Creating healthy organizations

Closing keynote talk at THE BOTTOM LINE CONFERENCE: UNTREATED DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY DISORDERS IN THE WORKPLACE. Vancouver. Sponsored by the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Conference website: www.cmha-bc.org/bottomline/program

We know that healthy workplaces contribute to employees’ overall well-being and job performance. Why is it so difficult to put this knowledge into practice? Dr. Lowe's plenary talk addresses this question, showing how implementing successful change requires a shift in our thinking from health as an employee outcome to a characteristic of the entire organization – a core value that guides how a business operates. He offers practical advice on change strategies, a topic that has been overlooked in research on workplace health promotion. Creating a healthy organization requires a commitment to individual and organizational outcomes, a reduction of work environment risk factors, and supports and incentives for action.