t realize where you stand until you see it on paper and you’re checking some orange colours,” says Claire.