Wellness Way - Report on staff welfare activities

ISSUE 1

REPORT ON STAFF WELFARE ACTIVITIES January to May 2021

OVERVIEW

The Ministry of Health and Wellness needs health care workers to operate at their optimum. It is against this background that the Staff Welfare Programme was designed in order to increase staff morale; reduce the effects

of

burnout;

build

staff

capacity

within

facilities; and boost the overall effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery. The programme has five essential components: Human Resource Management, psycho social support, rest and relaxation, COVID support, and wellness.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FLEXI-HOUR WORK SCHEDULE The Human Resource Management team continued the flexi-hour work schedule with Unit heads playing a vital role in ensuring the safety of all team members. Rosters were created, implemented and managed at the department level and took the form of staggered hours.

Work was also

rotated between home and office according to the needs of each department. COVID-19 allowances with a daily rate JMD$3,000.00 was paid to the relevant contributing staff.

STAFF SATISFACTION SURVEY An informal staff satisfaction survey instrument was crated and served as a means to review data and performance information at the end of the data collection period in mid-June.

STAFF WELFARE COMMITTEE A Staff Welfare Committee was also established with meetings scheduled for once per month.

PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT In order to strengthen the psycho social support systems, The Employee Assistance Proramme

programmewas launched and

took the form of a contract creation with two (2) clinical psychologists, Paulette Harrison Allen and Andre Davis. The services were accessed through referrals

by Unit heads and the Human Resource Department.

GROUP COUNSELLING SESSIONS Every Wednesday, a group counselling session was held with Dr. Earl Wright at 10:00 a.m. Approximately 15 sessions have been held since January. The attendance at the sessions ranged from a high of 28 to a low of 8.

These included department leaders, line staff and doctors.

The sessions were held and telephone counselling contacts were shared with staff members through the intranet for easier access.

PSYCHO SOCIAL SUPPORT MOHW HELPLINE Infrastructure work for a help line was also completed with data points and patch panels being created. The last stage for full implementation will be the assignment of numbers by FLOW which has been delayed due to the number of porting issues with the service provider.

POP UP MARKETS A popup market from Best Dressed Chicken will be opened twice monthly at 2 locations. The facilities will exist for pre-orders via Whatsapp groups created for regular users of the service. Care packages consisting of food and house hold cleaning/hygiene items, have also been delivered to staff who have tested positive for COVID-19.

REST AND RELAXATION HOTEL AND SPA DISCOUNTS Staff members benefited from discounted hotel rates during February and March for Royalton and Iberostar.

Spa deals were secured with Adam & Eve day Spa at 30% discount for 12 months, from January to December 2021 and 15% discounts on services at Salon 10.

The discount at Adam & Eves Spa was extended to SERHA.

COVID SUPPORT COVID-19 staff

results

members

were

within

delivered 48

hours

to as

standard and a dedicated help line for referrals was

was

created.

delivered

to

The

the

instrument Emergency

Disaster Management Special Services Department centre

in

the

Operations reach and

the the

who

manages

National

Centre.

call

centre

line

was

The is

the

call

Emergency number

to

876-999-7235

manned

by

an

assigned officer.

PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL WELLNESS EDNA MANLEY DANCE CLASSES Dance

classes

were

also

offered

at

Edna

Manley

School

of

the

Visual

and

Performing Arts in Caribbean Modern, Folk, Soca & Reggae genres. The classes took place

at

6:00pm

in

studio

or

online

on

Tuesday

to

Fridays.

Thirty-Two

participated in at least 1 class with 4 persons taking classes from 2 genres.

persons

PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL WELLNESS HOME WORKOUT EQUIPMENT Two-hundred skip ropes and resistance bands each, accessed & distributed equally tor 400 staff members. Exercise Equipment was purchased and assisted staff members with private home exercise sessions.

EXPRESS FITNESS DISCOUNT The MOHW also managed to secure discounts of 50% at Express Fitness for staff members who expressed interest in gym services. Fifty percent of the programme costwas fully subsidized by the MOHW in the first month, added to the 50% discount previously secured. This saw staff members using gym services for free.

Fifteen percent of the programme cost was subsidized in the second month, added to the 50% discount previously secured. This saw staff using gym services at a cost of $3,500.00 for that month. Staff then paid $5,000.00 for the remaining months. Discounted rates were also extended to the South Eastern Regional Health Authority.

PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL WELLNESS SPIRITUAL WELLNESS Meditation sites, apps and links were introduced via email and the Staff Welfare Corner on the MOHW dash board. A weekly devotional session is held on Mondays with Pastor Michael Lewis for staff members via Zoom. Each session last for 20 minutes and to date, a total of 20-sessions were held.

NUTRITION Food based dietary guidelines documents were also shared with staff, approximately 400 persons have access through the intranet.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT MRS INGRID JOHNSON-WALTERS Email: Waltersi@moh.gov.jm

CUG: 876-317-8547