Promoting Mental Health in the Workplace

Abstract

The survey considered this was a greater burden compared to cancer (16%) and heart disease (16%), suggesting reducing mental ill health should be a priority for public health (Davies 2014). [...]the impact of stigma associated with poor mental health prevents individuals from accessing services that have the capacity to improve lives (Corrigan et al, 2014). To support organisations to reduce sickness absence, NICE published its "Workplace health: management practices" guidelines in 2016 (NICE, 2016), and the more recent "Healthy workplaces: improving employee mental and physical health and wellbeing" (NICE, 2017) shows workplace health now features high on the Government's agenda. [...]transformational programmes have sought to create a sea change in the way mental healthcare is delivered, from a mainly medical model approach, considered denigrating, paternalistic, inhumane and reductionist (Shah and Mountain, 2007), to that of a biopsychosocial model (Engel, 1977)With its emphasis on a more broad and integrated approach to human behaviour, this model requires the use of effectivecommunication skills in service delivery, to extend care beyond that of the individual to include family members and to emphasise the importance of illness prevention as well as treatment provsion (Dogar, 2007). The case for mental health promotion at work Considerable emphasis is now being placed on the importance of positive mental health and wellbeing as mental health is now considered a priority for the Government, with recent policies aiming to create a parity with physical health.