Kelsey Ashwood, OSU-CHS employee wellness coordinator, gives a Mind Over Matter presentation for staff members at OSU Center for Health Sciences.

OSU-CHS Wellness recognized for employee wellness initiatives by ComPsych

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Media Contact: Sara Plummer | Communications Coordinator | 918-581-1282 | sara.plummer@okstate.edu

OSU Center for Health Sciences’ Department of Wellness and its Mind Over Matter program have been recognized with two Health at Work Awards by ComPsych, a national behavioral health and well-being services provider.

The OSU-CHS Department of Wellness received the Bronze Award for Best in Class in the under 1,500 employees category, which is awarded for all-around exemplary well-being support. The department’s Mind Over Matter program won an Innovative Integration Award, which recognizes a holistic program addressing the different facets of well-being including physical, financial, emotional, behavioral and social.

Kelsey Ashwood, employee wellness coordinator at OSU-CHS, said the Mind Over Matter program is directed toward employees to help build resilience, cope with stress and identify counter-productive thinking and patterns.

“Our employee surveys showed stress levels had increased tremendously. Health care workers especially have to deal with high levels of stress,” Ashwood said.

“We want to better equip people to become more resilient and improve outcomes over a period of time, that’s the goal."

— Kelsey Ashwood, Employee Wellness Coordinator

The Mind Over Matter program, which is loosely based on a three-day resiliency training program at the University of Pennsylvania, was actually launched three years ago before the pandemic, but has become even more relevant since then.

“This is my favorite program that we offer. It’s a lot of work but it’s worthwhile,” she said.

At OSU-CHS, the Mind Over Matter program is a three-part series offered for an hour once a week over three weeks. Participants are also given a workbook to go through as part of the training, and it’s something they can have and return to when needed.

“We want to better equip people to become more resilient and improve outcomes over a period of time, that’s the goal,” she said. “The most motivating thing is the feedback I get from employees. It’s been very positive, and they feel it’s a good use of their time.”

This was the first time the OSU-CHS Department of Wellness had entered into the ComPsych Health at Work Awards.

“I didn’t expect to win anything,” Ashwood said. “Sharing these ideas with other organizations and institutions is exciting.”