Employers are being reminded not to overlook support for mental health first aiders ahead of World Mental Health Day this week.
RedArc, the nurse-led health and wellbeing support service, is reminding employers and insurers to ensure they have adequate provision for those who support others with mental health issues.
This needs to include mental health first aiders, employees who have mental health-related responsibilities, and those with caring responsibilities, it said.
World Mental Health Day will take place on Tuesday 10 October, and this year’s theme is ‘Mental health is a universal human right’.
Christine Husbands, commercial director of RedArc, said: “Supporting people with mental health issues can be a rewarding experience but it can also take a significant toll on the individual themselves.
“While it is right that the primary focus is usually on those with the mental health issues themselves, this World Mental Health Day, it’s important to take a moment to recognise the potential strain that those who provide support often experience.”
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Those who provide support for people with poor mental health often feel reluctant to ask for help, she pointed out. They may have volunteered or applied for the role and so may feel they should be able to cope. They, too, may not feel comfortable or feel justified in asking for support for themselves.
“Mental health doesn’t discriminate and so anyone could find themselves in a position of supporting another person with their mental health, whether or not they have been trained to do so,” Husbands said.
“It’s therefore important that the availability of mental health support is promoted to help anyone who might need it.
“Individuals also need to make full use of the support that is on offer to them to ensure they in turn can provide the best possible support to others,” she added.
Separately, the ongoing cost-of-living crisis has created an atmosphere of uncertainty in the UK, causing employees to feel less in control of their wellbeing, as well as losing trust in their employers’ wellbeing efforts, according to research by consultancy Alight.
Its 2023 International Workforce and Wellbeing Mindset Study of 500 employers in the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands found that personal finances (59%) and job challenges (55%) currently rank as the top sources of stress.
The financial outlook among UK employees in particular is pessimistic at present, with 47% of those surveyed believing their financial situation will worsen over the next year.
When it comes to physical wellbeing, 46% of employees state they feel work-life balance is a key component to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Yet, despite the value employees place on physical wellbeing, only a quarter (25%) are enrolled in employer health plans, the research found.
Mental health conditions also cost UK companies £6.9bn in lost working days to long-term illness in the year to August, according to calculations by wellbeing consultancy GoodShape.
The cost of staff absences of 20 days or more because of poor mental health was almost as high as all long-term time off for musculoskeletal problems, surgery, and cancer combined, which cost employers £7.6bn, it added.
The average time off because of long-term sickness had risen from 59 to 62 days in the past year, resulting in 147 million lost working days, it said.
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