Psych Health and Safety Podcast USA

Dive into Episode #116 of the Psych Health and Safety USA Podcast, featuring host Dr. I. David Daniels, PhD, CSD, VPS, and special guest Mark Tuggle, an author and advocate for mental health in black men. Black men in the United States can face many challenges when seeking mental health help due to several factors, including: - The Black community has historically viewed mental illness as a sign of weakness or lack of faith. This stigma can make Black men feel ashamed or embarrassed to seek help and can lead to them not being open to discussing or acknowledging their mental health. - One study found that 63% of Black people believe that a mental health condition is a sign of personal weakness. The stigma can also be rooted in slavery when it was commonly thought that enslaved people were not sophisticated enough to develop mental health disorders. - Black men may also face barriers to mental health services due to poverty, racism, and implicit bias from medical providers. They are less likely than white people to receive guideline-consistent care or to be included in mental health research. As a result, Black men are more likely to use emergency rooms or primary care for mental health problems. Mark began in therapy in the mid-90s after being diagnosed with an illness that he feared would take his life. After years in therapy, he began to realize that his experience was not unique, and he believed that he could not only recover himself but he could use his experience to advocate for other black men in discussions about mental health.

Dive into Episode # 115 of the Psych Health and Safety USA Podcast, featuring host Dr. I. David Daniels, PhD, CSD, VPS, and special guest Michelle Beauchamp, the author of “Re-Learning Leadership. " Beauchamp discusses the value of inclusive leadership and the psychological and emotional safety by-products of inclusive leadership styles. Inclusive leadership is a management style that values and includes diverse perspectives and backgrounds in the workplace. It involves recognizing and appreciating differences in team members, such as those related to culture, gender, age, or sexual orientation. Inclusive leaders aim to create a safe environment where people feel comfortable speaking up and contributing and can handle situations in their way. They also seek to foster diverse teams and empower everyone to do their best work. Mrs. Beauchamp will share her experiences from her long career in both corporate and entrepreneurial efforts over her life.

Near-miss reporting is a vital part of any safety program. It involves identifying and tracking unplanned events that could have resulted in injury or death but didn't. Near misses can happen in any industry but are often not reported, often due to a lack of psychological safety for those in the systems themselves. This episode will discuss the importance of near-miss reporting in health care. Near-miss reporting in healthcare is vital for improving worker and patient safety. Near-miss events are errors that happen during medical care but don't injure the patient. Reporting near misses can help healthcare organizations identify areas for improvement, such as weaknesses in the delivery system, and prevent future adverse events. Ms. Raines emphasizes the importance of using near-miss reporting as a tool to prevent harm.

Dive into Episode #112 of the Psych Health and Safety USA Podcast, featuring host Dr. I. David Daniels, PhD, CSD, VPS, and special guest Derek Hanley, a veteran former field medic in both the military and post-military life who has become a photographer and was involved in the Honorable But Broken documentary. This episode is the second in a two-part series about the documentary, this time focusing on the experience of someone in the field during the time that the documentary was filmed. The goal of the documentary is to raise awareness of the systemic collapse of the nation’s Emergency Medical Service (EMS) system and advocate for change. Even more impactful than the story about the EMS system are the individual stories of the individual first responders, EMTs, and paramedics in the field. Mr. Hanley will share his unique perspective as a former provider in the field, documenting the day-to-day experiences of other EMS providers during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dive into Episode #111 of the Psych Health and Safety USA Podcast, featuring host Dr. I. David Daniels, PhD, CSD, VPS, and special guest Bryony Gilbey, a former reporter who did stories for well-known programs such as 60 Minutes about a documentary that she has produced called "Honorable, But Broken," which takes a behind the scene look at the nation's emergency medical service system, including the challenges it creates for not only the communities that it serves but for the first responders, emergency medical technician and paramedics in the field. Emergency Medical Service (EMS) systems face several challenges that impact their ability to provide effective care, including: • Staffing: Recruitment and retention remain significant issues for most EMS agencies. • Funding and Billing • Response and Patient Care • Apparatus and Equipment Much of the documentary centers around EMS providers during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It describes their challenges and highlights examples of what can and should be done to ensure that EMS pays attention to providers' concerns, which can result in better service to the public.

