The University of Iowa offers UI employees many programs to assist with ongoing health and well-being. It can be overwhelming to survey all the resources available. A recent panel of speakers provided a concise description of several units that provide assistance to employees and their families, including the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Family Services, liveWELL, the three units of the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and the Threat Assessment Team.
The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a rich resource for employees in the midst of stress. While EAP is not presently available in person, they are available for face-to-face interactions via Skype or Zoom, or via other communications means. One of the ironic consequences of not being able to work on campus is fatigue caused by Skype and Zoom, but EAP staff member Bronwyn Threlkeld-Wiegand said that talking about your fatigue and other issues is one of the best ways to overcome them. She said her team is available via whatever means makes you most comfortable. UI employees are eligible for up to four visits at no charge. The most common issues that EAP staff is seeing are feelings of anxiety and inadequacy, and financial insecurity. She recommends finding someone to talk with about your concerns. Reducing your consumption of news, and keep a regular, structured schedule that includes taking regular breaks from your work and moving around. The university is invested in you and encourages you to invest in yourself by seeking assistance when you need it.
Bria Marcelo, from the Diversity Resources unit of the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), focused on the importance of speaking up when you feel that you are not being treated in an equitable or inclusive manner to other employees in the same or similar position or situation. The Division of DEI has many resources to assist you, so Ms. Marcelo recommended employees seek assistance by exploring the DEI website and the many other UI assistive websites and personnel, such as EAP.
For UI staff who face family issues, Diana Kremzar from the Family Services unit of University Human Resources (UHR) spoke about the many ways her unit is responding to the needs of staff. One of the pressing issues has been how essential workers needed to find childcare when their provider no longer offered that service. Family Services set up a website – Just-in-Time Child Care Resources – to provide assistance with finding available childcare on short notice. But Ms. Kremzar said Family Services provides much more than assistance in finding childcare. They offer information on flexible work arrangements, elder caregiving resources, new parent and lactation resources, financial well-being, and veteran & military family resources. If staff are experiencing any of these issues, Ms. Kremzar encourages you to contact Family Services.
In addition to Family Services, UHR contains the liveWELL unit that offers many resources for individual staff. During this time of COVID-19, people are experiencing emotions all over the map. Megan Hammes borrowed Ms. Marcelo’s description of some of these experiences as “emotional geysers.” There is lots bubbling below the surface and one doesn’t always know what’s going to gush up. We need to allow these emotions to be released to maintain our mental health. liveWELL offers many resources to help respond to these releases, whether by speaking to a personal health coach or getting resources from a departmental wellness ambassador, or by seeking online resources such as resilience training, or by maintaining healthy habits. Ms. Hammes spoke about 6 things individuals can do to help our physical and mental health: get proper nutrition and stay hydrated; be physically active (any moving of the body that you enjoy and feels good); practice meditation / mindfulness to help our brains rest and reset; get plenty of sleep; journal about your experiences as a way to process thoughts and feelings; and do something creative to help focus on something completely unrelated to work. The liveWELL website has resources to help with all of these things.
Dr. Monika Jindal, a physician in Family Medicine and Psychiatry spoke about employees needing to trust themselves as to their feelings and needs for assistance. If someone is feeling lost or anxious or irritable or distracted or exhausted and these feelings start to negatively impact job or life functions, that person might want to seek help; if someone has more stomachaches or headaches than usual, they shouldn’t be ignored. Dr. Jindal suggests talking with someone, such as a healthcare provider. In addition, the Department of Psychiatry has set up a 24/7 mental health hotline dedicated to UIHC employees so that they can reach out to someone who will listen and support employees in distress. That number is 319-678-4148. For other UI staff, she suggests calling EAP. Dr. Jindal says reaching out for help shows the person cares enough about themself to grow as a person; it shows the person’s strength of character.
A by-product of working from home is close proximity to others in our households. Close proximity can be good, but it can also be stressful and can lead to personal safety issues and the threat of domestic violence. The Threat Assessment Team (TAT) is trained to assist UI community members connect to resources of assistance. Eli Hotchkin is a member of TAT who spoke to the role of TAT. He described their role as bringing compassion and training to stressful situations. He encourages staff who find themselves in one of these situations to contact TAT.
The panel could only skim the surface of all the services that are available to UI employees. To view this a relay of this panel, please click here. program, go here: For further information on resources for staff, go to the Staff Council website “Resources for Staff” link.