College Council Showcases Health and Wellness Resources at Humber

An assembly of faculty, support staff, students, and administrators, Humber College Council (HCC) is Humber’s collective employee voice, making suggestions to Humber College’s President as it relates to long and short‐term priorities outlined in the institution’s Strategic Plan.

Acknowledging the impact of the last few years on Humber staff and employees around the world, HCC held its annual retreat for the 2021-2022 academic year on Thursday, June 2, 2022 focused on re-energizing members and showcasing the various wellness resources available to them at Humber.

Key information and teachings were shared on these topics by Jason Seright, Dean, Indigenous Education at Humber College and Paula Allen, Global Lead and Senior Vice President of Lifeworks.

• Jason Seright shared the teachings he was taught about the Ojibwe Medicine Wheel. With balance at its centre, the wheel is divided into four equal quadrants representing the North, East, South and West. These quadrants also represent seasons, colours, life stages, plants and the mental, spiritual, emotional and physical states/dimensions. Seright called on participants to envision it as a house with four rooms, and to imagine what happens when we ignore one of those rooms. He stressed the importance of visiting each of them.
• Paula Allen presented The Mental Health Index Report published in February 2021 by Morneau Shepell (now Lifeworks). It features pre-COVID data and data collected during the first year of the pandemic from approximately 3000 Canadians to demonstrate the impact of the pandemic on Canadian’s mental wellbeing. While a two-point drop (-2) on the index indicates a significant decline, levels during the first year of the pandemic were around 11. “An eleven-point decrease from the pre-COVID-19 benchmark reflects a population whose mental health is similar to the most distressed one per cent of the benchmark population.” (pg. 3). The report highlights the strain on managers during this time, faring well below non-managers (-10.9 non-management vs -12.2 management: p. 2), and the impact of the pandemic on full-time students who have the lowest mental health score (-27.8: p. 1).

The presentation was followed by wellness activities, and sharing many of Humber’s health-oriented offerings:

• Nature walks: Jimmy Vincent, Camp Director at the Humber Arboretum, provided tours of the Arboretum grounds.
• Traditional Chinese medicine: Humber’s Tzu Chi Clinic* provided members with assessments and treatments.
• Chair yoga: Humber’s Recreation and Fitness Coordinator Nathania Bron taught members to reduce stress with chair yoga.
• Cooking demo: Humber’s Chef Eric Deletroz taught participants how to prepare an easy and healthy snack using his special spice mixture.
• Spa services: The Humber Spa* showcased their various offerings to relax, refresh and recharge.

*Both the Tzu Chi Clinic and The Humber Spa engage students in their service provision, thereby providing the critical work integrated learning students need to prepare them for the workforce.

To connect health and wellbeing of people to that of the planet, Lindsay Walker, Associate Director, Office of Sustainability invited participants to be ambassadors of the O2GO Reusable Containers, a program at Humber that aims to provide a cost-effective alternative to single-use, throwaway containers and avert waste from landfills and oceans.

NEXT HCC MEETING

The next Humber College Council meeting will be in September when the fall academic term commences.

For questions or comments about HCC meeting highlights, contact regan.mancini@humber.ca. For supporting materials or opportunities to provide feedback, please visit the College Council website or contact shovani.samalia@humber.ca.