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Renewing our Focus on Brain Health
Renewing our Focus on Brain Health
More than 2,000 community members have participated in brain health events and webinars through Northeast Iowa Community College. During the pandemic and beyond, these presentations shared strategies for coping with personal and workplace stress, burnout, managing teams and remote work environments, and self-care.
NICC-sponsored presentations included Emotional Awareness in the Workplace, The Opioid Crisis and The COVID Pandemic, Promoting Brain Health in organizations and families, Conflict Management, and a Brain Health Summit with panelists and nationally recognized speakers.
The College’s brain health programming has a positive effect on employee productivity in the workplace and retention. Additional presentation topics focused on essential worker training for employees in healthcare and first responders.
This growing awareness of brain health and learning new ways for individuals and organizations to discuss these issues is continuing. The advocacy non-profit organization, Brain Health Now, partnered with NICC to offer training opportunities to help destigmatize brain health in the community by providing practical hands-on information and tools to create an informed work environment.
Debi Butler, Brain Health Now
According to a report released by Gallup, Americans’ rating of their own brain health has dropped to its lowest point since the survey began nearly two decades ago, with only 34 percent saying their mental health is excellent, a nine-point drop since 2019. Brain Health Now research indicated that one in five people have experienced a brain health issue in their lives – more than 482,000 Iowans. Last fall, Governor Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation making October Brain Health Awareness Month in Iowa.
A grassroots organization dedicated to ending the stigma of mental illness, Brain Health Now reframes these conditions as brain health. “The brain is an organ and it can get sick too,” said Brain Health Now Founder Debi Butler. “It’s so important to focus on brain health in the workplace. NICC is providing critical training and awareness for employees and your business should be participating to address the critical need,” Debi said.
The American Rescue Plan Fund and funding through Mental Health & Disability Services of the East Central Region provide financial support for NICC brain health programming.
