In this session, Andy Hearn, Ara’s Wellbeing Specialist, joins us to share the vocational training institute’s wellbeing framework and how it has been used to shape the response to the Covid-19 crisis.  Andy will share the components of the framework and discuss the framework’s flexibility to support different levels of focus and intervention for workers during this uncertain time (at organisation, team and self levels).

Ara is the largest vocational training institute in the South Island of New Zealand.

Andy is an experienced Wellbeing Specialist who is nearing the end of two-year contract as ‘Manager – Health & Wellbeing’ at Ara Institute of Technology. He worked for 10 years as a Senior Academic Staff Member and Head of Science at CPIT (now Ara) before moving to the Canterbury DHB in 2012 to lead the DHB’s staff wellbeing response following the Christchurch earthquakes. After four years at the CDHB Andy moved to Emerge Aotearoa as their National Health, Safety and Wellbeing Manager. In 2018 he returned to Ara to develop and embed an evidence-based focus on staff wellbeing.

Andy holds a Master’s Degree in Physiotherapy, a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Health & Safety, and is a ICF Certified Coach.