Blog

Navigating these uncertain times with the COVID-19 virus may cause you to experience feelings of anxiety, loneliness or stress.  Wellness@Work offers deep compassion to you at this challenging time and hope that some of these resources help you cope with stress or anxiety you may be experiencing.

Access to counselling is available to U of G employees 24 hours per day, seven days per week through the University's EFAP provider, Homewood Employee Health toll-free at 1-800-663-1142.

View the full March Wellness@Work calendar with hyperlinks to activities below.

Featured events for March include:

Consider nominating a faculty, staff member or student who is an outstanding community volunteer for the Dr. William Winegard Exemplary Volunteer Involvement Awards.

United Way of Guelph Wellington Dufferin and the People and Information Network (PIN) have partnered with the University of Guelph through these awards to recognize volunteers who have:

Do you know someone who has consistently demonstrated a commitment to excellence and has exceeded the expectations of their normal employment responsibilities? Nominate that staff member for a 2020 President’s Award for Exemplary Staff Service. Employees selected receive $2,000* and are recognized during an annual community event. Teams share the cash prize.

Five award categories are available:

"Anxiety, regardless of a person’s psychological or biological makeup, is highly common. Although it can be triggered by a specific event, such as a trauma or stressful situation, anxiety can also present as a consistent theme in a person’s life, creating challenges in daily activities or interactions."

Read the full article from Homewood Health.

The OpenEd Ukulele Club is excited to share their performance from the 2019 Open Ed Holiday Party. Playing holiday favourites like: Frosty the Snowman, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, and Feliz Navidad, the club spread their holiday spirit to everyone present.

The OpenEd Ukulele group was formed as a wellness initiative by Shara Inotay and Robert Cutting in Feb 2019 after belonging to a similar lunchtime group in OVC run by their music teacher, Cynthia Kinnunen http://www.CynthiaKMusic.com.

As part of the ON TOUR series offered by Wellness@Work, employees were invited to explore the Bovey Greenhouse with tour host Rodger Tschanz. 

Participants learned about the research happening in the greenhouse and partnerships that have formed with on-campus departments. At the end of the tour, participants potted their own sunflower or basil plant to take home.

Below is some of the great feedback participants shared after the tour, along with some photo highlights. 

What did you like most about the tour?

On January 28, U of G hosted it's first U of G, Let's Talk event, as an opportunity for employees to hear a Wellness@Work update and panel discussion about the University’s progress in creating a healthy workplace.

About 100 employees attended and over 100 more watched the live-stream video. 

Watch the video recording.

Panel members included:

Social connections and a sense of belonging at work are important in building a healthy workplace culture.  The Harvard Study that's been running for about 80 years, has found a strong link between happiness and social connection.  Listen to this Ted Talk called, "What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness," which highlights some of the research that's emerged.

It’s easier than you think to workout on campus.

January is here and with it comes renewed goals of health and happiness. What better gift than being able to access state of the art athletic facilities right on our own campus. This article is intended to help bust down some of those reason why you might not be taking advantage of this amazing facility on campus.