Flourish Wellness Conference makes its debut in Brandon

A new Brandon conference brought more than 100 health-care and social-sector professionals together to learn the importance of looking after their own well-being and managing stress in roles focused on helping others.

The Flourish Wellness Conference hosted by The Breathing Room — a wellness initiative of the United Way West Central Manitoba — made its debut at the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium on Monday.

The one-day conference was created to expand The Breathing Room’s community outreach to support non-profits and other front-line workers, said Jamie Stouffer, the United Way’s director of staff development and community wellness.

“I think that’s one of the things about this group of people, is that they are not as likely to reach out and say, ‘I need help,’ and so (we’re) recognizing that the need is there, and it’s spoken quietly in groups of people who understand or who share the burden,” she said.

The conference is an opportunity for providers to connect, reflect and learn, Stouffer said.

People in these career paths take their work very seriously, she said, adding that taking the day away from work was a positive first step for some participants needing to prioritize their personal health and well-being.

Throughout the day, participants listened to five keynote speakers discuss practical ways to navigate stress and burnout, strategies for setting boundaries, healing through movement and creativity, and resiliency and sustainability in complex work.

Stouffer said she hopes the conference will continue annually.

Vienna Muise, a wellness director and mental-health first-aid facilitator at the Family Resource Centre in Portage la Prairie, said being able to connect with others at the conference felt affirming.

“It’s also good to know that you’re not the only one that’s tired and that you need to put yourself first,” said Muise, who has worked at the centre supporting families for three years.

“It’s no different than flying on a plane. When they tell you about putting your oxygen mask on, you have to put yours on first, so it’s a reminder.”

Muise said she has experienced burnout in the workplace before and she has seen how it has impacted others in the health-care or social-services field.

She said it’s important for people to listen to the wellness advice they give others, so they can continue to provide the best care.

“If I walk into a wellness session with a client and I’m feeling good about things, it’s going to come across in how much I’m listening and paying attention and how much I’m there for somebody,” Muise said.

“But if I’m not, that’s also going to impact them, and then they’re going to walk away and they’re not going to get the best of what I can give,” she added.

“But also, they’re maybe going to feel like I didn’t care.”

A pediatric occupational therapist who works at Brandon’s Rehabilitation Centre for Children said experiencing burnout in the health-care profession is an absolute given.

“A lot of the strategies they talked about today are not new, but they’re not ones that I think we do a good job of putting ourselves first and implementing,” said Karen Gillespie, who has worked in the profession for more than 20 years and currently travels to First Nation communities to provide care.

“There’s even techniques that I would share with families and children that I work with, but they’re not ones that I do a very good job of implementing into my own life. So, it’s just such a great reminder,” she said.

Gillespie said she’s grateful the conference was available to health-care workers in Brandon, who often have to travel outside of Westman to attend large-scale wellness events.

“We all, I think, could just take a breath this morning and not have to do the usual work grind, and it’s just such a really meaningful event,” she said.

Kinsley Skulmoski, who works as a pediatric physiotherapist at the Brandon Regional Health Centre, said she was looking forward to all the keynote sessions.

Skulmoski, who has also worked in the field for two decades, said she had many takeaways during the morning sessions on mindfulness and boundary-setting.

“A lot of times, you just get into the zone of work, and you sort of just throw yourself into that,” she said, adding that taking time for yourself is important.

The Flourish Wellness Conference was made possible by provincial funding through the From the Ground Up — Safe Healthy Communities for All program.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com