the foundation for positive mental health Other segments of the student population who have an increased risk of developing mental health problems are students who identify as LBGTQ. They’re Saudi and they don’t identify like that in their own culture what happens therefore, what about an international student who comes to the United States and identifies as trans. Only 48 that percent group said they had received help, about 44 percent said they thought they’d needed mental health Actually the Healthy Minds Study, an annual national online survey of college students about mental health problems created by the University of Michigan, found that 67 percent of 20152016″ BU students reported that there had been at least one day in the past month when emotional difficulty had impaired their academic performance, up from 53 percent in 2012, and 32 percent reported three or more such days. In light of this alarming trend, therefore this week BU Today is republishing a special threepart series, Mental Health Matters, that was originally published last October. We have updated the series to include new statistics and information. Now look, the more people that are aware of positive mental health activities and who are on board with the company changes, therefore the more likely you are to have a good transition into a more mentally healthy work place.

the foundation for positive mental health Image of a business can take a drastic hit if many employees are having to take time off due to mental illness, especially if so it is caused by work. It is likely to become popular with many people choosing to avoid a brand or supplier because of the way they perceive staff are treated, So if people are reporting that they are unhappy or unwell because of their workplace. Instead of taking the time to relax and recuperate, we now spend a great portion of our adult lives either in the office or completing work related tasks indoors. Spending this much time on work related tasks increases the impact that working life has on our mental health. Lots of us know that there is no place for getting embarrassed about mental health problems in the workplace and we are here to guide you and your business on how you can tackle the stigma plus ways in which you can in the premises and in the workplace, After all, mental illnesses can greatly impede people’s everyday lives and their ability to function.

the foundation for positive mental health Plenty of businesses underestimate how much of a financial impact that mental health problems have on them. And so it’s unsurprising to hear that mental illness affects people’s productivity at work. Training does not have to be limited to these roles either. Mental health workshops or workshops aimed to inform people on improving their mental wellbeing could’ve been a great addition to a company’s regular training programmes. Doing this will action plan is a decent place to start when thinking about implementing changes to the work environment to ensure that all the changes are thought out and will have the positive impacts desired. Generally, screening procedures are a formal way to test for mental health problems just like depression, anxiety and stress. These procedures involve a screening questionnaire and potential follow up appointments for treatment if an employee chooses to take this up.

the foundation for positive mental health Healthy eating can both be promoted through encouragement to eat fruit and vegetables but also through changes to any work provided cafeterias.

Therefore this does not mean eliminating all unhealthy options but instead making healthy foods more readily available and available at affordable costs. Whilst we would hope that the health of an employee would come before brand image And so it’s a factor that we can’t ignore and one that could greatly benefit from the implementation of mental health friendly practices. Did you know that a plan also ensures that people in managerial and higher position roles are on board with the project, as people throughout the company will all need to be involved to make a completely cohesive positive environment. Far we have outlined lots of ways that employers can make changes and implement programmes to improve mental health awareness in the workplace. Without the employee ‘buy in’ thence changes and initiatives are destined to fail. On p of that, the greatest proportion of a company is the employees. Any plans for change need to be a joint venture between the employee and employer. I am sure that the role of the employee is just as important in making changes in the business ethos, as the role of the employer.

Arguably the role of the employee is more important as Undoubtedly it’s their feedback that propels change.

Client and colleague relationships are a great reason to care about mental health and a place where mental illness can have a great impact.

It had been found that mental illness can cause an increase in colleague conflict. It is this will hereafter cause strains within a business that will no doubt impact efficiency. Now please pay attention. Survey of employees, conducted in 2014 found that 31 of employees said that they should not feel able to talk to their manager if diagnosed with a mental health problem. Basically the processes of implementing new programmes by employers and testing these programmes by the employees also have similarities with both being cyclical in nature. Even with greatly researched action plans many people will find that changes and programmes shan’t work perfectly when implemented and alterations going to be needed.

Below are two flow charts that highlight these processes. Importantly, for a change to have better chance of succeeding, the flow charts of the employer and employee will intercept one another both in the planning and feedback phases. These should be large changes or relativelyquite small changes within the company -any change for the positive should elicit better cohesion amongst staff which will subsequently improve morale. Look, there’re also other ways to improve the mental ‘wellbeing’ in a workplace that do not involve formal screenings. It’s vital to realise that mental illness isn’t uncommon and as such shouldn’t be treated as a pic to avoid. Like physical health, mental health is important for our day to day lives and we should do what we can to preserve our mental wellbeing, when people think about mental health problems they are often treated as taboo but it’s essential to remember that. Actually, 1 in 4 adults per year should suffer from mental illness. Essentially, this page is simply a suggestion on how you as a workplace can improve your employees’ mental wellbeing, as we mentioned.

It should be best to simply ask your employees what they feel will benefit them in the perspective.

Ultimately, by simply considering making changes for the better, the first step was made.

