New health app eases workforce blues as NHS Mental Health Services Stats expected to show more people need help
We have now lived with Covid and various stages of lockdown for a year. The effects on our mental health have been talked about increasingly and the ramifications of the past year are now being shown in mental health statistics, the latest of which are the NHS Mental Health Service Stats out tomorrow. (Thursday 11th March '21)
There is no doubt that more needs to be done to help people suffering from mental health issues and the workplace is a major area for more effective interventions.
Even before Covid, MHFA England (Mental Health First Aid) reported that 1 in 6 workers will experience depression, anxiety or problems relating to stress at any one time.
There were 602,000 cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2018/19 in Great Britain and in 2018/19, stress, depression or anxiety were responsible for 44% of all cases of work-related ill health and 54% of all working days lost due to health issues in GB.
In addition, Public Health England say mental ill health is responsible for 72 million working days lost and costs £34.9 billion each year.
TeamDoctor, has been helping staff across a wide range of businesses, to cope with problems caused by Covid. Its education programmes have been shown to benefit individuals and businesses on an organisation- wide level. They found that many companies wanted to help employees but struggled to find the right sort of interventions which are relevant and useful to a large section of the workforce.
Jenni Collie is a Production Executive with leading wildlife film company, Silverback.
"We are really excited about using TeamDoctor at Silverback as it’s a top quality product and one of the UK's top rated Health Apps (see Orcha) The course and film content are very accessible, engaging and there’s something in it for everyone, whether they have an issue with stress, anxiety, sleep, diet and exercise or general lifestyle issues”.
TeamDoctor Director Rosie Runciman: "It has been really inspiring working with businesses where we can make a genuine difference to the health and happiness of the staff. Health education, when done well, is a wonderful tool to change attitudes and behaviours. It has been a great privilege to work with some fantastic employees and see first hand the dedication and innovation of many HR teams."
We can all make a difference through greater awareness and understanding as we work together to get those mental health service stats moving in the opposite direction.
ENDS