COVID-19: One Year Later
We’ve all been doing the COVID-19 dance for a year now and wow how quickly our world changed! Despite all we’ve lost, all we have suffered and all we have sacrificed, we have also experienced some remarkable change, resilience and innovation. We have come together, as a nation and as a society to fight a common, albeit somewhat invisible, foe. Virtually, every business sector has felt the impact of the pandemic in one way or another. Offices shut their doors immediately and then scrambled to figure out how to operate their business with staff working from home. Restaurants and fast food chains had to adapt from relying on dining in to take-out and delivery. Grocery stores and retail outlets shifted to on-line ordering, home delivery and curbside pick-up. Essential services that remained open had to modify their operations with the implementation of PPE, social distancing, plexiglass partitions and restrictions on who and how […]
How Are You Doing? Let’s Talk About It!
Winter blahs and COVID getting you down? Feeling it even more right now? You are not alone! Since 2005, the third Monday in January has been referred to as the saddest day of the year – or Blue Monday. This year Blue Monday was January 18th but with all that is going on in the world right now, every Monday may feel like Blue Monday. Although the origins of Blue Monday can be traced back to a marketing ploy by the now defunct, Sky Travel, as a way to get people to book vacations, the day can be linked to a time of year when many people are feeling low, more significantly this year as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues. The 3rd Monday in January was chosen based on a fictional equation using factors like weather, debt to income ratio, time since Christmas, time since failing New Year’s […]
Back To Work?
It’s the dog days of summer, Labour Day is fast approaching. That means cooler weather is on its way and with it comes new challenges as we try to find our footing in a post-pandemic world. Virtually every business has been affected by the lockdown and safety precautions that COVID-19 has necessitated, whether it was lay-offs, working from home, providing essential services, operating with a skeleton staff or finding innovative ways to provide goods and services. The full impact of COVID-19 is yet to be realized but we do know that it has taken a toll on our economy, our lifestyles, our livelihood and our mental health. It’s undeniable, COVID-19 has changed us, at work, rest and play. It has changed the way we do business, the way we interact, the way we travel, the way we shop, the way we entertain ourselves and the way we receive healthcare. Some […]
January 29th, 2020 is Bell Let’s Talk Day
**If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs immediate assistance. Get help. Go to your nearest hospital or call 911** The conversation starts today, January 26th, 2022, with Bell Let’s Talk (#BellLetTalk) day bringing attention to mental health awareness and helping to break the silence surrounding mental illness. It continues Mental Health Week, May 2nd – 8th, 2022, with a campaign (#GetLoud) promoting open discussion regarding mental illness, how to stop the associated discrimination and stigma, while raising awareness and building support for those who suffer. Then culminates in October with Mental Illness Awareness Week, an effort coordinated by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health designed to open the eyes of Canadians to mental illness. Mental health is part of our daily lives at home, at play and at work, it affects all of us, whether directly or indirectly, whether we are aware of […]
Bullying & Harassment: Is it an Acceptable WCB Stress?
While there was a time when the stress of your job did not constitute the basis of an acceptable workers’ compensation claim, the times they are changing, or so it may seem. With the emergence of campaigns like anti-bullying, #MeToo, and #BellLetsTalk (coming up later this month on January 29th), discussions around mental health issues and their impact on how we live has become more prevalent. Issues like bullying (including cyber-bullying), harassment and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are being more widely recognized, acknowledged and accepted in a work-related context. Although ‘stress’ is not a medically accepted diagnostic term, mental stress is commonly used to describe a person’s non-specific physical and psychological response to the events or changes that occur in his or her life. These events are known as stressors and stressors are a normal part of life. If a person’s ability to cope with stressors is overwhelmed; distress, a […]