So there’re however a vast number of programmes and changes that you can implement, and these will change according to your size and industry. Although, the modern day workplace does not end when a person leaves the office and many people are often always in uch with work colleagues discussing projects. Then again, especially their mental health, with this particular big role to play in people’s everyday lives we argue that responsible businesses must care about the health of their employees. Therefore, consider an increased lunch break for that employee for the duration of their treatment to if a person has 60 minutes lunch break and requires a psychotherapy session that lasts fifty minutes. Exercise can be promoted through company gym memberships and facilities if we’re talking about applicable but smaller firms can also promote this by encouraging cycle to work schemes and lunch time running clubs.

Out of hours’ sports clubs could also be promoted with many work based sports leagues also in existence.

Whilst that’s far from an exhaustive list, what it does illustrate is that both employees and employers will have similar roles that will need to play off of ourselves to improve mental health and wellbeing of staff.

Employees play a pivotal role in helping to implement change and the chart below shows a selection of roles that both the employee and the employer have in such programmes. Whenever working from home in the evening and working on our time off, in the modern world we are often working longer hours. A well-known fact that is. While limiting email access after regular working hours or by ensuring that enough staff are assigned to a job so the workload is more equally spread out, now this may be through limiting overtime.

As a business you can be mindful of this and can impose limits on the quantity of work that can be completed outside of work hours.

The main area you can control as a business is the time that people work.

Now this in turn leads to less time to unwind and higher levels of stress. Whilst this may not seem like an ideal step to take, you will likely see a greater work output from a less stressed and a better rested workforce. Now pay attention please. Teams that are often conflicting shall not work well gether which in turn will lead to longer completion times on group projects. Generally, this will also likely lead to more complaints being submitted to HR departments which so cause an increase in costs being that the resources being used and again a delay in projects being completed.

Therefore in case you are a company that provides hospital insurance you may wish to consider policies that include mental health treatment.

When your company’s plan is up for renewal you may choose to take the extra time to ensure this important part of an employee’s health is also protected.

That said, this may not are something you will have previously considered but heaps of medical plans unfortunately do not cover the cost of mental health care. We look for businesses to become more mental health friendly environments. Whilst we do hope that businesses would like to improve the mental wellbeing of their employees for reasons that are not solely financial, we are aware that this may be a big driving force behind many business decisions. These impacts may affect the businesses benefits in the longer term and are often avoidable or treatable if acknowledged and dealt with. So it’s the bottom line as to why a business must care about mental health, negative impacts are perpetuated when we won’t acknowledge a issue. Many of us are aware that there are other impacts on a business caused by mental illness which do not have this immediate effect on a business’s finances, the financial cost of mental health is probably an area that many businesses will like to focus on.

One good way to do this my be to set up areas known as ‘Mental Health Open Zones’ and ‘Open Wellbeing Zones’ in communal areas just like cafeterias or the staff kitchen.

That’s another area where mental health awareness can be brought in.

These previously mentioned ‘Mental Health Open Zones’ are not designed to replace the Human Resources department where people who feel they are suffering may turn to for advice. Evidence is showing that this problem is continuing to worsen with the overall amount of sick days rising to 11 dot 8 million in 2010 and after all to 15 dot 2 million days in 2013 which is an alarming rate of growth highlighting the problems employees are facing in the modern working environment.

These statistics and figures should be alarming but unfortunately the truth of the matter is that these figures have quite a few chances to be underreported as many people with mental health problems do try to conceal these problems from their employers and fellow colleagues since the continuing stigma surrounding mental health.

We’re talking about related as people may go on extended leave and hereupon may decide they are unable to return to work.

Associated with this are the costs of recruitment and termination, Employee absence is one indirect form cost. So this means a company has to involve costs in closing this employee’s contract and has to incur further costs with recruiting and training a suitable replacement. Specific training for Human Resources staff and even line managers can be provided by businesses to might be struggling. Conversely, if a brand is recognised as being an active player in a push for positive mental ‘well being’ and mental health treatment hereafter they will see an increase in their brand’s image and brand loyalty. What if you download ourfree ‘Mental Health Open Zone’ poster to display in your workplace, So in case your company is fundraising for The Shaw Mind Foundation. Certainly, these posters and similar stakeholders that your organisation is a ‘Mental Health Open Zone’ and that you are an employer that welcomes staff to openly discuss mental health problems without judgement and that you are working pretty impossible to reduce the stigma that often follows mental health. Although, improved access to exercise and healthy eating facilities may also be beneficial as both of these areas been shown to improve a person’s mental wellbeing.

Improving access to both exercise and healthy eating may be fairly straightforward to implement for many organisations. For many smaller companies extra training going to be more than adequate, large corporations may consider having one their Human member Resources team dedicated solely to mental health and wellbeing. Being subjected to longer work hours can increase stress, anxiety and depression which all have negative impacts on an employee’s ability to perform. Providing ways to improve mental health shouldn’t only positively impact the employee but will also greatly for the sake of example, you could promote a scheme in which mental health appointments can be taken during work hours without penalty, or at least with more flexibility. Nonetheless, whenever impacting both the company’s reputation and their potential for sales, they will hereafter hold this against the company, not the individual. Being less patient with a client can cause an employee to become short tempered and may leave a client feeling underappreciated or insulted.

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