Free OHIO seminars on Workplace Behavioral Wellness offer continuing education credits

A new online program offered by the George V. Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service features a collaborative learning approach to assist participants in addressing behavioral health in the workplace.

“Workplace Behavioral Wellness Promotion,” a free, five-part series, focuses on ways that organizations can build a stronger culture by supporting employee wellness. More than 450 participants from a wide range of workforce sectors have already registered for the series.

Professional staff at the Voinovich School’s Partnership for Community-based Prevention (P4CBP) developed the virtual learning series using the University of New Mexico’s Project ECHO platform. The P4CBP team is led by Director and Professor of Leadership and Public Service Holly Raffle.

Participants may earn continuing education credits in a variety of professions. Registration and further information on the series is available on the P4CBP website.

The sessions start with an introduction and instructional session, then participants split into small groups for networking, followed by a case study discussion.

The topic for the Feb. 11 ECHO session, for example, was “Challenging Stigma: Encouraging Authenticity to Build a Culture Free of Judgment.”

Dr. Katrina Wyche, assistant director of graduate recruiting and admissions at the Office of the Graduate School at Xavier University, gave the opening presentation.

The case study examined how a corporate buyout affected company culture, specifically the stress it caused for employees at the firm being bought.

Valerie Clause, a participant in the Feb. 11 session who specializes in human resources/talent management related to employee training and organizational development, said in a social media post it featured “beneficial reminders and thoughtful learning.”

“A consistent theme throughout the session was the impact of guided organizational development and ongoing employee education, especially when modeled and supported from the top down,” she wrote. “When leaders are intentional about learning, language and behavior, meaningful and lasting culture change becomes possible.”

Raffle said all the ECHO sessions in the series, which runs through May 13, will follow a similar agenda.

The ECHO system, “kind of flips the model of education on its head,” she said. Instead of an expert dominating the session, “it centers the expertise in the room.”

“So by having a case study, you are hearing from everybody in a session in the way they choose to participate. People learn much better that way, particularly adult learners,” Raffle said.

The result is participants leaving the sessions with ideas they can immediately take back to use in their workplaces, she said. “The motto of ECHO is: ‘All teach. All learn.’”

Raffle noted that the series' design attracts a much wider audience than previous projects.

“We’re not just getting clinicians or therapists; we’re getting leadership from public, private and nonprofit employers—really any workplace,” she said. “What makes this ECHO unique is its broad reach; it goes well beyond behavioral health professionals.

The project is funded by the state through the Appalachian New Economy Workforce Partnership (ANEP). Administered through the Ohio Department of Higher Education and appropriated to Ohio University’s Voinovich School, the ANEP supports a suite of business and economic development programs, including efforts to promote healthy workplaces.