The workplace can be fast paced, competitive and, at times, stressful, impacting our productivity and cognitive functions like learning, reasoning and decision-making. Workplace stress has been compounded during COVID-19, with 59% of Canadians juggling working from home with multiple other responsibilities.
Providing reliable and confidential access to high quality mental health services can help Canadians whether they are working from home or at the frontlines.
Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster has made an investment in the Workplace Brain Health Platform to make a difference. This new platform aims to understand how sleep, meditation and other positive lifestyle factors contribute to our overall brain health and well-being.
Toronto’s Interaxon, with its leading consumer electroencephalogram (EEG) platform, is leading the Workplace Brain Health Platform in collaboration with Cambridge Brain Sciences, Hatch and The Brain and Mind Institute at Western University.
A total of $2 million will be invested, $1.2 million of the investment will come from industry and a further $871K will be co-invested through the Digital Supercluster. The platform is ready to expand and help employees live more balanced, sustainable lives. As industries begin to look at how best to minimize risk to the health and safety of their employees, technology like this will be key.
This platform will assess the degree of impact new resources will have in helping employees improve cognitive performance and mental well-being via brain sensing electroencephalogram technology, guided meditation with biofeedback, sleep monitoring and assistance programs, and cognitive behavioral assessments.
A 6-week meditation program with companion coaching is being offered to the employees of Canadian-based global engineering, project management, and professional services firm, Hatch, whose engineering and design services consistently prioritize the safety and mental wellness of their clients, their staff, and others in their work and need to perform at their best.
“As Canadians continue to adjust to the evolving conditions presented by COVID-19, including challenges created by COVID related actions that are impacting mental health and wellness, we must protect the health and safety of Canadians. Our Supercluster’s collaborative innovation model allows innovations such as the “Workplace Brain Health Platform”, to come to life and start supporting Canadians. The Workplace Brain Health Platform will help businesses open or re-open with healthy employees while also positioning Canada as a global leader in digital innovations” said Sue Paish, CEO of the Digital Technology Supercluster.
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