HW410

Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention

Unit 9 Final Project

Richard Perks

HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention

Due Date: May 25, 2021

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Stress Management and Prevention Program

Everyone faces stress in their life. We all handle our stress differently. The group that

I will be focusing on will be Disney Cast Members, specifically those working at Pinocchio

Village Haus. Working at the Most Magical Place on Earth, Walt Disney World, brings with it

many different stressors on the body. One of the forgotten stressors that happens is the mental

stress. Everything at Walt Disney World is held to the highest standard, and working with the

public that knows these standards, trying to maintain them can be mentally grinding. This

workplace wellness program will focus on one restaurant, Pinocchio Village Haus, with about

200 cast members, or employees. The program will focus on mental health by helping the cast

members with a stress management and prevention program.

There are many different stressors that the Cast Members face, some of them are work

related, and others are home life related. The ten main stressors that cast members face are:

job security, health status, housing status, accessibility of food, money, family comfort,

overall safety, stress from work, stress from the news, and separation stress.

Stress from your job security is massive, because you are always worried about losing

your source of income at any moment. The status of one’s health is a big stressor, especially

in today’s pandemic climate. The problem with this stressor is, the more stressed you get, the

worse your health can get, so it’s a compounding issue of stress. Housing status for many cast

members are on shaky ground. Some live in hotels, some live month to month in apartments,

and some have trouble paying their current rent and live under the fear of eviction. Not

knowing when you will lose your home is very stressful, especially for those who have

families. Accessibility of food is a stressor because many cast members don’t know where
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they are eating next, and when they do eat, they aren’t eating the healthiest of foods. They

have to rely on fast foods and highly processed foods. The main stressor that leads into the

previous stressors is the worry of money. Money drives all of our lives, and losing money can

determine if one eats, pays their rent, or puts gas in the car to get to work tomorrow.

Some more external stressors that cast members feel is worrying about the comfort of

their family. They not only worry about their family that they may have in the area, but also

the family that many people have moved away from. This leads into the next stressor,

worrying about safety. Cast members have a lot to worry about while at work, on the road,

and even at home. These worries are based on safety. At work, they need to be safe in order

not to get hurt while at work, and the same can be said while they are driving on the road and

working around their home. Central Florida has some of the most dangerous roadways, so

safety is always on the forefront of people’s minds while driving. Safety is not the only

stressor cast members feel at work, but there are many other stressors they feel. The pressure

to be happy all of the time, the pressure to make sure everything is perfect for the guests, and

make sure that everything is up to the high Disney standards.

The last two stressors that Cast Members can feel are stress from the news and

separation stress. The news is not a fun thing to watch most days, and the recent months have

been no different. With the pandemic, the wars, the political unrest in the country, and all of

the violence against minorities, everybody is feeling more stress than normal. The issue with

this stress is, the Cast Members tend to carry this stress with them to work. This can cause

more stress to happen while at work, and the last things Cast Members need is more stress.

The last type of stress Cast Members feel is separation stress. There are many Cast Members

that have moved from other parts of the country and other parts of the world, so this may the
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first time they have moved away from home. This rings especially true for the college interns

when they are here. These ten stressors are important to consider for this population because

many Cast Members feel more than one of these stressors at a time, and many of them don’t

know how to handle these many different stressors. That’s the main goal of this program, to

teach these Cast Members how to handle these stressors in their lives, and teach them new

ways to manage their stress, and how to handle future stress.

Before bringing in the professionals to try and help the cast, perhaps the management

team can try and communicate different exercises and techniques the Cast can try to help

alleviate their stress. The first technique is the use of positive talk. When we talk to ourselves,

we need to change negative statements and thoughts into positive ones. By keeping a positive

inner voice, it helps keep you calm and keeps your stress levels down. This can be a difficult

one for people to put into practice, but over time, the more and more one becomes more positive,

the easier it will become. The easier it is to me positive, the less stress you will feel in certain

situations. We go through enough external stressors, the last thing we need is extra internal

stress.

