According to NHS England, one in 4 adults and one in 10 children experience mental illness, and many of us know and care for people who do. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel and act, and also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices.¹

Common types of mental health problems include panic attacks, bipolar disorder, depression and eating problems.² Hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health Awareness Week takes place in the UK from 13 -19 May 2019 to create awareness around mental health in our communities.

The theme this year is Body Image – how we think and feel about our bodies³. "All of us live with our bodies as they evolve and change. Just as all of us have a role in shaping an inclusive culture where we help others feel comfortable in their own skin."

It’s important that employers and their employees take steps to promote positive mental health and support those experiencing ill mental health.¹ People that feel good about themselves often work productively, interact well with colleagues and make a valuable contribution to the workplace. A recent Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development study found, for the first time, stress is the major cause of long-term absence in workers. Promoting positive mental health in your workplace can therefore be very beneficial, and ways to promote mental health in the workplace include¹:

• Understanding mental health: staff supported by their employer are more likely to be able to stay in work or return to work after a period of absence, reducing long-term absences in the organisation;
  
  
• Commit to improving mental health: employers should publicise its commitment to promoting mental health, which can start normalising the subject and encourage staff to talk to their manager and colleagues about their mental health;
  
  
• Educate staff about mental health: train managers on how to spot ill mental health and manage someone experiencing ill mental health. Provide them with the confidence to approach matters that concern them and help them to support their team in the best possible way.  

As an international people business, we at Impellam Group have a responsibility as both an employer, and as a gateway to numerous industries, to ensure we work to embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) across our Group and the workplaces we serve across the world. We’ve therefore created an internal EDI council that’s open to all Impellam Group employees to be part of.

Our EDI council brings our people, candidates and clients together; to realise a vision for a personal, fair and diverse collective of organisations where everyone’s voice is heard, where everyone is represented, and where everyone - whether they’re our people candidates or our clients – can ultimately contribute towards building better businesses.

The Mental Health Foundation are hosting Mental Health Awareness Week from 13 – 19 May 2019.

Notes

1 acas.org.uk
2 mind.org.uk
3 mentalhealth.org.uk