ANALYSIS
MENTAL HEALTH
“I’m helping people to understand how we listen to each other and relate better, because it’s all to do with relationships.”
Reverend Peterson Feital, The Haven
mental health issues on productions, there’s a growing band of mental health first aiders. At Dolly, Jude Spencer trains first aiders and teams in mental health awareness. “I’ve seen it go from individual freelancers, paying for training themselves, to companies wanting to really try and address their culture.”
Spencer is wary on behalf of those she trains. “I always say you have to be really mindful about when you offer this up, what productions and what companies, because you have to look after your own welfare. It does need to be backed up by support from the company.”
Prioritising Support
There are two big answers to how mental health conditions can improve, says Spencer: “Number one, realistic schedules; number two, a line item dedicated to mental health training and support for crew and for that line item to not be removed by broadcasters and commissioners.” Including a contingency for people who need to take bereavement leave, or time off sick. “It’s described as compassionate leave, which is slightly strange, isn’t it?” says Spencer. “But it shouldn’t be down to compassion, it should be that it’s a done deal, they should have that time off.”
The role that will help to usher in a better environment on production, Spencer says, is the independent wellbeing facilitator on a production. She also works with Six Foot from the Spotlight, where director Matt Longley has developed this role, to encompass mental health first aid, mental health risk assessments, bullying, harassment and discrimination prevention.
Six Foot from the Spotlight is a not-for- profit company that gives wellbeing advice across the industry. Other organisations in this space include ScreenSkills, which offers a number of free elearning modules. While Pact runs workshops and training programmes. Anjani Patel, head of Inclusion and Diversity at Pact, has seen a real shift in the six years that she’s been there. “There’s a greater level of consciousness around issues of mental health and wellbeing and a genuine attempt by most producers to do more.”
“If we can all take a small bit of responsibility in making positive change, it won’t be long before bigger change happens,” says Spencer at Dolly. “I think there are a lot of individuals that care very deeply about this, that are doing a huge amount to make changes for themselves, their teams and their companies. But ultimately, it all needs to be backed up with financial support from broadcasters and streamers.”
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televisual.com Summer 2023
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