The second technique to help alleviate stress is to break away from the stress and do what

makes you happy. Find something that helps you keep your mind off of the stress. This could

be going for a walk or a jog, reading a book, meeting friends, listening to music, etc. Some of

these techniques are great to be used while at home, but the key would be to find certain

techniques that can be used while at work Sometimes, you aren’t able to break away and talk a

walk or listen to music. The best techniques to use while at work, and you’re in a spot where

you cannot break away are breathing exercises. This consists of taking slow, deep breaths for

about 30 seconds, or until you feel your body loosen up a bit.

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A third stress relief technique that can be used while on the clock is positive or guided

imagery. Guided imagery is a form of focused relaxation that helps create harmony between the

mind and body. It is a way of focusing your imagination to create calm, peaceful images in your

mind, thereby providing a mental escape. It is a way of viewing your ideas, feelings, experiences

and interpretations. Imagery can stimulate changes in bodily functions such as heart rate, blood

pressure and respiratory patterns. It can help you tab inner strengths to find hope, courage and

other qualities that can help you cope with a variety of conditions. (Guided Imagery | Center for

Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine, n.d.) This can be easily done while on the clock by just taking

your mind and bringing it to your happy place. Think of a place that bring you joy. After a

while, you will start to notice that your stress will start to slip away, and that is because your

mind is focused on the happy place instead of the stressors you may be feeling at the time.

The best way to make sure everything is being done properly, the responsibilities will be

split throughout the management team. With three to five managers scheduled during the day,

there will be plenty of time to brainstorm and come up with ideas on how to help the employees,

how to market the program to them, and how to market the program to the company for budget

concerns and approval. By splitting these responsibilities, there is a better chance each item will

have a better focus on it, and a better chance of success of the program. The first step in creating

a program that will be an easy sell to the employees is the naming of the program. You want to

generate interest in the program, and you want the employees to use the program. The name of

this workplace program will be based off of the name of the restaurant. Pinocchio was a puppet

that wanted to be a real boy, and sometimes we feel like puppets when we enter autopilot mode.

The name of the program will be “No Strings on Me”. The stress from a job like this can make

you feel bound to it, and your life seems to always be attached to it. No Strings on Me is focused
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on helping you separate yourself from the stress of work. For stress reduction, there really isn’t

much in the way of budgeting concerns monetarily. Most of the needs of this program are time

based. Justifying the time that the employee spends away from the restaurant is where the

program cost lies. How much time can the employee stay away from the business before their

absence is hurting the production is what needs to be thought about. Whether than absence is

during their shift while their one-on-one meeting, or calling out of work due to being over

stressed.

The two main goals of this program are making sure the employees are not bringing the

stressors of work back to their home lives. The best ability in all employees is availability.

Making sure they are able to come to work is the best way for them to continue to make money,

and the best way for the restaurant to run smooth. These goals help us reach the objectives of the

program. These objectives are reducing the number of callouts due to workplace stress, and

increasing the moral of the restaurant by bettering the attendance numbers. The occasional

mental health day is definitely necessary, but making sure their mental health is taken care of is a

big step in making sure everybody is in the proper mindset to be at work.

Some of the obstacles this program would face would be the willingness of the Cast

Members to use the program, and having enough time in the day to help the Cast Members who

want to take advantage of the program. The way to help with the willingness of the Cast

Members would be to show them examples of how stress management and stress reduction can

help many different aspects of their life. You could put up flyers showing the health benefits of

going through a program like this versus living with the constant stress and the adverse health

effects that can have on the body. The other issue this program could face is having enough time

in the day to allow the Cast Members time to do this stress management program. The time is
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not only for the Cast, but also management. The best way to ensure there is always time in the

day for the Cast Members to talk to somebody is to have health professionals come in three times

a week and they can talk to the cast. Not only will this keep the managers on the floor worrying

about the restaurant, but also it gives the Cast a professional that they can talk to and learn

effective techniques from.