In episode 110, host Dr. I. David Daniels speaks with Cierra Gross, the Founder and CEO of Caged Bird HR. The company provides human resource expertise from outside organizations and a safe space for workers to get assistance when their experience is not what they want it to be. According to a 2023 survey, 34% of employees don't trust their HR manager and wouldn't approach them due to mistrust. Even among employees who trust HR, one in three say they don't feel comfortable bringing up workplace issues. Ms. Gross discusses Caged Bird’s unique approach, which includes one of the nation’s most extensive data sets regarding workplace experiences, and a sister brand, “Wrk Receipts,” which offers an AI assistant that helps workers document their work experiences.

In this episode, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Dr. Leslie Hammer, Director at Oregon Healthy Workforce Center (OHWC), a veteran of over 30 years in Occupational Health Psychology. OHWC is one of ten Centers of Excellence for Total Worker Health. Dr. Hammer is also Associate Director of Applied Research at the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences and a Professor Emerita at Portland State University. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) funds 10 academic Centers of Excellence for Total Worker Health across the U.S. These centers serve as hubs for research and practice, advancing worker safety, health, and well-being. They explore job-related factors impacting well-being, such as wages, workload, stress levels, and social interactions. Dr. Hammer’s research and work have focused on a healthy balance between work and home. Recently, they have focused on the degree to which leadership can support not only work-life harmony but also physical health and safety, psychological health and safety, and overall mental health.

Dive into Episode #108 of the Psych Health and Safety USA Podcast, featuring host Dr. I. David Daniels, PhD, CSD, VPS, and special guests Chrisie Tyson, a Wellness Professional, and Victor Lawe, an Occupational Health and Safety professional, who both work in a local government organization. In 2022, state and local public sector employers reported a combined injury rate of 4.9 per 100 workers, 81% higher than the private sector's reported rate of 2.7 per 100 workers. The OSH Act was written based on congressional authority to regulate interstate commerce. State and local governments are exempt under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution except in the case of a specific state law. 27 states and territories have passed these state plans. When Safety and Wellness professionals in local government can focus on the health and safety of public sector workers, this has a dual benefit, for both the workers and the public depend on the government for services.

Dive into Episode #107 of the Psych Health and Safety USA Podcast, featuring host Dr. I. David Daniels, PhD, CSD, VPS, and special guest Dr. Jermaine Hunter, an Occupational Safety and Risk Manager, who administers a grant funded by OSHA to provide basic safety-related training to primarily young workers, and workers with disabilities. In 2022, Travelers, the largest workers’ compensation insurer in the United States, released a 2022 Injury Impact Report that analyzed more than 1.5 million workers’ compensation claims over five years from 2015 to 2019. The study revealed that 35% of workplace injuries occur during a worker’s first year on the job, highlighting the importance of comprehensive onboarding and training programs for employees, especially in the pandemic era when there has been considerable movement in the labor market. New workers are often exposed to both psychosocial and physical hazards because they don’t know how to recognize either. Over the four years of the grant, Dr. Hunter and his team have provided approximately 3,500 students with basic safety training, many before they graduate high school, arming them to work physically and psychologically safer when they enter the workforce.

In the episode, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Dr. Robyn Faintich of Jewish GPS about some of the considerations for creating a psychologically healthy and safe space for someone Jewish. According to a 2020 Pew Research Center study, the Jewish population in the United States was estimated to be 7.5 million, 2.5% of the national population. This includes: • 5.8 million adults who identify as Jewish by religion • 1.5 million Jews who identify with no religion The study also found that Jewish adults are geographically distributed: 38% live in the Northeast, 27% live in the South, 25% live in the West, and 10% live in the Midwest. It can be a matter of religion, and for religious purposes, being Jewish is traditionally defined as being born to a Jewish mother. But being Jewish can also be a matter of ancestry, ethnicity, and culture. Jewish people are not monolithic, but those who seek to create psychologically healthy and safe spaces for Jewish people will learn a tremendous amount from Dr. Faintich's scholarship and her lived experience.