(NewsNation) — Employers are giving increased attention to the well-being of their workers, according to a new survey from Fidelity Investments and Business Group on Health.
In 2021, 35% of the employers polled said that job satisfaction was a focus in their well-being programs. In 2022, that number jumped to 52%.
Daniel Levine, founding director of the Avant-Guide Institute, answered viewer questions on mental health in the workplace during an appearance on “Morning in America”.
Q: Has the past two years made people like you and me prioritize their quality of life and their mental health more than ever?
A: There’s no question that that’s a major trend as the move has gone from people thinking about work-life balance to work-life integration, because work is not something different from the rest of our lives. It’s part of our lives. And that’s so much a part of what people are thinking
about.
Q: With our aging population and, I predict, a severe shortage of caregivers, how can we introduce new technologies into health care, which can provide tools to help these caregivers do the difficult work they need to do each day? — NewsNation viewer Guy Fragala, Florida
A: That’s a great question because one of the trends that I’m seeing is that mental health or health workers are not being treated for their own mental health as much as other workers. In fact, there’s sort of a stigma around mental health and doctors and nurses. If doctors, for example, report that they’re having anxiety and depression, that could impact your career in negative ways. And in fact, I’m seeing sort of a shadow pandemic, in what’s happening with health care workers.
A shadow pandemic of anxiety and depression among health care workers. It’s a very serious thing. What I’m seeing is that specifically in health care, our the people who are responsible for our health are not being taken care of as well as people in other sectors.
WELL-BEING IN SCHOOLS
Social-emotional learning is a method that helps students better comprehend their emotions.
According to a 2021 report by Tyton Partners, schools and districts are spending more on social-emotional learning between 2019 and at least 2021.
Q: I know there’s some controversy regarding social-emotional learning. So my question is, how can we take what’s good about this concept and integrate into school curriculums and address the concerns of parents? — NewsNation viewer Guy Fragala, Florida
A: Social-emotional learning is really about the kind of learning that kids do, or all of us do, that’s not specifically about math and science. It’s more about self-awareness and relationship skills, social awareness. And what’s happening now is this concept has become politicized, like so much in our culture right now. It’s become part of the culture wars. And I think that the way that I’m seeing the trend advance is that more parents need to be involved in the education of their children. And of course, you know, the United States, we’re one country and many nations. And so it’s really up to different parts of our country or our nation to decide what’s right for their children.
Watch the full interview with Daniel Levine in the video player at the top of the page.