Activate Wellbeing Toolkit
The Activate Wellbeing Toolkit advances UBC’s collaborative efforts to make the University a better place to live, work, learn, and play. We take a systems-wide approach to promote wellbeing across our campuses, aligned with our commitments to the Okanagan Charter for health-promoting universities, and guided by UBC's Wellbeing Strategic Framework.
The toolkit is designed to engage staff and faculty at all levels to identify and accelerate action in policies and practices towards stronger mental health and wellbeing, with an emphasis on workplace settings. A concerted effort to create mental health and wellbeing across our institution and workplace environments is essential for all students, faculty, and staff to flourish.
The Activate Wellbeing Toolkit helps:
- Identify and celebrate what your team is already doing well to cultivate a culture that promotes mental health and wellbeing, and identify where there may be areas for improvement.
- Strengthen your team’s awareness and commitment to important determinants of health and wellbeing including social connection and mental health.
- Provide a structured approach to integrate mental health and wellbeing into your strategic planning processes.
- Identify one to three concrete actions that promote mental health and wellbeing in your specific workplace context.
The Activate Wellbeing Toolkit helps us to collectively address university commitments to wellbeing within the University Strategic Plan, Focus on People 2025, and the Student Strategic Plan. It also offers opportunities to integrate other university commitments including Indigenous human rights, equity, diversity and inclusion, anti-racism, and climate action given that supporting human and ecological wellbeing requires action on all these intersecting priority areas.
The customizable presentation slide deck and planning process (see the Preparing for Success dropdown) helps set you up for success. Make sure to use the support documents to help plan and facilitate your AWT session(s). The pdf worksheets are fillable to give you the option of filling them out on paper or digitally.
Step 1: Team Strengths & Assets brainstorm. Suggested time: ~ 15 minutes.
Step 2: Unit Assessment conversation. Suggested time: ~ 30 minutes.
Step 3: Identify Possible Actions. Based on the focus area you selected in step 2, work through the corresponding action planning exercise. Suggested time: ~ 50 minutes.
Step 4: Prioritize and plan. Suggested time: ~40 minutes.
Step 5: Measure success. Suggested time: ~ 20 minutes.
Suggested time, including welcoming and closing activities and breaks: ~3-4 hours.
If you would like to download all worksheets in one pdf, click here for the AWT Consolidated Worksheets for Steps 1-5.
If you have questions after reading the Toolkit and support documents in full, please review the Supports section below.
The companion tools below will help you plan and facilitate using AWT with your team:
- The Preparing for Success Guide outlines a recommended planning process to ensure that constructive dialogue and actions emerge from engagement with the Activate Wellbeing Toolkit.
- The Facilitators Handbook outlines in-person and online activity options that support ideation and discussion for each step of the process.
The presentation slide deck includes a draft agenda, context setting information, and will guide you through the five steps. This can be customized to suit your unit's needs.
- Additional tools such as Wellbeing Breaks, Multisolving Flower, and Gradients of Agreement are in this slide deck.
Guiding documents for UBC Wellbeing
- UBC's Wellbeing Strategic Framework
- The Okanagan Charter for health-promoting universities & colleges
Wellbeing videos & webinar recordings
- Designing a Healthy Campus Community (Healthy Minds Healthy Campuses) video (3 minutes) – 2013
- Students reflecting on attending the Okanagan Charter conference and what it means for UBC video (3 minutes) – 2015
- Centering Indigenous Engagement in the work of Wellbeing and Health Promotion video (90 minutes) - May 2021
Other toolkits on UBC priorities
The Activate Wellbeing Toolkit is one of several UBC toolkits and guides to help units address key university commitments to Indigenous human rights, equity and inclusion, and climate action. Your unit may want to schedule time to work through each of these toolkits.
- Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP) Implementation Toolkit
- Activating Inclusion Toolkit
- Exploring Climate Change and Mental Health toolkit. While the resource is designed for youth, the self-reflection exercises are relevant for all ages
- Intersectional Approaches to Mental Health Education Facilitator's Guide
- Supporting Mental Health in the Workplace for Managers and Supervisors Course on WPL
Multisolving Planning & Evaluation Tool
Action in one university priority area can often be planned to ensure simultaneous progress in other university priority areas. The multisolving flower (example below) is a helpful tool to highlight and consider your approach to advancing each of these university priority areas simultaneously.
Download the UBC Multisolving tool with examples here.
Download empty pdf and png petal images of the multisolving flower below:
- 5 petals pdf: full-colour pdf, colour outline pdf, navy & white pdf
- 5 petals png: full-colour png, colour outline png, navy & white png
- 6 petals pdf: full-colour pdf, colour outline pdf, navy & white pdf
- 6 petals png: full-colour png, colour outline png, navy & white png
- 7 petals pdf: full-colour pdf, colour outline pdf, navy & white pdf
- 7 petals png: full-colour png, colour outline png, navy & white png
If you have questions or need support in planning, facilitating or implementing the AWT, please complete the form below and we'll be in touch.
UBC Institutional strategy & planning supports
- Office of Wellbeing Strategy - OWS provides system-wide strategic support for health and wellbeing promotion on UBC campuses.
- Strategy & Decision Support - SDS is UBC’s key in-house strategic partner that provides UBC’s Leadership with advisory services in strategy, operational effectiveness and financial health, in order to ensure the university’s current and future success. One of SDS service offerings is to work with units to develop their strategic plans including integration with institutional priorities, such as, wellbeing.
Staff & faculty wellbeing supports
- Health, Wellbeing and Benefits (Vancouver campus) and Workplace Health and Wellbeing (Okanagan campus) - offer resources to foster wellbeing, opportunities to champion healthy workplace initiatives, and services to support a healthy work environment.
Student health & wellbeing supports
- Student Health and Wellbeing (Vancouver campuses) or Student Wellness (Okanagan campus) - Connect to a health professional and find wellness supports.
We would love to learn about your experience using the Activate Wellbeing Toolkit. Please get in touch by email to help us improve the Toolkit.
presentation slide deck
Upcoming Info Sessions
No sessions are currently scheduled, but we encourage you to see the recording above.
Need Support?
Our teams at UBC Vancouver and Okanagan campuses are available to support faculty, units, and departments in planning, facilitating, or implementing the AWT. Please complete the form below to request support.