Beating the Mental Health Stigma

The project has identified mental health as a key focus for 2017. To kick off the year in a positive light, presentations on mental health awareness were delivered to the workforce as part of our safe start following the Christmas period. The presentation reiterated how to identify the symptoms of stress and fatigue and how to foster positive mental health.

Following the positive feedback on the sessions, a workshop was held to derive a bespoke mental health strategy for 2017. The workshop used feedback from the workforce and management to identify the areas the project wanted to improve on and priority actions. Following this, the project developed a Mental Health Strategy.

The plan identifies a staged approach to achieving the project’s goals, starting with management stress and resilience training and acquiring trained mental health first aiders. The next step is to identify the project’s baseline on mental health awareness. As part of the project’s quarterly climate survey poll, the workforce will be asked their understanding and experience of mental health and whether they think the project is doing enough.

We aim to communicate to the workforce where they can get advice, help and support. Numerous workshops and training sessions are being arranged throughout the year ensuring they are specific to the target audience and provide the right information for the individuals.