Raising Awareness, Responding to Need

‘Now is precisely the time to keep investing in the skills and talents of our people. It is the people we employ who will get us through. When markets are shrinking and order books falling, it is their commitment, productivity and ability to add value that will keep us competitive.’
Sir Mike Rake, BT, Sir Stuart Rose, Marks & Spencer, Richard Lambert, CBI, Brendan Barber, TUC and others (Nov 2008)

Increasing mental health awareness among your employees enhances the delivery of your business and the service you provide. Line managers often feel unsure about how to support colleagues who experience depression, anxiety and other mental health problems and staff at the frontline of your business may not know how best to deal with customers who have such difficulties. Increasing awareness of mental health among your managers and staff will improve the service you provide, retain valued customers and attract new ones, and demonstrate that you, as an employer, support your staff in this area of concern.  

BEING MINDFUL
BEING MINDFUL provides an introduction to mental health conditions, the impact on the workplace, dealing with distress, supporting presence of staff and managing absence. Being Mindful focuses on practice not policies and works best with participants from a mixture of roles and disciplines – for example, line managers and frontline staff, especially those with little or no knowledge of mental health issues. Directors, HR, Occupational Health, Union and other staff representatives may also find it helpful. 

A session can be delivered on your premises on dates to suit you or, alternatively, individual staff may attend one at Workways in Exeter. BEING MINDFUL sessions will be run at Workways in Exeter on 20 October and 9 December. Click here to download further information and a booking form.

A MINDFUL WORKPLACE
Without a mentally healthy workplace, the team will experience low morale, people will become cynical, stressed and anxious; physical health problems will increase, sickness levels will rise, productivity will drop and organisational reputations will be badly affected. A mentally healthy workplace is one which is seen as a happy and friendly place to work, values individual and team creativity and new ideas, has high productivity levels and is efficient, and is open to discussions about mental health issues. They give real consideration of work/life balance, provide staff with a sense of control over their own work, are good at communication, and manage change well.

A session can be delivered on your premises on dates to suit you or, alternatively, individual staff may attend one at Workways in Exeter. A MINDFUL WORKPLACE session will be run at Workways in Exeter on 9 November. Click here to download further information and a booking form.

MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is the help given to someone experiencing a mental health problem before professional help is obtained. The aims are:

• to preserve life where a person may be a danger to themselves or others
• to provide help to prevent the mental health problems developing into a more serious state
• to promote the recovery of good mental health
• to provide comfort to a person experiencing a mental health problem

Mental Health First Aid does not teach people to be therapists. However, it does teach people how to recognise the symptoms of mental health problems, how to provide initial help and how to guide a person towards appropriate professional help. The course is delivered by trained instructors on the staff of Workways, the Devon Partnership NHS Trust service which runs MINDFUL EMPLOYER. 

A course can be delivered on your premises on dates to suit you or, alternatively, individual staff may attend one at Workways in Exeter. A course will run at Workways in Exeter on 13 & 14 October. (Click here to download course information and a booking form).

Details of other providers are available on the MHFA England website.

Mental health awareness sessions have been delivered by Workways to the following employers:

Devon Partnership NHS Trust
Dorset Healthcare NHS Trust
East Devon Council
Exeter Community Initiatives
Gloucestershire County Council
Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Leicestershire County Council
Muir Housing (Burnley, Chester & Huntingdon)
NHS Devon
NHS Somerset
Richmond Fellowship Wiltshire
Scientiam (Birkenhead)
St Loye's Foundation (Exeter)
Small House Homes (Plymouth)

BENEFITS OVERVIEW
Workways also provide a half-day session giving an overview of the UK benefits and tax credits session. For more information, visit the Workways website.