Roundtable Brief #6: The Role of Organizational Culture and Practices in Brain Health
The Business Collaborative for Brain Health (BCBH) is a collaborative of private sector partners developing innovative solutions to cognitive health throughout the lifespan. The Collaborative hosts regular roundtables to learn from experts and stakeholders and refine the work.
The February 2024 Roundtable focused on the evidence base for organizational well-being scorecards and the role of the work environment and culture in brain health. Speakers included Enid Chung Roemer, PhD, Associate Scientist and Deputy Director, Institute for Health and Productivity Studies, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Kristi Rahrig Jenkins, PhD, Research Program Manager for MHealthy, University of Michigan Health and Well-Being Services; Mary Imboden, PhD, Director of Research at HERO-Health and Principal Research Scientist in the Center for Cardiovascular Analytics, Research, and Data Science. In addition, Jennifer Zientz, Director of Programs and Head of Clinical Services at the Center for BrainHealth; Sam Mudro, President at HKS, Inc.; Susan Chung, Ph.D., Associate Director of Enterprise Research at HKS, Inc.; and Julie Volosin, Atlanta Office Director at HKS, Inc. presented research they conducted on brain health strategies in the workplace.
Alzheimer's Prevention and Healthy Aging Collaborative Progress
The meeting began with George Vradenburg recognizing the progress made with the launch of the business collaborative, focusing on preventing Alzheimer's and promoting healthy aging. He thanked the founding partners and emphasized the importance of brain health and reducing the risk of Alzheimer's. He also highlighted the goal of engaging the business community in improving brain health and productivity. Mr. Vradenburg acknowledged the contributions of Russ Paulson, and Kelly O'Brien, and welcomed new organizations Tivity Health and Myflock to the team. Ms. O’Brien discussed the collaborative work being done, stressing the importance of monthly meetings, roundtables, and work streams. She also mentioned a project with HERO Health to develop a brain health scorecard and invited Dr. Enid Chung Roemer to provide background on workplace scorecards.
Workplace Health Scorecards and Questionnaires
Dr. Roemer provided a comprehensive overview of organizational health scorecards, highlighting their purpose, users, and utility. These scorecards are tools to assess the implementation of evidence-based best practices in workplace health and well-being initiatives. Various examples exist in the market, such as the American Heart Association workforce well-being scorecard and the CDC Worksite scorecard, all covering similar topic areas despite differences in organization.[i] They cater to employers of all sizes, including states, federal governments, researchers, health promotion practitioners, and vendors.[ii]
Scorecards are instrumental in several respects. They help identify gaps in health-related screenings and interventions, provide training and technical assistance to employers to enhance workplace health promotion programs, and allow evaluation of program effectiveness. They offer an educational baseline, help identify areas for improvement, and enable monitoring of progress and impact on both employee and business outcomes. Additionally, they serve as benchmarks for comparison with similar organizations, aiding in strategic planning and intervention implementation. Despite primarily focusing on structural aspects, efforts are being made to incorporate employee feedback and individual well-being assessments to ensure alignment between organizational practices and employee experiences.
University of Michigan's Health Initiative Overview
Dr. Kristi Rahrig Jenkins discussed the University of Michigan's health initiative, emphasizing its comprehensive approach to workplace wellness. She highlighted the program's alignment with the university's philosophy of well-being and its unique features, such as its focus on social determinants of health. Dr. Jenkins mentioned the importance of consistent data collection and partnerships across departments for accurate responses. The discussion also touched on new sub-scores in the scorecard, such as mental health and wellness, and how the data were used to identify areas for improvement. She also mentioned the various initiatives being implemented to improve employee well-being, including food security measures, resource coaching programs, financial literacy programs, and the creation of a chief behavioral health strategist position.
