Welcome to the Academia Toolkit

The Academia Worker Toolkit was developed using a two-pronged approach: 1) information about existing interventions from the academic literature and internet searches and 2) what we heard and learned from research participants in our worker surveys, worker interviews, and stakeholder interviews.

Review of Existing Interventions

Our research team reviewed existing academic literature and conducted internet searches for 1) interventions that were developed specifically for academia and 2) generic interventions from reputable sources that could potentially be tailored for use in academia.

HPW Worker Surveys

As part of a larger study of Canadian professional workers, 379 academics completed a survey about their experiences with mental health, leaves of absences, and return to work between November 2020 and May 2021.

60% (n = 226) reported having experienced a mental health issue over the course of their career or training.

Of these 226 academics, many made changes to their work and considered taking a leave of absence, but only 23% (n = 53) actually took a leave of absence.

HPW Worker and Stakeholder Interviews

Our research team conducted in-depth interviews with workers and stakeholders, in French or English between January and July 2021, addressing mental health, leaves of absence, and return to work pathways in academia. We conducted 34 interviews with academic workers with a range of characteristics and 18 interviews with a range of stakeholders, representing interests of unions, professional associations, supervisors/managers, universities, insurers, and those representing cross-cutting expertise.

 

Evidence-Informed Interventions

Our research team curated information on existing interventions and generated ideas from our own research for academic-specific interventions that take into consideration the unique environment and challenges in the academic profession and culture. These ideas for not (yet) existing interventions are intended to spur further discussion and empirical research aimed at developing interventions focusing on structural rather than individual-level change.

 

HPW Featured Resources

 

Mental Health in the Workplace

In addition to workplace programs to prevent mental health problems and to intervene when employees show signs of struggling, it is also important for organizations to provide return-to-work and stay-at-work accommodations for employees experiencing mental ill-health. This article discusses the importance of accommodations and reviews existing research findings in the context of workplace mental health programming.

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Faculty Burnout is Real and Cannot be Wished Away

This podcast episode discuses some of the key drivers leading to faculty burnout, such as weak workplace culture that contributes to a perception of an unsupportive work environment . They offer strategies for training deans and department chairs to be more effective at managing the issue.

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Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT)

The 3-hour mental health awareness training (MHAT) is one of the first scientifically evaluated workplace mental health training programs to result in changes in leaders’ behaviors, increased employee resource-use, and lower disability claim duration over time. The training provides leaders, managers, and front-line supervisors with the skills to respond to workplace mental health issues.

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Right to Disconnect

The widespread use of email for communicating means that academics are continuously receiving work-related communications from the university and students. Both universities and faculty need to understand that it is important to set realistic expectations for when faculty will be available to respond to email. Many jurisdictions are either considering or having passed legislation to establish employee rights to disconnect from work, meaning that employees have the right not to engage in work-related communications outside of work hours. For example, the province of Ontario requires all employers with 25 or more employees to provide employees with a written policy explaining the employee's right to disconnect in accordance with employee rights as set out by the Employment Standards Act.

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Budgeting for Employee Absences

Universities depend on the people they employ in order to function, and it is unavoidable that people will experience illness whether for physical or mental health reasons. Salary paid to employees who are away from work needs to be factored into university budgets such that funds are available to pay replacement staff.

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HR Checklist

The concept for an HR checklist is for HR staff to have a procedure to follow when contacted by faculty or staff who are ill or experiencing a major life event that is causing distress.

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Accomodation Strategies

This toolkit provides a framework to identify and develop accommodations using strategies that 1) safely support productivity for employees with mental health issues who are at work or returning to work and 2) engage employees in solutions related to performance and well-being.

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Crucial Conversations

Effective communication is essential for success in any workplace, as it can help build relationships, increase productivity, and create a positive work environment.Crucial Conversations is a course that teaches nine powerful skills for working through disagreement to achieve better results.

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Dragonfly Mental Health

Evidence based programs created by academics in the form of seminars, tailored specifically to address mental health in academia. They have identified five domains of excellence in cultivating a health workplace in an academic setting including mental health literacy, fighting stigma, peer networks, dept. committees, and skills training.

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Not Myself Today

CMHA’s Not Myself Today workplace mental health programs, to build greater awareness about mental health, reduce stigma and to foster safe working cultures. This program is not intended to provide mental services directly to employees but instead geared towards the university administration or department to provide "turn key activities, and printed materials" and access to a members portal to create prorams that benefit the workplace at large.

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The Working Mind

The Working Mind is a course given by the Mental Health Commission of Canada to promote the discussions around MH, reducing stigma, resiliency and how to approach those conversations. Faculty can experience mental health issues such as stress, burnout, and anxiety among others. Promoting mental health in the workplace and reducing stigma can lead to more supportive environments, better mental health outcomes and a reduction in discrimination.

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Coworker Health Awareness Training

The 1.5-hour coworker health awareness training (CHAT) can be delivered in person or via online webinar. Employees are educated about mental health and mental health problems, how to practice self-care to help prevent and/or manage stress, how to take action when they recognize warning signs within themselves and others in the workplace, and how to navigate short and long-term disability and return-to-work.

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Canadian Mental Health Association Workplace Mental Health Training

The CMHA's workplace mental health specialists develop tailored workplace mental health training. They provide customized evidence-based programs to create a psychological safe and healthy workplace.

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The 4 R’s Approach to Supporting a Colleague

A step by step guide outlining how to recognize, engage and support a colleague who is struggling with mental health issues. Also provides urgent and non urgent phone numbers to call for assistance and help.

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Workplace Mental Health Hub

A dedicated workplace mental health hub on Carleton's website, providing guidance on how to support colleagues, and provides mental health online support resources links, both what is available at Carleton and general mental health resources.

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