WORKPLACE ASSESSMENT !

Lesson 3: Workplace Assessment

Allison Van Kirk

Arizona State University

Instructor Houston

October 31, 2017

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Assessment

Currently, I work as a special education instructional assistant at a local preschool. My

workplace is called Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC), which is a district preschool

located in Irvine, California. At this workplace, we have many different professionals, including:

administration, paraprofessionals, specialists, therapists, and custodial staff. Over the past week,

I have tried to take particular note of the social, physical, intellectual, spiritual, and nutritional

dimensions of health and how those are represented and/or provided for on site.

Social

The social health conditions at ECLC are particularly strong. The way the school is set up

is so that there are pods. A pod consists of two general education classrooms and one resource

room which all share a common hall space. Within these classrooms, there are quite a few aides -

special education, general education, and one-on-ones - that work with the teachers there. There

is definitely a sense of camaraderie among each pod, which is reinforced by the labels each pod

is given. For example, I work in the Panda Bear pod; there are also the Spirit Bear, Polar Bear,

and Brown Bear pods. We are bonded as Pandas, which we are very proud to be, and have

friendly rivalries with other pods. During lunch time, the paraprofessionals spend time together

as well. The overall social environment is positive and workers have many opportunities to form

wonderful bonds with others.

Tying into physical health, many employees attend workout classes, participate in Weight

Watcher programs, and discuss diet choices with each other.

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Emotional

Workers are emotionally supported at ECLC, through both informal and formal avenues.

As I mentioned above, there are strong social connections among the staff at ECLC. This is the

way that emotional needs are met informally - friends support friends. However, there is also a

lot of formal support through the Irvine District as well, in terms of resources and information.

Physical

As far as physical health goes, there are not necessarily any on site options for working

out. However, the nature of most of the jobs there lend themselves to general activity all day

long. We do not work in a setting where we sit down all day, but are instead constantly moving to

keep up with the preschoolers.

Intellectual

I would say this is tied into what I noted about emotional health. Having a strong support

system of coworkers as well as district resources helps to contribute to intellectual and mental

health. In addition, the overall climate/environment at ECLC is not one of particular stress,

harshness, or unfairness. The administration and other employees work well together and create a

positive climate for us all to work in.

Spiritual

There is a strong set of core values that the school holds to, both because of a district-

level ideology, but also site-specific beliefs. Each employee is given specific directives and we

are even tasked with choosing four goals to focus on during the year, giving us all a direction and

strong sense of purpose.

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Nutritional

There is not much food provided for the employees at ECLC; we bring our own lunches

to work. There are some snacks provided for the students and those foods are very nutritional.

They often receive fruits, healthy grains, milk, and vegetables. Nutrition for the students is

obviously carefully considered when choosing these options. However, the vending machines

that are on site for the employees (within the lunchroom) are filled with chips and candy. The

same nutritionally valuable options are not apparent for the adults as they are for the children.

Reflection

Strategies for Change

I think one of the biggest changes would be nutritional ones. Although we all bring our

own lunches, offering some substantial but healthy options on site would be beneficial. As it is,

the only food options are chips, candy bars, or other nutritional invaluable food items. There is

obvious consideration given to deciding what snacks to provide the children. I would hope that

we could apply that same care to the choices that are offered in the lunchroom for the employees.

Because as it is, most employees make personal diet choices that are relatively healthy. When I

eat lunch with the other aides, they discuss the conscious decision they made to bring healthy

foods.

Strengths

I would say the strongest areas of my workplace are social and emotional dimensions of

health. Based on the Ecological Model, multiple layers of influence can affect a persons health,

such as interpersonal factors. According to the Rural Healthy Information (RHI) Hub,
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interpersonal factors are defined as interactions with other people, which can provide social

support or create barriers to interpersonal growth that promotes healthy behavior. As I

mentioned previously, many aides attend workout classes together, especially Zumba classes. In

addition, some participate in Weight Watchers or other weight management programs together or

engage in diets together. Although the social health is equally strong at ECLC, there is an

obvious social connection to physical and nutritional health at ECLC as well.

As far as emotional health goes, again, the support and camaraderie among the staff at

ECLC is incredible. Many coworkers spend time with each outside of the workplace, they are a

support system, someone to vent to, and someone to share problems or triumphs with. Those

relationships, and the environment that supports sharing emotions and supporting needs, provide

the backbone of the healthy emotional dimension of ECLC.

Implications

Learning the different aspects of health, the ways that various facets of a persons life can

affect well-being, and noting the strategies that are used could help my school site to introduce

and/or revamp an educational program intended to support healthier and active lifestyles. RHI

Hub notes that social determinants that are barriers to accessing healthcare include low health

literacy levels and incomplete perceptions of healthy and lack of access to healthy foods. Adding

in some sort of program that informs employees of healthy choices, particularly physical and

nutritional ones as those need the most support at my site, could help to improve overall

employee health.
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References

Rural Health Information Hub. Ecological Models. Retrieved from https://

www.ruralhealthinfo.org/community-health/health-promotion/2/theories-and-

models/ecological