myHR Archives
myHR: November 3, 2021
Positive Reflections
Attitudes don’t directly control reality, but they do shape how you interact with the world. That’s why a bit of self-reflection is helpful to make sure our perspective is in tune with what’s really happening. The Strategies for Fostering Positive Attitudes and Embracing Change workshop on December 7 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. gives participants time and space to reflect on their thought patterns and understand their effects in the workplace. As part of Human Resources Ideas for Sustainable Life Balance series, this free virtual workshop shows you ways to encourage optimism and overcome the limits of negativity.
Jamie Apgar, the workshop facilitator and Human Resources Training & Development Consultant says, “Taking a step back to understand your own attitude has the potential to create a more positive work environment because you are now more self-aware of the attitude you bring to the table.”
For a quick attitude check, imagine you have an important in-person meeting early in the morning and you miss your train. Which thoughts are more likely to enter your mind?
Perspective A
“Great. I’ve missed the train. Now there’s no way I’ll be on time and my whole day is ruined.”
“This always happens to me when I have an important meeting.”
“That slow driver in front of me made me miss my train.”
Perspective B
“I’m lucky! Looks like there is another train only 10 minutes away.”
“Since I’ve started taking the train, I’ve only been late three times.”
“I’ll be sure to wake up earlier next time I have an important meeting.”
The Perspective A statements reflect a pessimistic mindset, which casts bad situations as permanent, universal, and beyond our control (and someone else’s fault). The Perspective B quotes spring from an optimistic point of view. It frames situations as temporary, focuses on the specifics of each incident, and seeks solutions to improve things now and in the future.
Pessimism may seem like “telling it like it is,” but when it colors every experience, it can make you feel powerless and block you from making effective choices. On the bright side, you can learn to start seeing things from a more optimistic point of view that allows you to take action and gives you a greater sense of well-being.
In Strategies for Fostering Positive Attitudes and Embracing Change, Apgar covers four key topics to help you recognize and practice self-empowerment:
- Adjusting your own attitude. Attendees will participate in a self-assessment exercise to gauge their own attitude level and explore some ways to improve their attitude.
- Pessimism vs Optimism. Participants will explore the differences between each perspective and how using distraction and disputation techniques can increase optimism.
- Reframing negative situations. Learning how to dissect negative situations can help you create a more positive response to them. Participants will use the EXPEL Model (Explain, Pinpoint, Evaluate action, Link to self-esteem) to rethink negative circumstances and play back how they could have handled a negative situation from the past more positively.
- Coping with negativity that results from change. There are many ways you can navigate and cope with change. Apgar will discuss several, including letting go, gaining balance, and exploring alternatives.
Register today for the Strategies for Fostering Positive Attitudes and Embracing Change workshop and learn how to find positive experiences that benefit you, your colleagues, and your organization.
For more professional development programs, visit the Learn & Grow section of the Human Resources website.
Boosting Your Brain Health
Scientists have long said that living a mentally active lifestyle is just as important as getting regular physical exercise. Just as your muscles grow stronger with use, so does your brain. But how do you exercise this critical organ and keep it functioning in a way that sustains your cognitive abilities through the years? You can find tips for improving your brain health at the Healthy Aging Brain with Penn Memory Center virtual workshop on November 10, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
As we age, our brains shrink in volume because of damage to our cells over time. As a result, we may see decreases in our physical and mental abilities. Workshop facilitator Sharnita Midgett says this decline is not always consistent and can be due to other factors such as disease, your environment, and daily habits. However, she also says that healthy brain aging can help keep your neural networks in shape.
“Healthy brain aging is the process of maintaining our ability to clearly think, learn, and remember, and function as we grow older, slowing down some of the damage that can happen to our brain cells. This can look different for different people. Some stay involved in social groups and others continue to engage in their favorite activities to help keep the brain active,” says Midgett, MPH, Clinical Research and Outreach Coordinator at the Penn Memory Center.
“Healthy brain aging is important because if we maintain our brain health, we can mitigate diseases like Alzheimer’s, we can avoid hospital visits, and live a greater quality of life as we age,” she says.
Midgett offers seven tips to help you boost your brain’s health:
- Exercise. Cardiovascular exercises like walking, running, and swimming are known to maintain brain health. Visit the Virgin Pulse wellness platform for activities and challenges you can participate in to get active. From the platform’s homepage, go to the “Social” tab and click “Challenges” in the drop-down menu.
- Eat healthy. Eat a heart-healthy diet. For tips on how to eat better, see the Delicious Decisions article in this edition of myHR, check out the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 Eat Better Infographic , or access the Nutrition Guide on the Virgin Pulse wellness platform. From the platform’s homepage, go to the “Health” tab and click “Nutrition Guide” in the drop-down menu. You can also sign up for nutrition counseling with Corporate Wellness Nutrition.
