GET EXCITED ABOUT THE NEW TEAM FEATURE SERIES!
This month we’re starting a brand new in-depth Team Feature Series, where we’ll be answering all of your most asked Benefits questions.
Today, we’ve asked our Benefits Administrator, Erica Palleschi about her opinion on:
How Employee Benefits Affect Employee Productivity?
From Erica’s perspective, Benefits do not only help employees maintain and improve their physical health through available services, but also support their mental well-being, which can significantly optimize the workflow!
To hear Erica’s full detailed answer – check out the full video >>>
For the past few months, we have been sharing organizations that not only are a part of the Benchmark network but those with a purpose is to create a positive impact within society.
In this month’s Community Spotlight, we’d like to feature an outstanding foundation – Arthritis Society with its President & CEO Trish Barbato.
The Arthritis Society is Canada’s national charity dedicated to fighting arthritis disease through research, innovation, advocacy, information, and support. While 1 in 5 Canadians have arthritis, there is no distinct cure for this disease. The Arthritis Society has been sparking new solutions and igniting professionals to help create a world where people are free from this disease.
By investing in high-risk, high-reward research projects the Arthritis Society unites ideators and entrepreneurs with a common goal to create transformational social impact and accelerate the delivery of solutions to those who need them most. Apart from the search for a cure, the organization’s intention is also to collect informational resources, like webinars and educational programs to help people with arthritis find support.
Since its opening 70 years ago, the Arthritis Society has invested nearly $220 million in research projects, leading to groundbreaking findings in spheres of diagnosis, treatment, and care of people with both osteoarthritis and inflammatory forms of arthritis. Today, the organization is ambitious to involve even more innovative research tools and engage more people in this critical conversation.
Check out Arthritis Society’s resources and support their charitable mission!
INTERVIEW
Tell us about the Arthritis Society and what you do?
Six million Canadians – 1 in 5 – live with the fire of arthritis. There is no cure. The Arthritis Society is Canada’s national charity dedicated to fighting the fire of this disease with the fire of research, innovation, advocacy, information, and support. As Canada’s largest charitable funder of arthritis research, we are sparking new ideas and igniting careers to help improve care for people with arthritis today, while searching for a cure for tomorrow. We support both early career researchers and established scientists. We are investing in innovative initiatives – high-risk, high-reward research projects, social impact projects and projects initiated by ideators and entrepreneurs – to create transformational health change and accelerate the delivery of solutions to those who need them most.
Together with our fierce volunteers, we are advocating to all levels of government about pressing policy issues such as reducing wait times for life-changing joint replacement surgeries and access to necessary medications. And we’re creating information resources and programs to help people with arthritis flourish. Our Arthritis Talks webinars, for example, give people the opportunity to hear from experts on issues that matter to them, and our Arthritis Line is a toll-free resource where people living with arthritis and those who support them can get answers from trained volunteers.
How has the Arthritis Society made a difference for people with arthritis?
The Arthritis Society has invested close to $220 million in research projects since our founding, including $3.6 million last year alone. These projects have led to breakthroughs in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of people with both osteoarthritis and inflammatory forms of arthritis. Last year, we reached more than two million Canadians with evidence-based information to help them manage their disease. More than 62,000 people received direct or one-on-one support through our programs, including our camps for children with arthritis and Arthritis Talks. We are proud that 82% of program users said they were empowered to better manage their arthritis because of this support.
Thanks to our advocacy efforts last year, five provincial governments committed additional funding to reduce joint replacement surgery wait times, we prevented shortages of arthritis drugs being used for COVID-19 treatment and we ensured medical cannabis was deemed essential medicine during the pandemic.
What are some of the biggest challenges the Arthritis Society has had to overcome?
One of the biggest challenges we are working to overcome is the belief that “it’s just arthritis.” That’s just not true. Arthritis is serious. It causes debilitating pain. And it’s a leading cause of disability in Canada, causing many people to leave the workforce when they don’t want to or to leave school. For many, the fire of arthritis means time away from friends and family or the inability to simply walk around the block or hold hands with a loved one. We’re working to open eyes and break down misconceptions every day.
What are the Arthritis Society’s goals?
The Arthritis Society wants to extinguish the fire of arthritis – for good. We want to elevate arthritis as a health concern taken seriously by policymakers and the general public. We want to work with health care providers to ensure early symptoms lead to early diagnosis and treatment. We want to work with businesses and corporations to ensure they have programs in place to allow people with arthritis to be supported in the workplace. We want to work with innovators and entrepreneurs to ensure ideas that could benefit the lives of those living with arthritis are brought to fruition. We want to empower people living with arthritis to not only manage their condition but to flourish. We have ambitious and audacious goals because we have to. The fire of arthritis is robbing Canadians of all ages of the lives they want and we’re here to fight that fire with everything we’ve got.
DONATE TO ARTHRITIS SOCIETY TODAY>>>
CONGRATULATIONS TO BRIANNA AND NYLO!
We are thrilled to announce that our Account Executive, Brianna Wilson, and Benefits Analyst Nylo Anwaryar, have successfully completed their Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) Part 1 and Part 2 exams at the Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) programs!!
Brianna and Nylo have worked tirelessly to achieve these designations, and we are so excited to see them succeed!
Benchmark will be partnering with People Ops Society to
deliver a 4-day course about benefits in Canada & Europe!
People Ops Society is a US-based organization that is dedicated to providing resources for people operations professionals. They have organized The International Benefits course – a four-part educational series, featuring our very own Senior Consultant, Giorgio Follegati, and other industry specialists, to share their expertise on employee benefits strategy management and implementation.
The course will be happening from 1 PM to 2 PM EST on November 8, 10, 15, & 17. If you’re interested in participating, you’ll need to become a member of the People Ops Society.
For a 20% discount off a yearly all-inclusive membership, use the code POPSInternational at the checkout.