MENTAL HEALTH
ff
health have said that that they would prefer to turn to a medical professional to deal with anxiety and depression (70%), compared to just 34% who would turn to their line manager for support. A fear of the potential impact on their job prospects was cited as a major barrier to confiding with managers.
Employers, however, can take steps to allay such fears by encouraging open communication and providing workable solutions to prevent matters from escalating and from them having a negative impact on both staff and patients.
Training managers to spot the early signs of anxiety and depression and encouraging them to respond to staff in an empathetic, non-judgemental manner will enhance the trust between employers and their workers, while also strengthening employee engagement. Changes in behaviour or significant weight gain or weight loss, for example, can act as an indicator that an employee is struggling.
Promoting open door policies to encourage regular conversations around mental health will help remove the associated stigmas and underpin the establishment of supportive cultures within the workplace.
By fostering positive engagement, the detrimental effects of stress can also be mitigated. GBAS found that more engaged employees reacted more positively to stress, with more than half (51%) of highly-engaged workers stating that stress motivated
them, compared to just 20% of disengaged colleagues.
With multiple factors adding to the pressures faced by care workers, both now and in the future, it’s imperative that employers take measures to control and minimise the risks to protect their staff and, in turn, those that they provide care for.
twitter.com/TomorrowsCare
Excess stress, particularly if suffered over a prolonged period, can have a serious impact on both physical and mental wellbeing. It can lead not only to minor ailments, but it has also been linked to more serious conditions including obesity, heart disease, stroke and mental illness if allowed to continue over sustained periods.
The cost of ignoring mental wellbeing was exposed by GBAS, which found that highly-stressed workers took more than twice as many days off sick than less affected colleagues. The study revealed that 44% of highly-stressed workers were in poor health, compared to just 16% of those experiencing low stress.
Providing staff benefits, such as flexible working hours, paid annual leave and access to Employee Assistance Programmes (EAS), can help to deliver the support required to maintain the mental health of care workers as they manage burgeoning demand.
Moreover, a strong workplace support network is essential to managing and maintaining positive wellbeing. 68% of GBAS respondents who turned to their line manager, colleagues and employer-provided assistance programmes told us that they felt supported.
As dependence on the sector continues to grow in the coming decades, protecting and supporting the mental wellbeing of workers by care providers will never be more critical.
www.willistowerswatson.com - 21 -
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46