- Stay engaged in your social activities and groups. The interaction with others helps maintain your brain health and avoid isolation.
- Get regular sleep. Sleep deprivation lowers your resistance to stress and harms your brain. Get enough winks each night to restore your energy and improve your brain’s health.
- Maintain your heart health. Heart health is closely linked to brain health. Risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure can increase the risk for vascular dementia. Manage those risks by keeping them in healthy ranges. Here are some tips on how to manage your blood pressure.
- Visit your doctor. Schedule regular check-ups with your primary care provider to be aware of your overall health. This plays a role in your quality of life as you age.
- Participate in brain aging research. Help researchers discover more about the aging brain and work to develop treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
“One thing we can all do every day to improve our brain health is learn about healthy brain aging habits and try to incorporate these habits each day,” Midgett says.
“If you break the habit, be encouraged to try again. Everything in our lives can serve as the building blocks in our health.”
A Way to Work Your Brain
Mindfulness, the practice of slowing down and being present in the moment, is a great way to keep your brain healthy. By participating in the Mindful Minutes Penn Challenge, you can learn how to practice it every day and earn Be in the Know rewards in the process.
The two-week Mindful Minutes Penn Challenge runs from Monday, November 8 through Sunday, November 21. To register, visit the Virgin Pulse platform.
The rules are easy. Set a goal for how many mindful minutes you will do each day – whether that’s practicing yoga, closing your eyes and focusing on your breathing, or performing some other mindfulness activity. Once the challenge begins, start tracking your minutes and check your progress daily on the Virgin Pulse platform.Although this is an individual challenge, and not a teams-based challenge, you’ll see “collective goal” progress tracked for all participants on the Virgin Pulse Leaderboard. This means that the total number of minutes everyone has challenged themselves to do will appear as a collective goal. The individual rankings are based on each participants’ percentage of progress toward their goal.
“Mindfulness relieves stress and improves your mood, which can improve heart health. Anything that improves our heart health can aid in improving our brain health as well,” Midgett says.
For more information about Be in the Know and other ways you can earn rewards, visit www.hr.upenn.edu/beintheknow.
A Caregiver and More
November, a month linked to gratitude, is a fitting time for National Family Caregivers Month. While filling other roles, such as parent and coworker, caregivers help loved ones with daily activities in their homes, manage their nursing and assisted living care, and support family members across the miles. To raise awareness and appreciation for these multifaceted labors of love, the Caregiver Action Network’s National Family Caregivers Month theme and social media tag is #CaregiverAnd. Depending on your loved one’s needs, family caregivers may act as advocates or researchers. But you also deserve space to be friends, neighbors, professionals, students, and more.
To support our caregiving colleagues in all their roles, Penn offers comprehensive benefits, services, and resources. This November and beyond features a series of free virtual workshops which address some of the challenges that professionals face caring for others while caring for themselves.
Upcoming Caregiving Workshops
Caregiving and the Holidays: What to Do When a Visit to Parents Raises Red Flags, webinar recording available throughout November
Healthy Aging Brain with Penn Memory Center, November 10, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Radical Resilience: Ideas for Sustainable Life Balance, November 17, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
Managing Caregiving in the Era of COVID-19, December 2, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Year-round Resources
Through Penn’s partnership with Care.com, benefits-eligible faculty and staff can also access a variety of senior care services.
Health Advocate has aggregated resources tailored to help you plan, prepare, and respond to your caregiving needs during the pandemic:
You can contact the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), powered by Health Advocate, for additional assistance.
Call: 1-866-799-2329
Schedule an EAP appointment through Penn Cobalt
Email: EAPinfo@healthadvocate.com
Benefits-eligible Penn faculty and staff – as well as their spouses, dependents, parents, and parents-in-law – can use this service at no cost to you. The EAP provides your family with experts who can direct you to a range of services, including identifying eldercare, in-home care, assisted living, and long-term care. Call 866-799-2329, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m. to speak with a representative. For urgent issues, support is available 24/7.
For more caregiving tips, visit the Caregiver Action Network website. You can also visit the Caring for Your Family webpage for details about Penn’s dependent care benefits.
Delicious Decisions
What drives your hunger most, your stomach, your taste buds, or your mind? While the need to fuel our bodies and individual preferences for different flavors play important roles, our thoughts and memories can also influence what we eat. For many people, that means celebrating a holiday with their favorite must-have dish. A particular food aroma can bring you back to a meaningful time or place. Unconscious food thoughts and beliefs built over a lifetime may seem beyond our control. While we might not be able to stop every craving, we can shape our habits to help us enjoy the most wholesome and delicious foods, including treats. The November Mindful Eating workshop series can show you how, just in time for the winter holidays.
Mindfulness gives us the tools and space to create choices where there didn't seem to be any before. It can improve your relationship with food with less strain on your will power and greater acceptance.
