Toward Health Equity and Diverse Engagement: How the University of Michigan’s Workplace Well-Being Initiative is Addressing Social Determinants of Health

As a major large employer in Michigan, the University of Michigan (U-M) has a unique opportunity to impact the lives of tens of thousands of individuals. The U-M employee population mirrors that of the nation, in that health disparities and inequities persist. MHealthy, U-M’s faculty and staff health and well-being programs and services, has taken steps to mitigate the impact of such disparities and to enhance diversity of participation in alignment with a university-wide diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative. MHealthy has established community and cross-university partnerships to translate community-based approaches to addressing social determinants of health to worksite settings. These include engaging in focused partnerships with departments and units that employ high proportions of low-wage workers to tailor programming and services to their unique needs, and raising awareness of social justice issues such as the disparity in tobacco use. This session will discuss current strategy, lessons learned and future direction.