e-Campus - Work Wellness Institute

There is a growing body of evidence that the workplace environment and culture is the key to improving well-being work productivity. Increased well-being often equates to reduced sickness absence and improved productivity. Today, many workplaces offer well-being opportunities alongside tighter processes to manage sickness absence. However, offering doses of well-being and mindfulness, whilst helpful, don’t seem to make a difference to the ever-increasing reports of stress, distress, and burnout. This plenary will discuss the importance of effective communication and emotional intelligence if we are to help build resilient, compassionate and productive workplaces in the future.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to:
• Describe what emotional intelligence is
• Discuss levels of evidence that support the practice of emotional intelligence in building resilience
• Identify what policies and practices need to present in an organization that underpin its successful application

Debbie Cohen, OBE, MD, FFOM, FRCGP, FRCP, FAcadMEd 

Professor and Director, Student Support, School of Medicine, Director, Medic Support and the Centre for Psychosocial Research, Occupational and Physician Health, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Institute of Medical Education

Debbie is an Occupational Health Physician, Director of both Student Support and the Centre for Psychosocial Research, Occupational and Physician Health at School of Medicine, Cardiff University. Debbie undertakes research in physician health as well as  managing the support services for medical students in Cardiff, she leads a service for Wales for doctors with mental ill health. She manages and provides training on novel programme with a Norwegian colleague for both medical students and doctors in training in Wales on building emotional intelligence and resilience. She provides expert advice to Wales and UK Government on services for doctors with mental ill health and work and health and the fit note. She is the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (UK) lead on physician health. Debbie helped establish in 2011 the UK Association of Physician Health. her recent research is investigating disclosure options for doctors and medical students with mental ill health and is in the process of building an intervention to support earlier disclosure.

Debbie also undertakes research into mental illness and employment more widely and improving the conversation about work and health in health practitioners. She is a principle investigator at the National Centre for Mental Health in Cardiff, which researches a wide aspect of mental health, including employment issues in Wales. Debbie developed and ran the Royal College of General Practitioners training programme on work and health and at present is exploring shared decision making in work and health conversations. In 2012 Debbie received the OBE for her contribution to occupational medicine. 

This program is pre-approved by VRA Canada for a 1 hour training session