“There's something different about mindful eating,” says Marla Pelletier, President of Inward Office, a workplace mindfulness and wellness education provider. "It's not about weight, it's about decisions."
Pelletier says, “It's a no-rules approach. It's an approach where we sharpen the lens of attention. We notice why we eat, how we eat, and what is going on in the mind when we eat.”
Penn faculty and staff can register for one or all four of the upcoming Mindful Eating series online programs. Each session will be led virtually by an Inward Office facilitator.
Introduction to Mindful Eating, November 9, 12-12:45 p.m.
Learn about mindfulness and how we can use our habit of eating as a mindfulness exercise.
Mindful Hunger, November 16, 12-12:45 p.m.
Take a closer look at hunger. Come hungry!
Mindful Food Choices, December 7, 12-12:30 p.m.
We can be influenced by cravings and emotions. Eating can sometimes be a mental game.
Mindful Meals for the Holidays, December 14, 12-12:35 p.m.
Learn ways to bring attention to our habit of holiday eating. What do you need to be aware of when you go to your next gathering?
Sign up for Mindful Eating and bring your appetite for learning.
Visit Penn Healthy You for more nutrition and wellness program information.
Accurate Numbers Count for Your Dependents
Your family means more to you than numbers, but wrong or missing digits in your dependents’ records add up to inaccuracy. It’s important to make sure their Social Security numbers are correct in your Penn benefits records.
The IRS 1095-C form mailed to certain benefits-eligible faculty and staff includes information about the health insurance coverage offered to you by Penn and information for each of your family members enrolled under a Penn benefits plan. For tax reporting purposes, including the 1095-C form, Penn needs accurate dependent Social Security numbers. Blank or incorrect Social Security numbers for dependents may potentially affect their receiving a COBRA health coverage packet when they turn age 26, as well as the accuracy of your 1095-C form.
To make sure your records are accurate for this calendar year, log into Workday and verify your dependents’ Social Security numbers before December 31, 2021. If you have questions, contact the Penn Employee Solution Center at 215-898-7372 or solutioncenter@upenn.edu.
Healthy Meals: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cups
These aromatic muffins are great for grab-and-go breakfasts and snacks. Wholesome apples, creamy yogurt, and hearty whole grains give these sweets a healthy dose of protein and fiber. Top them with the Greek yogurt frosting for a luscious treat.
Click here to send us your healthy recipes and tips.
Servings: Makes 6
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
- 3 tbsp, whole wheat flour (substitute - gluten-free flour)
- 1 1/2 tsp, baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp, pumpkin pie spice (substitute - ground cinnamon)
- 1/4 tsp, salt
- 1 5.3 oz container, Light & Fit Greek Yogurt, Vanilla (substitute - any flavor nonfat yogurt)
- 1/2 cup, unsweetened Applesauce
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tbsp, Benecol Original Buttery Spread or other no-trans fat butter substitute
- 1 medium Gala apple, diced (substitute - any type of apple)
- 1/4 cup, Stevia In the Raw powder
- 1 Tbsp, white sugar
- 1/4 cup, nonfat dry milk powder (substitute - protein powder)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Optional Greek yogurt frosting: combine 1/3 cup Greek yogurt, 1/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder, 1 tablespoon stevia and 1/8 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice.
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- In a mixing bowl, combine oats, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine Greek yogurt, applesauce, egg, Benecol, diced apple, stevia, sugar, nonfat dry milk powder and vanilla extract.
- Add dry mixture into bowl of wet ingredients and mix until combined.
- Spray muffin tin and add batter to 6 cup muffin tin.
- Place in oven for 30 minutes or until you can poke muffin with a fork, and it comes out clean.
- Place Greek yogurt frosting in either a sealable container or zip-top bag. Then store in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to firm up into frosting consistency.
- Spoon frosting on to muffin or cut tip of zip-top bag to squeeze frosting on to muffin right before eating.
- Muffins and Greek yogurt frosting can be stored in refrigerator for 1 week or frozen for 3 months.
Meet With a Registered Dietitian Today!
- One-on-One, virtual nutrition counseling
- 100% covered under many insurance plans and available to spouses and dependents
- Simple Sign Up Process – Visit Penn’s Corporate Wellness Nutrition’s Sign Up page, provide your information and a customer service team member will reach out in one to two business days to book your appointment.
Did You Know: Free Homecoming Wellness Events
Join fellow Penn Quakers on Shoemaker Green on Saturday, November 6 at 8 am for the Homecoming Hustle. This gathering, hosted by Penn Campus Recreation, features a PennFIT workout on Franklin Field and a guided Penn Park Run for runners and walkers of all speeds. Participants can fuel up with free coffee and snacks, take home Penn gear, and enter raffles. Sign up with your PennKey at the Penn Campus Recreation registration portal.