Mental health for companies
If your company is considering introducing a well-being programme, it is important to have a coordinated and cross-company approach that recognizes all roles, levels of seniority, and diversity in gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
Where to start?
Mental health awareness and employee care is a whole company responsibility and is more than just about having a number of mental health first aiders being trained up.
Here are some pointers and recommendations for a general implementation.
Company-wide MHFA awareness
Lean On Me delivers the MHFA England Mental Health Aware ½ day course. The aim of the course is to raise awareness, tackle stigma and empower people to access the other initiatives and support mechanisms you are putting in place.
We would recommend you consider between 70 – 90% of the company complete this course.
MHFA Champions
Lean On Me delivers the MHFA England Mental Health Champions 1- day course. This is ideal for directors and managers and is geared to equip staff with the skills and confidence to spot when someone on their team is struggling and to know how and when to offer support.
We would recommend that all directors and line managers complete this course.
Mental Health First Aid
Lean On Me delivers the MHFA England Mental Health First Aid 2-day course. This is for designated staff at all levels and is designed to equip Mental Health First Aiders with skills to spot signs of a range of mental health issues and guide a person to appropriate support. This course awards the delegate ‘Accredited Mental Health First Aider’ status which is valid for 3 years.
We would recommend that companies choose their mental health first aiders carefully and consider the optimum number of first aiders based on geographic and departmental need. It is also important to ensure that the team of first aiders is representative of the company’s gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation demographic profile in order to provide the best possible support for all employees.
Mental Health First Aid Refresher
Lean On Me delivers the ½ day refresher course to update the skills of your mental health first aiders near to the end of their 3 year accreditation.
And after the training…
Lean On Me offers a unique post-course service which helps build and maintain the mental health awareness within a company, provides emotional support and guidance to the first aiders for challenging situations and gives access to accredited psychotherapists and counsellors for professional support of staff.
To start a company programme …
If companies are to improve their working environments and address the growing issue of mental health in the workplace, then it is important that they engage with their employees to understand the real issues about them. With this in mind, we are partnering with The Little Survey Company to provide an integral part of developing employee well-being programmes to survey staff about mental health, and what they feel should be their company’s approach to including it in their corporate social responsibility programme.
If you are ready to promote mental well-being and support your staff, why not give us a call to discuss how best to implement your programme.