health and wellness

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How would you feel if, due to poor eye health, you could no longer see your loved ones clearly or perform routine tasks that you’ve been doing your entire life? Many of our nation’s Veterans are, unfortunately, facing this reality. For Veterans like Earl White, 92, who is functionally deaf and losing his vision due to age-related macular degeneration, having virtual eye care services has made adapting to a different lifestyle a little easier.

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The National Governors Association, in partnership with the State Exchange on Employment & Disability, published a new commentary, “Governors Lead on Solutions to Improve Mental Health in the Workplace.” The commentary highlights a recent panel discussion at the NGA 2023 Workforce Symposium featuring ODEP Assistant Secretary Taryn Williams, among others, and examines three key strategies for states to better serve workers with mental and behavioral health conditions.

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In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month in May, the U.S. Department of Labor launched Mental Health at Work—a new initiative that connects work being done across DOL agencies to improve worker wellbeing, reduce stigma, and promote equitable access to mental health resources and treatment, especially for historically marginalized populations. As part of this, DOL developed a new webpage centralizing workplace mental health tools and resources and published a blog post highlighting the importance of the initiative to DOL’s mission.

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Learn how employers used employee assistance programs to support worker mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion research to practice brief. The practices outlined in the publication were developed based on the experiences of EAP professionals who are members of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association.

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Many people with disabilities move through their entire educations without ever being taught self-advocacy skills, having conversations about possible careers, or getting information about independent living (IL) opportunities. Most are not exposed to the IL philosophy, which centers the right of people with disabilities to control their own lives, until they leave high school. As a result, many leave school unaware of the options available to them – and unprepared to take advantage of them.

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The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) at ACL has opened a new funding opportunity under the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP) Program for projects for translating the findings and products of DRRP research into practice.