6.0 Lines of Effort and Strategic Objectives

LOE 1: Communicate, Educate, Collaborate

Empowering Defence Team members to be well means providing them with the knowledge, skills and abilities to prevent illness and injury. The Defence Team Total Health and Wellness Strategy will enhance existing health promotion programming with the inclusion of new communications and educational approaches. It will take an integrated view of health and wellness needs that reflects relationships between the dimensions of health. Engage- ment with stakeholders and reviews of DND/CAF research revealed that many Defence Team members remain unaware of the variety of support programs that are available to them. Accessing available supports is an important first step in addressing health and wellness challenges. Improving the use of programs and services, an integrated health and wellness communications and education strategy will be developed to increase awareness of policies, programs and services. Institutional health and wellness champions will be engaged to ensure greater engagement at all levels of leadership and across the DND/CAF.

• Strategic Objective 1.a.: Increase knowledge of health and wellness through collective promotion activities.
• Strategic Objective 1.b.: Increase health and wellness literacy through harmonized training and education.
• Strategic Objective 1.c.: Engage champions and advocates to promote wellness.

LOE 2: Strengthen Governance

A strong, healthy workforce requires that organizational structures be put in place for greater alignment and inte- gration of health and wellness into organizational priori- ties. This strategy calls for the implementation of the Total Health and Wellness Governance Framework to support a reciprocal bottom-up/top-down approach. This will include stakeholders at all levels of the DND/CAF and will lead to more responsive and pertinent solutions. Existing governing bodies will be leveraged and aligned to provide the necessary support to Defence Team total health and wellness initiatives and facilitate sharing and reporting of regional best practices to foster innovation. A robust performance measurement framework will be developed for greater evidence-based decision making and continuous improvement of health and wellness initiatives. Monitoring and measurement activities will adopt a GBA+ approach to ensure gender and other determinants of health are tracked, where possible.

• Strategic Objective 2.a.: Engage leadership through the Defence Team Human Resources Total Health and Wellness Sub-Committee.
• Strategic Objective 2.b.: Integrate Base and Wing health and wellness committees.
• Strategic Objective 2.c.: Build a health and wellness monitoring framework for continuous improvement.

LOE 3: Enable a Healthier Workplace

A fit and resilient Defence Team requires a work envi- ronment that supports the pursuit of wellness. The National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the National Standard) sets the necessary conditions for the promotion of mental health and prevention of psychological harm at work. The Defence Team Total Health and Wellness Strategy endorses the National Standard and provides the necessary framework to improve the psychosocial work environment for the DND/CAF, which includes:

• Addressing the main stressors which impact productivity (e.g., workload, autonomy, competence);
• Creating a healthy workplace culture;
• Supporting diversity and inclusion;
• Eliminating racism, discrimination, harassment, violence and sexual misconduct; and
• Empowering change through leadership in the organization

A continuous assessment-to-solutions approach will be implemented to maintain awareness of and responsiveness to the changing needs of the workforce. Existing investments will be leveraged to address workplace stressors in order to increase positive workplace well-being. Leaders will be empowered to meet organizational priorities while ensuring the health and wellness of their people. We will also promote a culture of wellness to ensure every member of the Defence Team is empowered and engaged in workplace wellness initiatives.

• Strategic Objective 3.a.: Employ continuous assessment-to-solutions approach to understand the needs of the workforce.
• Strategic Objective 3.b.: Address workplace stressors to increase workplace well-being.
• Strategic Objective 3.c.: Empower leadership to better balance organizational demands and the needs of their people.
• Strategic Objective 3.d.: Embrace a culture of wellness.

LOE 4: Improve Access to Care and Support

No pursuit of wellness outcomes can be realized without access to the resources required to impact change. Health and wellness needs differ over time and vary from person to person. The goal of this line of effort is to improve equity of access. Equity of access means reasonable and fair access to care and support services that is based on the needs of individuals. The Defence Team Total Health and Wellness Strategy provides the necessary guidance to improve the availability of health and wellness resources to ensure Defence Team wellness is consistently supported. The standardization of programs and services across Canada, to the extent possible, is necessary to provide equity of service to all Defence Team members, regardless of geographical location. Finally, programs and services must be inclusive to eliminate barriers to equitable support for all members of the Defence Team.

• Strategic Objective 4.a.: Improve availability of services to meet the wellness needs of all Defence Team members.
• Strategic Objective 4.b.: Increase accessibility to programs and services across the Defence Team.
• Strategic Objective 4.c.: Identify and reduce barriers to Total Health and Wellness.
• Strategic Objective 4.d.: Enable women’s long- term health and ability to excel in their chosen occupation.

LOE 5: Align and Integrate

A deliberate approach to health and wellness requires a collective effort in support of a fit and resilient Defence Team. The Defence Team Total Health and Wellness Strategy provides the roadmap to Total Health and Wellness and encourages increased stakeholder collaboration, informed by GBA+ findings, to ensure the wellness needs of the workforce are addressed in a comprehensive way. This approach must be supported by an aligned and consistent suite of policies, procedures, programs and services at both the holistic and at the dimensional level. The Defence Team Total Health and Wellness Strategy calls for a systematic review of policies and programs to ensure any gaps are filled and any unwanted redundancies are addressed. This will lead to more responsive and relevant policies and programs that meet our needs today and into the future.

• Strategic Objective 5.a.: Increase Total Health and Wellness stakeholder collaboration for a comprehensive approach to health and wellness.
• Strategic Objective 5.b.: Conduct a policy review to ensure relevant and responsive guidance and direction.
• Strategic Objective 5.c.: Conduct a review of total health and wellness programs to improve alignment and integration.

The Lines of Effort in the Defence Team Total Health and Wellness Strategy provide the basis for the holistic approach necessary to achieving our vision for a fit and resilient De- fence Team. These efforts will complement and amplify the ongoing work and progress made in each dimension of health.