Table of Contents:

Section Page
Number

Table of Contents 2

Executive Summary 3

Enhancing Health Literacy on Burnout 4-5

Burnout Advocates are Required to Combat Organizational Burnout 5-7

Empathetic Approach to Understanding Burnout Culture 7-8

Conclusion 8

Exhibits 9-10

References for Mind Map 11

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 The hustle culture in Western society glorifies working long hours without adequate

breaks or personal time, leading to burnout—an occupational hazard with considerable costs

for individuals and organizations. Therefore recognizing its adverse effects on individuals'

mental and physical health, our team investigated how this culture promotes burnout and

proposed evidence-based mitigation strategies. Partnered with the Gender Equality Coalition

of Ontario (GECO), we produced a literature review, a social media campaign, a workshop

and pamphlets (see Exhibit 1). These efforts equipped GECO with the main class concepts of

enhancing health literacy, leadership tools, and strategies to foster empathy (see Exhibit 2, 3).

The literature review provided GECO members with a basic understanding of burnout

in education, healthcare, and remote work sectors. Through this research, we discovered that

burnout is not solely a personal issue but rather an organizational consequence of specific

characteristics within the work environment. This revelation prompted us to create "myth or

fact" social media posts exploring other misconceptions and ongoing stigmas that contribute

to burnout. Moreover, to combat toxic work cultures, we also launched a social media

"Lunchtime Wellness" campaign, promoting wellness activities during work breaks among

GECO's network. The resulting rise in engagement and awareness of burnout prevention

indicated a strong need for resources on handling work-related stress. Therefore, we created a

workshop for GECO’s "Rest is Radical" conference and presented it to over 25 participants.

The GECO workshop featured interactive elements such as a burnout perspective

video and self-reflective activities, equipping attendees with evidence-based strategies to

counter the hustle culture mentality. Additionally, we created pamphlets to reinforce key

presentation takeaways and provided attendees with practical tools to integrate into their daily

lives after the workshop. Our deliverables positively impacted the GECO and London

communities because they improved health literacy regarding burnout, broadened awareness

of burnout among leaders of major organizations and fostered greater empathy.

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Enhancing Health Literacy on Burnout

Health literacy is the cognitive and social skills that enable individuals to access,

understand, and use information to promote and sustain good health. In partnership with

GECO, our deliverables aimed to improve burnout-related health literacy by acknowledging

signs of burnout and understanding various preventative strategies. We provided

evidence-based resources to manage the work-life challenges of modern hustle culture,

focusing on mindfulness and wellness techniques.

In the “AMA Health Literacy Video - Short Version”, we were introduced to various

individuals who have had difficulties with their health literacy. These individuals spoke

openly about the repercussions of not voicing their health concerns, with many also

expressing feelings of shame over their inability to grasp certain concepts. We acknowledged

that in our Burnout 101 Workshop, individuals will be of varying health literacy

backgrounds. So the workshop was supplemented with engaging hands-on activities,

including interactive true or false exercises and reflective prompts. By designing the

workshop to be interactive, we encouraged participants to actively engage with the material,

ask questions, and share experiences, thereby enhancing their understanding and retention of

the information. We also consciously employed simple, jargon-free language to make the

content accessible and understandable for all participants, regardless of their health literacy

levels.

Moreover, Dr. McLean highlighted how effectively conveying intricate research from

peer-reviewed articles and gray literature using oral presentations, visuals, and written

materials can create an impactful channel for sharing information. We provided information

in multiple formats (audio, visual, written) to cater to varied learning styles and enhance the

learning experience. For example, our pamphlet incorporated not only visual information but

also audiobooks and podcasts for individuals who may be visually impaired. Although the

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pamphlet was designed to complement the workshop’s content, we also tried to include

interactive crosswords and bingo for individuals who may be more kinesthetic learners.

Ultimately, by offering precise and trustworthy burnout-related information, the pamphlet

equipped individuals with the knowledge necessary to make well-informed health decisions.

Dr. Sereda recognized the tendency of hate groups to utilize platforms such as social

media to disseminate health-related misinformation. Therefore, we created a campaign aimed

to dispel myths and share trustworthy, evidence-based health insights. We launched a "myth

or fact" social media campaign to enhance burnout health literacy. These posts not only

rectified misunderstandings of burnout but also fostered trust between GECO and their

audience by delivering accurate health information. Additionally, this initiative

complemented GECO's foundational Instagram content, which promotes its educational

programs, thereby creating a cohesive and informative online presence (see Exhibit 4).

By providing accurate information, we empowered individuals to make informed

decisions about burnout and their health. This partnership has significantly boosted GECO

members' understanding of burnout, equipping the community with the essential knowledge

to actively destigmatize burnout and advocate for positive workplace transformations.

Burnout Advocates are Required to Combat Organizational Burnout

Dr. McLean highlighted that successful leadership depends on leveraging a variety of

skills to unite individuals around a common objective. She noted that a hallmark of effective

leadership is establishing an environment that fosters psychological safety, thereby

encouraging team growth. Burnout can frequently signal ineffective leadership, manifesting

when there is a deficit of supportive resources within the organization.

