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Starting Wednesday, April 8, LifeWorks will be hosting weekly Well-being Wednesdays Facebook Live sessions from LifeWorks. Well-being Wednesdays sessions will run for 30 minutes in both English and French and focus on one of the four pillars of well-being: Mental, Physical, Social, and Financial. Our own experts and partners from around the world will lead the Well-being Wednesdays live sessions!

All you need to join live for Well-being Wednesdays is to visit the LifeWorks Facebook page.

Well-being Wednesdays schedule for April:

• Wednesday April 8, 10:00am EST (French) and 11:00am EST (English) : Mental well-being
• Wednesday April 15, 10:00am EST (French) and 11:00am EST (English): Physical well-being
• Wednesday April 22, 10:00am EST (French) and 11:00am EST (English): Social well-being
• Wednesday April 29, 10:00am EST (French) and 11:00am EST (English): Financial well-being

LifeWorks is pleased to sponsor a free virtual panel, “Happiness in Times of Crisis,” a Canadian Club of Toronto event. This event will take place on Thursday, April 2 at 12-1 p.m. ET.

This expert panel will be moderated by Bruce Sellery, Business Journalist and President of Canadian Club Toronto, and will feature:

• Paula Allen – Senior Vice-President, Research, Analytics and Innovation, LifeWorks
• Dr. Donna Ferguson – Clinical Psychologist (ABPP), CAMH
• Jessica Holmes – Comedian & Author, “Depression: A Comedy”
• Neil Parischa – Author, “The Happiness Equation” and “You Are Awesome”

This virtual event is free of charge. No sign up required. All you need to access the event is your name and email.

Please join us here: https://www.livewebcast.ca/canadian-club-20200402/.

In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, LifeWorks’ Workplace Learning Solutions team has developed a number of resources to help you understand and work through the challenges we are all facing.

They have created several short webinars that tackle a number of topics related to the COVID-19 outbreak. You can find these videos by clicking on the link below:

https://workplacelearning.morneaushepell.com/en/covid-19-training

While teleworking we can continue to cultivate our inner workplace warriors by doing 10 minutes of yoga and meditation at our desk. These goods acts, which can enhance one’s well being, will radiate out to co-workers and can be reproduced at your desk. Check out zen4ten here!

Exercise is so important to your physical and mental well-being and is a key component to self-care during this
turbulent time. While many of us are encouraged to stay home and practice social distancing, there are still great
options available to us to keep active and stay healthy. Check out the links below for information on LIFT session, a virtual fitness provider, through your EFAP website.

LIFT Promo – Employee Version (Mar 2020)

Heartbeat Webinar Recording- March 2020 – COVID19

This is your last chance to help inform psychological health and safety at Algonquin College. The survey is still open for one more day!

Click the link to be directed to the Guarding Minds@Work website to complete your confidential survey.

https://www.guardingmindsatwork.ca/employee-survey/5e446f9a12ce15e446f9a12ce2

Algonquin College’s Psychological Health & Safety Taskforce has launched the Guarding Minds at Work Survey. This unique survey is designed to assess, protect and promote psychological health and safety in the workplace. A psychologically healthy and safe workplace is one that promotes mental health and makes sure employees have the appropriate tools and resources available to them.

As part of our college-wide review of our workplace psychological health and safety, we are asking all Algonquin College employees to complete this survey by March 3, 2020. Employee input is a critical component of this review to help us identify strengths and weaknesses and to gather ideas for creating and recommending solutions. This survey contains questions about common work experiences. The questions cover a range of topics including work responsibilities, work relationships, and leadership. The survey is anonymous and will take less than 10 minutes for you to complete.

If you are interested in obtaining more information about Guarding Minds@Work or prefer to access the survey through the Human Resources wellness website, please go to https://www.algonquincollege.com/wellness/survey/

Please do not hesitate to contact Sarah Gauen at gauens@algonquincollege.com, Connie Powers at powersc@algonquincollege.com, Paul Lahaise at lahaisp@algonquincollege.com or JP Lamarche at lamarcj1@algonquincollege.com if you have any questions.

The organization and survey are endorsed by our ITS Cyber Security Unit for use with our employees. Should you have any questions or concerns in this regard, please contact Craig Delmage at delmagc@algonquincollege.com.

Check out the February Heartbeat Newsletter on building resilient relationships here.

Interested in reading past newsletters from LifeWorks, click here!

The New Year marks a chance to step back, take stock, and make the changes you need to
prioritize your well-being. Don’t forget that your wellness isn’t just about your mental and
physical health but includes your financial and social lives as well.

Read more in LifeWorks’ new monthly newsletter, Heartbeat!

Check out Lifeworks to catch up on previous newsletters that you may have missed!

While the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) help line is open for eligible employees, LifeWorks has also opened up a Crisis Support Line for anyone in the community in need of emotional support in relation to these events. The Crisis Support Line is open 24/7 and can be reached at: 1-866-885-6540. By calling, individuals will receive professional emotional support and/or referral to community resources. This resource is available to anyone and everyone, client or not.

Additional traumatic event support resources can be found below:

• How a traumatic event can affect you – LifeWorks Handout
• Taking Care after a traumatic event – LifeWorks Handout
• Tips for helping your child through a traumatic event – LifeWorks Hand out