VPPPA has partnered with experts at MindWise Innovations to present a monthly Q&A article addressing questions that members might be hesitant to ask about. These columns will address your questions about mental health, substance abuse, brain injuries, family issues and more. 

​December 17, 2020 
By: Lisa Desai, MindWise Innovations ​

Question: This holiday season I'm having an especially hard time focusing on gratitude. While I am grateful for so many things, those feeling continue to be overshadowed by general sadness for how many people are struggling right now. Is it emotionally unhealthy to feel this way?

By: Kevin Gardner 
 
Technology is inherently linked to employee health and happiness, not just improving productivity. Here are five ways technology can improve employee productivity and happiness in the workplace.

​By: Kevin Gardner 
​ 
By nature, large enterprises have many interlocking parts and a wide scope, so it's important to find easy ways to increase efficiency without causing confusion. Here are some ways to improve employee efficiency.
​
1. Constructive Feedback and Training for Employees 
Constructive feedback and criticism are important aspects of employee growth and training. If you offer feedback and support to your employees, they will be able to incorporate that feedback into their work and improve over time. Being thoughtful and respectful in your communications with employees, whether you're offering praise and encouragement or correcting a mistake, makes employees more willing to consider and learn from your feedback. Structured training is equally as important as on-the-job feedback.

​Originally featured in the Autumn 2020 issue of the Leader magazine.

By Sabrina N. Williams, Ph.D.
Columbia Southern University
 
In the wake of the COVID-19 global health pandemic, telecommuting has become the “new normal” for many in the American workforce. As states and local municipalities continue to implement stay-at-home and safer-at-home orders, telecommuting remains an integral part of many employers’ efforts to reduce the transmission of the virus in the workplace. 

Article originally published here. 

​By: John Dreyer Optometrist Bsc(Hons), MCOPTOM, DipCLP

What is blue light? 

Blue light is a perfectly normal and natural spectrum of light that is found in sunlight. Light ranges from 400 to 700 billionths of a meter (nanometer, nm) 400nm being violet to 700nm being red. When combined the individual spectrums of light creates "white light" or sunlight.

​By: Kevin Gardner 
 
Owning a piece of real estate is a source of pride. However, that source of pride goes hand-in-hand with some challenges. Pieces of property can break, leak, wear-out and overheat. The pressure of maintaining your property increases if you rent out your home. A critical piece of machinery in your property is the water heater. No one wants to stay in a house where the water is unreliable. Rather than waiting until the water heater breaks, it is important to take proactive steps to monitor the heater. Read on to learn what you can do to oversee the performance of your water heater so you will know the warning signs when it is time to be replaced.

​This blog was originally posted here. 

Do you sometimes find it hard to sleep at night? Chances are that blue light is affecting your body's biological clock and disrupting your sleep patterns. This is a reality for many people if you consider that an average modern human being spends almost 5,000 hours staring at screens that emit blue light.

It’s inevitable that as digital technologies continue to be available to more people, exposure to blue light will also increase. But what is blue light? Where can you find blue light? Is blue light good or bad for your eyes? If blue light has adverse effects on your eyes, what can you do to protect your eyes from these effects?

​Nearly 9 million people in the United States have contracted the coronavirus. It seems like now, more than ever, Americans are concerned with their health and the health of their neighbors. The information regarding testing and the treatment of this virus is updated on a regular basis. This means that the previous treatments used for this virus may not be as effective as once thought. In this article, we will discuss the cost of COVID-19 testing/treatment and what you need to be aware of when attempting to navigate your local healthcare system.

​Modern technology continues to reshape and evolve the way we conduct business. In both business-to-business and business-to-customer companies, the workplace continues to shift, taking advantage of mobile tech, cloud computing and the Internet to meet industry demands. These advances in technology not only help streamline costs and scale operations, but they also help offices adapt to the new normal of doing business during a global pandemic. Here are a few technologies and apps that are helping to revolutionize how we work.

VPPPA has partnered with experts at MindWise Innovations to present a monthly Q&A article addressing questions that members might be hesitant to ask about. These columns will address your questions about mental health, substance abuse, brain injuries, family issues and more. 

​November 19, 2020 
By: Lisa Desai, MindWise Innovations ​

1. My family and I have different feelings on social distancing. How can I politely decline to attend a family gathering without upsetting anyone?