Supporting Mental Health in the Workplace
Nottinghamshire Healthcare is supporting World Mental Health Day on 10 October, which this year focuses on mental health in the workplace.
Approximately one in four people will experience a mental health problem each year. With over 9,000 staff delivering the Trust’s mental health, intellectual disability and community healthcare services, supporting staff’s health and wellbeing is a priority. Raising awareness, promoting good practices and helping staff to be as healthy and well as possible plays a vital role in ensuring the Trust continues to provide the best care to patients, service users and carers.
As part of the Trust’s Wellbeing Strategy, a range of support and advice is available for staff. Over 90 Health and Wellbeing Champions help inform, educate and empower staff by providing information, guidance and signposting to different services. Training and courses are available on topics such as resilience, stress management and supporting work life balance, and Health and Wellbeing events are frequently held across Trust sites. In addition, staff can access an eight week Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) course, which provides skills to manage stress, increase resilience and improve wellbeing.
Tim Sweeney, MBCT Clinical Lead at the Trust, said: “Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy combines mindfulness meditation with cognitive therapy exercises. Through a range of practices, we can begin to break unhelpful habits of thinking and behaving, becoming more positive, aware and able to make changes. Participants’ feedback shows an increase in their ability to cope with stress and anxiety, a reduction in symptoms of depression and an increase in quality of life.”
The Trust also provides support for staff who experience mental health problems and become unwell in the workplace. ‘Wellbeing in Work Forms’ and ‘Workplace Individual Support Plans’ are completed by an employee with their manager, detailing symptoms they display when unwell and reasonable adjustments and support needed to help them remain in or return to work when possible. Counselling is available through the Trust’s Occupational Health Team and psychological therapies can be accessed through its Let’s Talk – Wellbeing services. The Trust’s Recovery Strategy places a great emphasis on supporting people’s recovery as well as valuing people’s lived experience of mental health; Peer Support Workers in the Trust provide invaluable support to others whilst inspiring hope.
Clare Teeney, Director of Human Resources at the Trust, said: “Our staff are essential to the delivery of our services and we place great importance on supporting their mental health and wellbeing. This includes encouraging and informing staff about maintaining good mental health and promoting practices to support this. However, it is also about having the awareness and knowledge to recognise when someone is becoming unwell and providing a supportive and compassionate environment where people can seek and access help when needed.”
As well as World Mental Health Day, the Trust is also supporting Nottingham Mental Health Awareness Weeks, which aim to tackle stigma and raise awareness, and will be attending the special 25th anniversary celebration event. For more information visit www.mhaw.org.uk
If you or someone you know needs support with their mental health and wellbeing please view our A-Z services pages for more information. For information about World Mental Health Day and mental health in the workplace visit www.mentalhealth.org.uk For information about mental health and key facts visit www.mind.org.uk or www.time-to-change.org.uk
