The COVID-19 pandemic shook up a lot of things, but as the pieces have settled, some of the negative repercussions have realigned to be positive influences.

For example, more children and adults than before are fighting stress, anxiety, depression and isolation, according to the latest Pulse Poll the Colorado Health Foundation released Tuesday.

But there’s also greater understanding and acceptance of mental distress and the need for assistance, said Nicole Johnston, project manager for the Suicide Prevention Collaborative of El Paso County. The group of industry leaders works to reduce suicide attempts and deaths.

“The lens is how can we reach people before it’s a crisis, how can we reduce the stigma,” she said.

Out of that perspective, the group created the Pikes Peak region’s first “Workplace Wellbeing Summit” to develop a healthier, safer and more productive workforce.

The inaugural event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, at the COS City Hub, 4303 Austin Bluffs Parkway. The cost is $50 per person, and registration is available at https://pikespeaksuicidepreventionpartnership.salsalabs.org/WorkerWellBeingSummit/index.html.

The interactive workshop is designed for teams of two to five members from each organization or business, Johnston said. Fifty of 125 seats are left, and representatives from large businesses are particularly needed to round out participants, she said.

“There are so many people who can be impacted by the messaging of mental health where they work, especially post-pandemic,” Johnston said. “Sometimes it’s just having more resources available in breakrooms or changing how we conduct meetings.”

Summit attendees will be equipped with practical tools and ideas on how to implement best practices, she said.

Sally Spencer-Thomas, an internationally known clinical psychologist from Conifer who helped establish Man Therapy and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, will lead the event.

Supporting employees’ mental health can improve individual well-being and also boost workplace productivity and morale, said Jonathan Liebert, CEO and executive director of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado and a member of the collaborative.

“By reducing stigma, encouraging open discussion about mental health and implementing supportive workplace strategies, we can create a healthier, more supportive work environment and a strong, more resilient community,” he said in a statement.

Three in five of the 2,404 Colorado adults who responded to this year’s annual Pulse Poll, conducted by telephone and online May 20-June 24, reported having experienced mental strain in the past year, a slight increase over last year.

Of respondents who indicated strain, 41% said they postponed mental health care in the past year, a large increase from the 27% who said they delayed seeking care in 2023.

That’s one reason fortifying workplace support is critical, Johnston said.

Saunders Construction Inc., which has about 520 employees working out of offices in Colorado Springs, Denver and Fort Collins, is realizing the benefits of doing so.

Since last December when the company implemented new techniques learned through a pilot program, H.O.P.E. Certification, which Spencer-Thomas teaches, there has been a noticeable difference, said Ame Muniz, director of learning and development. The 12-month, culture-changing H.O.P.E. Certification was developed by members of the National Workplace Prevention and Postvention Committee.

“We realized how much of a safety concern it is for employees to be in a bad state mentally,” she said. “Our goal is to spend as much time paying attention to and acting on employees’ mental health as we do their physical safety.”

Just the first step of administering a mental health needs-and-strengths survey launched discussions, Muniz said.

“It lifted a shadow of that topic of conversation in the workplace, and we saw an immediate increase of employees checking in with each other and supervisors checking in with employees and everybody having a greater awareness of, ‘Hey, are you OK?’”

A team of employees from different departments and who all have had personal experience with mental illness or that of a loved one’s formed to listen and guide co-workers.

The company also intentionally decreased labor demands this year, Muniz said.

“We learned burnout was a huge stressor, and by scaling back our work program and letting people catch their breath, we really gave people a chance to find the work/life balance and get into a good mental state,” she said.

Balancing work with activities of daily life is one challenge Coloradans are facing, along with housing affordability, economic difficulties, political rhetoric and other stressors noted in the 2024 Pulse Poll.

“Increasing the ability to use health insurance to pay for mental health services” was the most important action to improve mental health care for 40% of poll takers. Another 38% favored increasing government funding for mental health services, facilities, resources and prevention programs.

Another newly released report, the “2024 State of Mental Healthcare in America,” from Mental Health America, shows Colorado is losing ground, ranking 46th worst nationally in high prevalence and low access to mental health care, and posting the nation’s third highest-rate per capita of substance abuse.

The upcoming workplace summit supports Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade and First Lady Abbey Mobolade’s new community-wide mental health initiative, which has introduced programs such as 1,000 Neighborhood Gatherings to foster neighbors supporting each other and Pikes Peak Rising, an online platform that provides expert-vetted resources and validated assessments.

The mayor will speak at the summit, Johnston said.

“We’re still struggling locally as a community; we’ve seen no significant decrease in deaths by suicide, and we continue to have challenges with the opioid crisis, so we’re looking at different ways of reaching people,” she said.