What are regional organisations putting in place to support mental health?

A number of initiatives have been set up, or are ongoing, to keep offering wellbeing support at work. This article looks at two examples, from Jaguar Land Rover and the Institute of Mental Health.

Jaguar Land Rover has developed a global wellbeing brand and strategy, linking all elements of health and wellbeing under the Mind-Body-Life pillars. They provide support and options for employees and managers at all stages of their healthcare journey, whether they are thriving or struggling.

Dr Steve Iley, Chief Medical Officer, Human Resources said:

We concentrated in the early days on making it accessible and open-source, deepening the offerings as colleagues got used to accessing through the app and website. We know that good health and wellbeing leads to better engagement with colleagues. There is already published evidence on linking wellbeing to engagement and secondarily reducing absence. We want to contribute to the evidence that it actually makes a difference, and we have shown in internal data that the managers we have put through our mental health training make earlier referrals to occupational health and shorter absences. It has been so successful we are rolling it out to all managers this year.

Our absence is reducing over the last year and our engagement as measured through our Pulse survey is increasing.

Also supporting the region’s wellbeing at work is the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). This partnership between the University of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was created to ensure that research and education are informed by the NHS agenda and needs and to make sure the work of researchers is aligned and relevant to patient needs.

Louise Thomson, Associate Professor in Occupational Psychology, IMH said:

At IMH we have recently looked at the impact of COVID-19 on workplace health, in particular the impact of being furloughed on mental health compared with those who continued working. How do organisations communicate with those working from home or that are furloughed? There are some interesting findings coming out.

We know that physical and mental health are intertwined – and both are important for overall wellbeing.

Workplace focus is part of a research centre in the IMH which focuses on workplace and organisational (culture and climate). They have joined with colleagues to take part in the MHPP. They also have an online training package in development to help line managers promote team wellbeing.

Visit the IMH website for more information