THE University of the West Indies (UWI) has partnered with the Inter American Centre for Social Security Studies to improve wellness in workplaces across the region.
Both stakeholders signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which paves the way for UWI to offer courses which are geared at improving wellness in the workplace, building resilience and tackling mental health.

The initiative was birthed during a meeting of the Inter-American Conference on Social Security (CISS) last year.
As part of the MoU, UWI will be offering courses which will be available to existing students on all UWI campuses and to people across the Caribbean region. Courses will also be available online.

“We will be addressing all these challenges so that we can have a healthy labour force, affecting productivity, enhancing social security and improving the wellness and well-being of all workers,” said Director of the Inter American Centre for Social Security Studies, Reginald Thomas, subsequent to the signing of the MoU at the Marriott Hotel, on Wednesday.

Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences for UWI’s Cave Hill Campus, Justin Robinson, said the programme is targeting employees and employers.
“As an employer, you can tune out to issues affecting staff and unless they can manage the different stresses, you are not going to have a productive employee,” said Robinson, adding that employees, on the other hand, need to be aware of the stresses which they face and how they can manage it.

In that regard, the programme will be targeting both sides, since it requires a symbiotic relationship and would not work if the institution only targets one end.
On a larger scale, UWI is also building a centre for workplace wellness which will be tasked with public sensitisation and so forth.

Robinson said the efforts are part of a “determined strategy” to build awareness and promote wellness in the workplace.

He believes the programme is necessary because people spend more time at work than at home, and what happens in the workplace has a tremendous effect on the quality of life of an individual.

“This feeds into our productivity and also pressures on the social security schemes…when workers are not well, they are not as productive, which affects the economy and social security schemes…therefore, we are interested in providing training around one of the major challenges to NIS schemes,” said Robinson.

He said there are programmes on the scheme which would encourage persons to get back into the workforce after an illness or injury.