Healthy Nutrition as a Wellbeing Strategy with Aramark’s Director of Dietetics and Wellbeing, Elbha Purcell
Today on The Work Well Podcast we have a fascinating conversation with Elbha Purcell, Director of Dietetics and Wellbeing for Aramark Northern Europe. Elbha and her team at Aramark contribute to the provision of dietetic support to all of the company’s healthcare units across Ireland and the UK, as well as the creation and implementation of health and wellness programmes across the region.
Elbha has over 18 years experience and holds memberships for the UL Health Professional Council, the British Dietetic Association, the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute, and CORU: Ireland’s multi-profession health regulator.
I hope you enjoy my conversation with Elbha Purcell.
The Role of a Dietitian
This episode starts with Elbha telling us about her experience as a certified dietitian since 2003. She worked at the NHS in the UK for a number of years and also gained experience in Bahrain before joining Aramark Northern Europe, where she’s currently the Director of Dietetics and Wellbeing. Elbha’s job involves supporting health and wellness in the company from a nutrition standpoint.
Elbha’s team includes both dieticians and nutritionists. In the last couple of years, the company has focused on developing better communication tools to help employees during the lockdown. Elbha and her team created digital wellness guides that could be shared via a web link, so could easily be distributed to all 16,000 employees across Northern Europe.
The Mental Health Champion Programme
In May 2018, Aramark launched the Mental Health Champion Programme, which involved the implementation of a mental health first aid training programme to offer dedicated champions the appropriate tools to take care of their mental health and be able to signpost others.
The programme was faciliated through Connect2Care and, currently, Elbha and her team are working on training workshops for their mental health champions to also have a virtual accreditation. According to Elbha, having a simple system to track the results allowed more people to get involved easily.
The ‘Take 15’ Initiative
Aramark’s Dietetics and Wellbeing team implemented the ‘Take 15’ initiative to encourage employees to actually take those 15 minutes of rest and step away from work or work-related situations, focusing on different activities.
Elbha comments: “These so-called booster breaks have been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, but also, in turn, increase productivity. So it's a very simple message. And I think the simplicity of the message is what's kept people going with it.”
Currently, the initiative has been also successfully implemented in Canada and the U.S., helping Aramark’s productivity worldwide.
Feeding Your Potential: How Nutrition Affects Wellbeing
“Feeding Your Potential is all about trying to show how food can feed and fuel you. Regardless of where you're working, whether you're at work or play”, says Elbha.
Elbha is referring to the brand new nutrition programme that her team has developed in partnership with The Work Well Institute. It breaks down nutrition guidance into eight modules for people to easily understand vital concepts such as the role of macronutrients and micronutrients, a balanced plate or simply healthy mealtime ideas.
Find out how the ‘Feeding Your Potential’ online programme can support you and your colleagues through this link.
How Can HR Leaders Support Colleagues to Build Healthier Habits
Nutrition, says Elbha, is about keeping your diet simple, varied and balanced. “I would definitely be recommending that we push for our fruit and veggies”, she says. And it all comes down to integrating more fresh products into our diet.
Another important factor of nutrition is lifestyle. It’s unrealistic to expect a huge change in our lives, and it often feels daunting to even think of it. Elbha’s advice in this regard is to focus on small goals first. Ideally, you should have seven pieces of fruit or veg a day, but, if that’s too much, you can start with four or five portions you like. Making the transition easy for you is the secret behind consistency.
“By having regular meals, along with a varied diet, you are encouraging stable blood sugars, which helps reduce craving and feelings of hunger and actually encourages a positive mood”, she adds.
Are nutrition trackers and health apps actually useful?
The short answer is yes. Nutrition trackers such as MyFitnessPal can be beneficial depending on the person and their needs. Some trackers help keep people motivated and improve their mood during the day, but they are not a requirement to start implementing healthy practices.
Brian comments: “It can be a help if you're of that mindset. Maybe if you're analytical, if you need to see the numbers and know exactly what you're consuming”. Just like diet and nutrition, it all comes down to experimenting and finding resources that work for you and your lifestyle.
If you’d prefer to watch our conversation, you can view it on YouTube through this link.
Additional Resources
Here are links to some additional resources that Elbha and Brian mentioned on the podcast:
Brian’s DIY Step Challenge Template
If you liked this episode and want to know more about Elbha Purcell, you can follow her on LinkedIn. And if you would like to read more about Aramark’s work mixing nutrition and wellbeing, check out Your Wellbeing in Focus.
Our Partners
This episode is brought to you in partnership with AJ Products who are leading the way in Ergonomic and Active workplace furniture solutions at ajproducts.ie
About Your Host
Brian Crooke is a wellbeing educator, speaker and adviser, empowering organisations to promote and sustain wellbeing within their workplaces.
He is the founder of The Work Well Institute and the Work Well Community and is Course Director of the Postgraduate Certificate in Workplace Wellness at Tangent, Trinity College Dublin. He is the host of The Work Well Podcast.
If you’re looking to bring sustainable wellbeing to your workplace then check out The Work Well Institute’s flagship programme, Developing a Workplace Wellness Programme that Lasts.
In his spare time, Brian is bringing free resistance training to every county and community in Ireland through his parkHIIT social enterprise.
If you have any suggestions for future topics you'd like to hear on the show, email Brian directly, brian@workwellpodcast.com
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