Leaders must be educated to properly advocate and implement incremental changes

within their organizations. This was best highlighted in Dr. Andrea and Dr. McBean’s lectures

as they emphasized the importance of properly educating others and shutting down the

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dissemination of ill-intended and inaccurate information. We addressed any previous

misconceptions at the end of the workshop by encouraging them to engage in retrospective

reflection. After providing a foundational understanding of burnout on empowering

individuals at all organizational levels about burnout in the Burnout 101 Workshop, we

identified strategies for them to advocate for their career and developmental goals. We

highlighted actions not just for individuals, but also for those across various organizational

levels.

Dr. McLean highlighted the critical role of feedback in fostering individual and team

growth throughout the term. In our Burnout 101 workshop, we stressed the value of soliciting

peer insights on burnout culture to effectively address and advocate for improvements within

the workplace. As agents of change against burnout, it is essential to offer constructive

feedback to employers and champion a healthier work environment. Acknowledging that not

all participants might feel ready to lead such initiatives, we presented less demanding

leadership options for those seeking alternative ways to contribute.

We emphasized a key learning outcome from class: anyone can be a leader and

develop leadership skills regardless of their leadership style. We engaged in the High5

Strengths assessment to better understand and allocate team roles effectively. Dr. McLean

underscored the diversity of leadership, noting that various individuals lead through distinct

traits. In our Burnout 101 workshop, we reinforced the notion that anyone within an

organization could step up as a Burnout Changemaker, thereby advocating for awareness and

action on burnout. Our efforts aim to help destigmatize burnout and mental health issues

within the London community by fostering open discussions on mental health and burnout

through supportive spaces within organizations. Our initiatives align with GECO's broader

mission to encourage individuals to actively address and influence societal concerns,

particularly those impacting underrepresented groups.

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 Thus, by emphasizing that anyone in the organization can become a burnout

changemaker, we reinforce CEL's foundational leadership principle that everyone has the

potential to drive meaningful change.

Empathetic Approach to Understanding Burnout Culture

In our tutorial with Dr. McLean, we explored a social experiment on homelessness,

emphasizing the power of personal stories in fostering empathy while demonstrating that

understanding goes beyond mere numbers. We discussed that empathy involves emotionally,

cognitively and physically engaging with others' experiences. A lack of empathy can impede

growth, particularly in competitive academic environments and high-stress healthcare

settings. Therefore, incorporating empathy into our projects was crucial; even if not everyone

experiences burnout, understanding it is vital to effectively support and assist others.

Dr. McLean’s lecture on empathy introduced four steps of perspective-taking; seek

understanding, ideate, hypothesize and, observe and adjust. We implemented this in a

four-stage process in our Burnout 101 Workshop. To seek their understanding, we asked them

to write down what burnout means to them. Encouraging them to ideate on their current

burnout biases, we then presented them with a holistic definition of burnout and its types. To

evaluate their burnout comprehension level, we administered a series of true or false

statements to help them engage in step 3 of perspective-taking. With their hypotheses in

mind, we presented a post-secondary burnout perspective video that allowed participants to

observe burnout from a student lens. This enabled them to adjust their current perspectives

and acknowledge the stress behind student burnout experiences.

Additionally, in Dan Turner’s talk, we learned how individuals should educate

themselves on homelessness before making rash assumptions. Mr. Turner’s talk was effective

because we were able to humanize him by hearing his story. We identified that sharing

individuals' stories helps illicit empathy. Thus, to share burnout experiences is to provide a

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non-judgemental environment. We conducted conversational burnout interviews with

post-secondary students, which revealed their vivid memories of intense burnout.

Furthermore, the video elicited motor empathy from the workshop attendees as their facial

expressions evoked a sense of sadness when watching the video.

Overall, implementing empathy and steps for perspective-taking is crucial in creating

educational materials that foster an understanding of others' burnout experiences through a

non-judgemental lens.

Conclusion

Our CEL deliverables enhanced advocacy and awareness about burnout in Western

society’s hustle culture and have positively impacted the benefited GECO and the London

community to make informative decisions towards maintaining work/life balance. To follow

up on the findings in our literature review, we propose conducting a longitudinal

cross-sectional survey at the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) to assess burnout

prevalence among healthcare professionals and investigate gender differences in reported

psychosocial conditions. This initiative supports GECO’s aim of tackling gender inequality in

the workplace. The findings will guide LHSC in enhancing employee well-being and

contribute to community-wide conversations about gender-related obstacles to accessing

mental health services.

Additionally, collaborating with student organizations like the Gender Studies Student

Collective at Western will allow GECO to offer tailored workshops for students. These

workshops will promote gender justice and bolster student mental health during high-stress

periods. This initiative aims to encourage self-care among students while initiating

discussions on how gender may contribute to disparities in burnout experiences.

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 Exhibit 1: Link to CELxGECO Deliverables
https://gecoxcel.weebly.com/

Exhibit 2: Diagram of Three Key Concepts

Exhibit 3: Comprehensive Class Concepts Related to Burnout

Link to access mindmap:

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVKcSl8FA=/?share_link_id=684320098337

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Exhibit 4: GECO’s Typical Instagram Posts Vs Our Deliverable (Myth or Fact and
Lunchtime Wellness)

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 References for Mind Map

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