EPID@Work: "Small Effort, Giant Impact. Translating Participant Voices: Developing and Evaluating Public-Facing Health Communications from Qualitative Research"

About the Event

This presentation demonstrates how qualitative research can inform public health communications. Employee interviews about workplace mental health experiences were translated into accessible materials—an animated video and tip sheets—showing how small compassionate gestures support struggling coworkers. The presentation explores the rigorous development process and evaluation, illustrating effective knowledge translation from research to practice.

Speakers

Dr. Kathy Sanderson is an Associate Professor of Human Resources and Organizational Behaviour in the Faculty of Business Administration at Lakehead University.  She is the Assistant Director and theme lead for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion with EPID@Work Research Centre.  Kathy’s research focuses on reducing pain at work, in the areas of emotional abuse, newcomer welcoming, mental health stigma, and employee retention in Northwestern Ontario.

Lynda Fraser, Lynda Fraser is a Health Promotion Planner with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit. She has had an extensive career promoting public health for 28 years, the last 15 of which have been focused on workplace wellness solutions. Lynda is passionate about supporting employers to offer the best work experience for their staff, understanding that a thriving workforce is any company’s biggest asset. Lynda’s work involves researching, developing, implementing, and evaluating evidence-based workplace wellness initiatives, with a particular emphasis on promoting psychological health and safety.

Dr. Vicki Kristman is the Director and Senior Scientist at the EPID@Work Research Institute at Lakehead University. She holds a Lakehead University-Ontario Research Chair in Injury & Disability Prevention and is a Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Lakehead University. She conducts research to better understand factors associated with health, particularly mental health, and disability in the workplace to develop and test interventions to improve the lives of workers. She is currently leading a large cohort study: the Northwestern Ontario Workplace and Worker Health Study.