Here we take a look at some of the areas to consider, to assess and ensure you have the right support for all people, not just some.

 

What are the offerings?

As I have spoken about before there are some key areas to look at when building a mental health plan and then sub sections within each one.

To start with the three main levels of support need to be addresses, these are –

• Prevention

• Mild/Moderate

• Triage

 

All of these need to be provided for. If (as is traditional) only triage is supported, then people will only get support when they are already having a severe challenge. The prevention and mild/moderate systems need to be in place to help to avoid the people in your organisation getting to the triage/severe place. Once they are here it is a lot to unravel and can take months or even years, this is not great for them or the organisation. It is far more efficient to put the right steps in place to stop people reaching this point.

Within each of these you will then need to look at possible options as a route to get support, education and training to everyone. Some options available –

• Lunch and Learn

• Workshops

• Check ins

• Facilitated discussions

• Education and training

• Support apps

• Well-being classes

• 121 therapy support

• Information worksheets

 

Resources

When making your mental health plan and strategy you need to look at what you need and who will help with organisation and implementation. One of the big things to consider here is resources and which ones you have or don’t have available.

Think about: –

• What Skills your current employees must have to help run or support the initiatives. And are they well practised in this area? A psychology degree from a decade ago that has never been put into practice will not be sufficient and ‘Brian’ who likes Reiki should not be looked at either – yes, this really is something I have come across!

 

• Do these employees have the dedicated time available to ensure the plan is executed well? If they have another whole job maybe not, it is something to seriously consider, the person organising the plan should not be the most stressed person in the company because they have been handed this extra work!

 

• Do you know how to find good, properly qualified outsourced mental health and well-being professionals if needed? A lot of mental health and well-being therapies and therapists are not properly governed which means you need to know what qualifications and insurances to look for. I have come across seriously under qualified therapists working in organisations because of this. Do your research!

 

How will you track and ensure effectiveness and consistency?

Again, here there are a few methods that you can use but I think the key area here is do you outsource this. Why? Well, as much as things are changing people in organisations still feel they can’t be open within them about their mental health and well-being. So, if you really want the truth about what is going on, what is working or not working etc you might want to look at getting an experienced company to come in and help with this.

 

Methods you can use –

• Surveys, you can create something bespoke or there are also lots of systems available to help you create these.

• Usage tracking. This works with apps, classes etc. when you can track how many people are using the app or attending classes.

• Checking in, 121 with people. Either a therapist, coach, HR or other professional who will know what to ask to ensure feedback is usable.

• Round table discussions.

• In time looking at productivity tracking and absenteeism. These statistics will take a while to develop.

 

So, lots to think about and consider. If you need any help or advice on this the get in touch – sophie@theholistichealthcaregroup.com