Working Toward Systemic Change: The US Surgeon General’s Framework for Mental Health and Well-Being at Work
It’s no secret that the way we work has changed in the last three years.
The pandemic and its lingering effects have left an indelible mark on our routines, patterns, needs, and preferences regarding how (and where) we do the work we do. It has also shed light on the fundamental link between well-being and our work environments.
As we continue into another year marked with uncertainty (what an uplifting post this is! 🫠), focusing on mental health and well-being at work has never been more critical.
In the Fall of 2022, the US Surgeon General’s office released a Framework for Mental Health & Well-Being in the Workplace to do just this.
The framework has five essentials to help organizations develop, update and implement policies, processes, and practices to support the mental health and well-being of people within organizations since we know - more than ever - that work and non-work life have a profound impact on each other.
Protection from Harm: creating the conditions for physical and psychological safety to ensure mental health and well-being through normalizing support focusing on mental health and operationalizing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility norms, policies, and programs.
Connection and Community: fostering positive social interaction and relationships by creating cultures of inclusion and belonging, cultivating trusted relationships, and fostering collaboration and teamwork.
Work-Life Harmony: examining how professional and personal roles can be integrated to minimize conflict by providing more autonomy over one’s work; making schedules flexible where possible; increasing access to paid leave, and respecting boundaries between work and non-work time.
Mattering at Work: building a workplace where people know that they (and not just their productivity) matter by engaging employees in workplace discussions, building a culture of gratitude and recognition, and connecting individual work with the organizational mission.
Opportunity for Growth: creating opportunities for everyone to accomplish goals based on their skills and growth and providing opportunities to learn, grow, advance, and receive feedback.
The Surgeon General’s Framework is a research-backed, systems approach to mental health and well-being.
It is designed to build stronger workplaces that support mental health and well-being by helping individuals cope with the everyday stressors of life so they can work productively and by providing support and resources to manage when mental health challenges occur. In addition to supporting individuals, it urges leaders to make fundamental changes to organizations - developing and implementing clear policies and procedures that may be lacking due to the stigma and discomfort around dealing with the spectrum of mental health issues.
This framework is exciting news for the legal industry, which, as we well know, has been grappling with a mental health and substance use crisis for many years.
As more voices are raised to call for systemic change in the legal industry and to support attorney and legal professionals’ mental health and well-being, this framework provides tangible ways to continue the work that many firms and legal organizations have started, along with concrete suggestions on how to implement these systemic changes.