There are many different health professionals that can come in and help with this

program. The first one is a Certified Stress Management Counselor. The role of this certified

professional is to help and enable people to better cope with stress through a variety of strategies

and counseling techniques. (Role of the Certified Stress Manager, Stress Consultant, 2006)

These Stress Management Counselors are able to teach the Cast Members about preventative

techniques to help with stress, but also proactive techniques to help deal with stress in the current

moment that they would be feeling it. The Counselors would do this through education of what

stress is, how it effects the body, and what stressors they are feeling in their everyday life. These

Counselors can offer approaches to stress management, like through a holistic approach that can

help the mind-body-spirit connection, and through developing a healthy lifestyle for the Cast

Member so they are able to reduce the stressor they are feeling. By dealing with the stressor

from the source, you are able to teach them ways to overcome their stress for the rest of their life.

The second specialist the location can bring in is somebody certified in MBSR, or

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. These certified people can talk to the Cast Members and

teach them things like increased self-awareness, how to respond and not react to stress, and even

change the way one habitually reacts. (MBSR Training: 8-Week Course Live & Online -

MindfulLeader.Org, n.d.) These MBSR specialists aren’t necessarily health professionals, but

they are just normal people who wanted to learn about stress reduction, and pass that knowledge
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on to other people. Sometimes that is the most effective way to get through to certain workers.

If they see that somebody can empathize with their stress, they would be more willing to listen to

the person trying to help them.

After implementation, those who implemented the program need to follow up to find out

if the program is running at its best, and making sure it is reaching the goals set for the

employees using the program. The best way to do this is through evaluation questions. The first

stake holder, the company, would ask, “Is this program the best use of our money?” The way this

would get answered is through data. The number of employees using the stress reduction

resources available to them through their one-on-one meetings, and subsequent call-out numbers

after these meetings.

The second evaluation question would be from the managers implementing the program.

This question would be, “Did this program address the identified needs?” The answer lies in the

same data from the first evaluation question. The number of call-out numbers from those

employees under immense stress. Another way would be seeing the morale of the location. This

is a hard data point to put onto paper, it’s more of a feeling one gets from working in the

restaurant. The next thing to do is send out exit surveys to those employees who use the

resources from the program. Sending them this survey asks them what they thought of the

program, if they thought the program worked for their best interests, and if they would

recommend this program to a fellow coworker. These are the main points of the success of a

program. For the program to be determined a success, it would help the employees as intended,

and you would want those employees to speak highly of the program and recommend it to their

fellow workers to find the benefits of the program.

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The sustainability of the program is dependent on who the employees respond to the

program. If the employees buy into the program and use the resources given to them, then the

program has a good chance of success. The one point about this program is that it doesn’t seem

like Walt Disney World is going anywhere any time soon, and there will always be people who

need to work there. By keeping those employees healthy, they are able to work better and come

to work more by not calling out due to stress. Keeping the employees happy is vital in keeping

the customers happy. The reciprocation of happiness is what keeps everybody coming back to

work, and coming back to visit the theme park.

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References

3 Tips to Manage Stress. (2017, June 7). Www.Heart.Org. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-

living/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/3-tips-to-manage-stress

Guided Imagery | Center for Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine. (n.d.). Cleveland Clinic.

Retrieved May 23, 2021, from

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/departments/wellness/integrative/treatments-

services/guided-imagery

MBSR Training: 8-Week Course Live & Online - MindfulLeader.org. (n.d.). Mindful Leader.

Retrieved May 23, 2021, from https://www.mindfulleader.org/mbsr-training?

gclid=Cj0KCQjw16KFBhCgARIsALB0g8KOwoSsHyZVYe6HOqlgyCpZMBD3JtUAo

3qLdzJzE1fWSebmFNl0x-gaAm7VEALw_wcB

Role of the Certified Stress Manager, Stress Consultant. (2006). American Institute of Health

Care Professionals. https://www.aihcp.org/certified-stress-manager.htm

Seaward, B. (2018). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being (9th

ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Stahl, B., & Goldstein, E. (2019). A mindfulness-based stress reduction workbook (2nd ed.).

New Harbinger Publications.