Imagine this: a workplace that is an engine of well-being, showing workers that they matter, that their work matters, and that they have the resources and support necessary to flourish. This future is imagined in a new report by the U.S. Surgeon General’s office (Dr. Vivek Murthy) entitled: The Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being (https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/workplace-well-being/index.html).

This report offers two things: awareness that our workplaces are not meeting our current needs, particularly as we emerge from this global pandemic and the case for change. And secondly, it provides a foundation that workplaces and practitioners can build upon.

In this episode, Kevin Shah and Amy J. Wilson introduce you to the five components of the Framework:

• Protection from Harm
• Connection and Community
• Work-Life Harmony
• Mattering at Work
• Opportunity for Growth

We also provide some context for how we got to this disconnect in the US today–to explore the past and connect it to the present.

In the end, more structure and equitable access to healing is needed to address these deep seated challenges, and the answer is complex. It’s going to take multiple approaches to solve this big challenge. It’s going to take us to work on the individual, organization, and societal level to really make a dent into this problem we’re seeing. And there’s many facets to this problem.

Over the course of this season, Kevin and Amy will break down the components of this Framework and provide ways we can move towards putting these words to action within our workplaces.

Readings we reference in this episode:

Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being: https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/workplace-well-being/index.html

Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam: http://bowlingalone.com/

The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart by Bill Bishop and Robert G. Cushing: http://www.thebigsort.com/home.php

Changes in dispositional empathy in American college students over time: a meta-analysis by Sara H. Konrath, Edward H O’Brien and Courtney Hsing: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20688954/

Empathy in Action Framework by Amy J. Wilson: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MIXPzJ23bgIfFV-wbjYGR1nsAhbL8nHWPhgJhwTPamo/edit#slide=id.p24