Benchmarking and Brain Health Score Development
Dr. Mary Imboden discussed the importance of benchmarking and the development of a new brain health score. She explained that HERO-Health’s benchmarking includes various factors such as organization size, industry, type, and geographic region. Dr. Imboden emphasized the value of custom benchmark reports, allowing organizations to compare their results with similar entities. She shared that their scorecard is viewed as an educational and research tool, with most points allocated to practices related to strategic planning and organizational culture support. Additionally, she noted the introduction of new best practice scores around mental health, diversity, equity, inclusion, and social determinants of health. She also mentioned the ongoing development of a brain health score, which is currently in an external review phase. George Vradenburg asked a question regarding the terminology used for mental health and brain health, to which Dr. Imboden responded that there's an overlap between all the best practice scores and she has considered merging them. Kelly O'Brien emphasized the educational aspect of the process and anticipated feedback from employers. Stephen White further elaborated on the difference between brain health and mental health, with brain health being more comprehensive and proactive.
The Role of Workplace Context and Culture in Brain Health
Jennifer Zientz defined brain health as the continual promotion of optimal development across a person's lifespan. She explained that brain health encompasses cognition, well-being, and social connectedness and that agency and strengthening executive function can enhance these aspects. She also highlighted the potential of the workplace to shape brain health. The Center for BrainHealth has partnered with HKS to examine what a brain-healthy workplace and culture would look like. They are also exploring the economic impact of brain health through a new venture called Brainomics. Initial findings from their work suggest that engagement, mental energy, and burnout can be improved through better understanding and management of brain health. Susan Chung from HKS added that their global interdisciplinary architecture and design firm is invested in talent recruitment, retention, and attraction, and is also focused on mental health and investing in the future of work.
HKS presented the results from a study they conducted on brain health in the workplace, focusing on strategies such as managing distractions and multitasking.[iii] The study found that the Center for BrainHealth’s Brain Health Index scores improved over six months and identified challenges related to burnout. Key findings were used to create a framework to guide better brain health, including understanding workplace strategies, identifying key affordances, aligning intent with environment, balancing the workday, and connecting socially. The study also found that adopting these brain health strategies can be contagious within an office culture. Julie Volosin at HKS then discussed the diversity of their office and how it provides a broad perspective for testing these strategies. She shared her personal experience of using different areas in their office designed to support different tasks such as deep thought, reflection, ideation, and exploration. She also discussed the progress they’ve made with implementing brain health strategies, including team challenges, single-tasking, and brain health breaks, which have led to an 18% decrease in multitasking and increased focus on tasks. Sam Mudro, HKS CEO, discussed the importance of brain health in their work, citing positive outcomes and the integration of brain health into their physical office spaces. He added that the outcomes of their findings and actions have great value when you consider the impact that the significant reduction in multitasking by 18% has when extrapolated across 29 global offices and 1,600 individuals. Thomas Seoh asked about the potential ROI analysis of these strategies; Mr. Mudro responded by discussing the productivity gains they've seen. George Vradenburg asked if they would design their office differently knowing what they now know about brain health, to which Ms. Volosin responded that they have designed their office to support the observed behaviors and patterns of work and have found that the office is being used in robust ways to support brain health.
In summary, the roundtable explored the potential of workplaces to shape brain health, with findings suggesting that implementing brain health strategies can lead to improvements in engagement and productivity. The integration of brain health considerations into office design and practices was highlighted as crucial for supporting optimal cognitive functioning and reducing multitasking, ultimately enhancing overall productivity and employee well-being. Tools such as organizational scorecards can help employers assess evidence-based practices, identify areas for improvement, and benchmark against similar organizations.
The Business Collaborative for Brain Health (BCBH) is a collaborative of private sector partners developing innovative solutions to cognitive health throughout the lifespan. The Collaborative’s mission is to build brain health capital by advancing measurably effective brain health workplaces, communities, and product and service innovations.
[i] https://checklist.welcoa.org/; https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/index.html;
https://hero-health.org/hero-scorecard/;
[ii] E.C. Roemer, “The Evolution of Organizational Health Scorecards and Future Directions,” American Journal of Health Promotion. 2020;34(3):326-332. doi:10.1177/0890117119898026f.
[iii] https://www.hksinc.com/how-we-think/reports/getting-to-a-brain-healthy-workplace/.