Behavioral Health & Wellness
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline --- DIAL 988
Did you know the Lifeline has been in operation at a ten-digit number (1-800-273-TALK) since 2005 and has taken over 20 million calls in that time? That number will continue to route callers to the Lifeline following the launch of 988.
You don't have to be experiencing suicidal thoughts to use the hotline. They provide support to all experiencing acute emotional distress.
To reach CDR Cooper, please email her at Kami.Cooper@noaa.gov.
Behavioral Health & Wellness Officer
The National Weather Service welcomes CDR Kami Cooper as the new NWS Behavioral Health and Wellness Chief, effective March 26!
CDR Cooper has extensive experience ranging from direct clinical care as a psychiatric nurse practitioner to strategic planning and program management to disaster response, and she joins the NWS from the United States Public Health Service.
CDR Cooper's scope of services for the NWS will consist of:
Direct Services: including wellness consultation, stress response, and critical incident stress management. She will continue to serve a vital role in coordinating our crisis response for NWS, developing and leveraging our peer support program.
Education and Training: facilitating behavioral health literacy training on a variety of topics
Administrative Consultation: providing consultation to supervisors and senior leaders on employee well-being topics
Programs: hosting and collaborating on wellness programming
Get to Know CDR Kami Cooper
Before joining the NWS, CDR Cooper was an accomplished Senior Nurse Officer in the United States Public Health Service, boasting a career enriched by deployments for disasters and community crisis missions. As a doctorally prepared Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and officer, her journey includes a diverse spectrum of roles, from direct patient care in clinical and telehealth settings to program management and leadership positions. As the Chief of USPHS Readiness and Deployment, CDR Cooper expertly guided future deployments by driving preparedness development, promoting readiness, building a well and resilient force, and shaping policies. Her responsibilities extended to fostering multi-agency relations and overseeing the deployment of officers to address the nation's public health needs. Beyond her administrative role, CDR Cooper is recognized as a patient educator, classroom instructor, community engager, and a dedicated leader in health promotion.
Contacts
EAP: 7 days a week, at 1-800-222-0364; 1-800-262-7848, FOH4YOU.com
Disaster Distress Helpline: 1-800-985-5990
Text TalkWithUs: 66746
National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP(4357)
Featured Wellness Content
Veterans Crisis Line
800-273-8255 x 1
!!!NEW!!! What to Expect when Contacting the Employee Assistance Program (EAP)?
If your office and/or a staff member is dealing with a major trauma (i.e. death, medical diagnosis, etc.), please consider reaching out to your respective Culture Lead/Representative as well as CDR Cooper for support.
Here is an additional resources to help communicate resources in support of the staff through this difficult time.
Having a sense of overall well-being involves living a life of meaning and purpose, maintaining positive relationships, and being free of excessive stress, guilt, and grief over personal setbacks and failures.
Featuring the NOAA/NESDIS Mental Health Page which has a suite of incredible resources including a Mental Health Test.
Check out the NOAA Fisheries Wellness Corner as well.
The Surgeon General's Framework for Mental Health and Well-Being in the Workplace is a five-step plan of action that "helps organizations develop, institutionalize, and update policies, processes, and practices that best support the mental health and well-being of all workers."
Thank you to everyone who joined the Suicide Awareness webinar on September 15, featuring NOAA's four Behavioral Health Officers, NWS Director Ken Graham, NWS Deputy Director Mary Erickson, and WFO Guam's Marcus Aydlett. For those who were unable to attend, a recording and transcript are now available.
Suicide Prevention Awareness 2.mp4Managing Burnout
NOAA employees listed “excessive workload” as #1 cause of burnout.
Burnout can have huge impact on our mental and physical health, relationships both personally and professional, as well as substance abuse.
Below are some ways to manage burnout:
Discuss specific concerns with your supervisor or other advocate.
Seek support from co-workers, friends, or loved-ones.
Incorporate relaxing activities into your day.
Get moving by regularly exercising.
Sleep! It restores wellbeing and helps protect your health.
Practice Mindfulness through a focusing on your breath flow and being intensely aware of what your sensing and feeling at every moment. At work, this practice involves facing situations with openness and patience, without judgement.
Additional Resource: NOAA Burnout Page | Best Practices to reduce Burnout
Mindful NOAA
Mindful NOAA’s community of practice uses evidence-based mindfulness in support of NOAA’s mission of science, service, and stewardship. We offer mindfulness practices, educational opportunities, and resources to improve workplace culture by enhancing employee health and resilience, performance, and leadership. Check out the Mindful NOAA webpage for more info.
Health and Wellness: NOAA-sponsored, FEHB-sponsored, FSA Reimbursement and Federal Employee Discounts
Health Club and Wellness Services Fees Reimbursement Program - to assist and encourage employees to achieve and maintain
physical fitness through the use of a health club and wellness services, such as physical fitness maintenance/improvement, weight loss, or smoking cessation programs. Reimbursement, up to $308.10 per calendar year, for the expense of health club and wellness services.
The NOAA Fitness Center (NFC) has services for all of NWS (CONUS/OCONUS). For those in Silver Spring, MD (or nearby) we offer our in-person gym (Mon-Fri, 6am -7:30pm ). NWS members who are outside of Silver Spring (or are teleworking), we offer NFC Global, a platform for virtual access to on-demand or livestream fitness classes (*see below for access). All members, regardless of in-person or virtual membership, can also benefit from NFC’s pro physical assessments (e.g., biological health assessment, fitness level etc), and nutritional coaching. We partner with MindfulNOAA, and our programs compliment each other, as wellness is both physical and mental.
*NFC Global/virtual access is via the Boost by Elevation App (Apple, Android)
Gym Discounts Available Through FEHB Medical Insurance Providers
GEHA | Blue Cross | Kaiser Permanente | Aetna
Discounts By Plan - Consumer Checkbook Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees (NOAA Library purchased)
Gym and Wellness Discounts Available Through Other Programs
National Weather Service Health Club and Wellness Services Fees Reimbursement Program
Wellness Resources
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Other NOAA Line Office Services & Resources
NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Services: Total Worker Health
Mission: Protect and promote the physical and mental health of the workforce and advance their well-being by transforming enterprise approaches to daily work to create sustained measurable workforce health outcomes.
NOAA Fisheries: Wellness Corner
You will find upcoming events, pre-recorded videos, and links to information on a number of topics including resilience, anxiety management, burnout, and many others.
Also, see Mindful NOAA originally started in NOAA Fisheries. Mindful NOAA’s community of practice uses evidence-based mindfulness in support of NOAA’s mission of science, service, and stewardship.
National Ocean Service (NOS): NOS Behavioral Health and Wellness
NOS Behavioral Health and Wellness resources website launched in 2022
Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research (OAR): OAR Behavior Health and Wellness
From 2019 to 2020, OAR completed an Organizational Health and Culture Assessment (OHCA) with AvantGarde. The three phases of the assessment incorporated OAR stakeholder interviews, 930+ survey respondents (feds, contractors, and CIs), and nearly 160 focus group participants and produced key actions items at the enterprise and program/lab levels (FMCs).
Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO): NOAA Behavioral Health and Wellness
OMAO started the NOAA Behavioral Health program in 2017.
Department of Commerce Resources
The Department of Commerce would like to remind you of several resources to assist federal employees in managing and maintaining their well-being, including:
Mindful Fed, a new interagency community of practice offering an array of services to help cultivate well-being and resilience in the workplace.
Mindful Fed gathers every Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. ET. Email Mindful Fed for more information.
Additional details and resources can be found with the Office of Personnel Management.