b'EMPLOYEE WELLNESSRecovering StrongCreating opportunities for employees to focus onwell-being and reconnect to purposeBy Sheena CampbellA sk most health care workers why they do whatpeopleCare has always been a special place to work, and they do, and youll notice a heartfelt recurringI normally felt great knowing my residents received the theme. Called to care for others. Make a difference.care they deserve, with a smile, says Schmolling. Thats Fulfilled from having made someone elses life better.whats been so hard about COVID. Fear our residents would become ill and more fear when they did. Working For people whose natural inclination is to care for others,in all this personal protective equipment (PPE) that meant a real challenge of COVID-19 is that it made caregivingmy residents couldnt even see my face. Waiting to cry until more complicated and stressful, leaving many health carethe drive home so I wouldnt bring my team down. All of it workers feeling that no matter how hard they tried at homeimpacted my whythe reasons I loved going to work.or work, in a pandemic they could never do enough. Wellness, togetherThis impact is the motivation behind peopleCarespeopleCare worked hard to support staff to navigate the Recovering Strong Employee Wellness Strategy, whichunique challenges of this prolonged pandemic, informed aims to give the organizations dedicated team membersby ongoing feedback from the frontline about what they opportunities to focus on their own well-being andneeded, for example around infection prevention training reconnect to their purpose after two long years of steppingand PPE. As time passed, we recognized an opportunity up and putting others first.to acknowledge the impact of COVID on physical and mental health as well, by inviting employees to share their Emma Schmolling is a Nursing Staffing Manager atexperience and taking action based on what we heard. peopleCare AR Goudie Long-Term Care whose experienceThat led to Recovering Strong, a new strategy aligned helps highlight the importance of actively supportingwith peopleCares values that aims to enable employee employee recovery and wellness. After sending her ownrecovery and wellness. Since everyones experience and baby to live with relatives, Schmolling worked as a personalviewpoint is unique, as a first step we surveyed employees support worker (PSW) on the frontlines of a challengingabout how they were feeling, giving everyone a chance outbreak in early April 2020. At one point, she became illto share and ask for what they need. We also asked about with COVID herself, adding to the strain and grief over thetheir wellness priorities and ideas that we could build on in loss of beloved residents. the short and medium term. 20 LONG TERM CARE TODAY Spring/Summer 2022'