WEB045-2022

Live and Recorded on Jul 19, 2022, 1 pm – 2 pm Eastern

Mental Health & Impairment in the Workplace
By Claire Stroer, MPH, CHES and Rebecca Martin, MPH, IMH-E

Member:$20
Non-Member: $35

Topic Overview:

Claire Stroer and Rebecca Martin with the National Safety Council, America’s leading nonprofit safety advocate, will present on Impairment in the Workplace, with an emphasis on mental health and wellbeing. As the COVID-19 pandemic raged, mental health issues and substance use did, too. A recent public opinion poll found that many adults are experiencing significant mental health concerns, such as difficulty sleeping (36%) or eating (32%), increases in alcohol consumption or substance use (12%) and worsening chronic conditions (12%), due to worry and stress over the coronavirus. Among workers, these issues are even more pronounced, with one in four workers showing signs of PTSD and a 63% increase in anxiety among workers in December 2021 vs pre-pandemic.  This presentation will review how substance use and mental health can be underlying causes of workplace impairment, their impact on employee safety and wellbeing, and workplace supports that are available to take action.

Objectives:

1. Participants will understand the broad definition of impairment

2. Participants will understand how mental health & substance use intersect with impairment

3. Participants will understand how workplaces can address impairment

Speaker Bios:

Claire Stroer, MPH, CHES, is a public health professional working on the Council’s impairment initiatives. Claire is responsible for planning, implementing and evaluating the council’s impairment initiatives, such as addressing workplace substance misuse and fatigue. This entails researching relevant topics and providing analysis for technical reports and initiatives to strategize and build future programs. As a Certified Health Education Specialist, Claire also focuses on creating tools to aid employers in addressing substance misuse and other forms of impairment in the workplace. She works to create and draw awareness to holistic impairment interventions for employers, such as workplace training and impairment detection technology.

Rebecca Martin, MPH, IMH-E, joined NSC’s Impairment Team in August 2021 working on substance use and mental health initiatives. Rebecca brings more than 20 years of diverse public health experience to her role. Her background includes program planning, research & evaluation, communications, community development & direct service primarily focusing on maternal & child health, infant mental health & health equity. She is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer & is bilingual in English & Spanish. Rebecca received her BS from UW-Madison, majoring in Life Sciences Communication and her Master of Public Health from UW-La Crosse. She is a graduate of UW-Madison’s Infant, Early Childhood and Family Mental Health advanced clinical practice program and has earned Infant Mental Health (IMH) Endorsement® for culturally sensitive, relationship-focused practice promoting infant mental health.

Requirements for Completion

Successful completion of this activity includes submitting an accurate registration, making necessary payment, and reviewing all activity slides and the webinar presentation. Completion of the evaluation form is required.

Type of Activity: Knowledge

Disclosures: AOHP does not guarantee, warrant, certify, verify, and/or authorize the content of this seminar, and/or any subsequent use of the information presented at this webinar. This webinar is not a clinical/medical service but is intended for educational purposes only. Planners of this educational activity have no real or apparent financial, professional or personal conflict of interest to disclose. Faculty/presenter disclosure is stated following each presenter’s bio-sketch. AOHP has implemented a mechanism to identify and resolve all conflicts of interest before the delivery of this educational activity.

Commercial or Sponsor Support: N/A

Continuing education Contact Hour: This activity awards one (1) contact hour.

Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP 17664.

Conflict of Interest: A conflict of interest occurs when an individual has an opportunity to affect educational content about healthcare products or services of a commercial company with which she/he has a financial, professional or personal relationship.

The planners and presenter(s)/author(s) of this education activity have disclosed no relevant financial, professional or personal relationships with any commercial companies about this activity.

Non-Endorsement of Products: The Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare's accredited provider status refers only to continuing education activities and does not imply that there is real or implied endorsement of any product, service or company referred to in this activity nor of any company subsidizing costs related to the activity.