Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behaviour (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities. Mental illness does not discriminate; it can affect anyone regardless of age, gender, geography, income, social status, race/ethnicity, religion/spirituality, sexual orientation, background or other aspect of cultural identity. Poor mental health has substantial personal and economic impacts across the European Union. Stigma and discrimination exacerbate these impacts. Consistently, the evidence points towards strongly negative attitudes towards people with mental health problems. Mental illness is treatable. Mental health first aid (MHFA) is the help offered to a person who is developing a mental health problem or who is experiencing a mental health crisis, until appropriate professional treatment is received or until the crisis resolves. It follows the model that has been successful with conventional first aid. We have occupational First Aid in the workplace but no Mental Health First Aid. To put this project in context the following stats are published by EU-OSHA and WHO. • Each year, 25% of the population suffer from depression or anxiety • Up to 50% of chronic sick leaves are due to depression/anxiety • About 50% of major depressions are untreated • The total cost of mental ill health in Europe is €240 billion/per year • €136 billion/per year is the cost of reduced productivity including absenteeism • There are 228.7 million employees in the EU • The average person spends more than 90,000 hours in their lifetime at work • 91.4% of EU households have a working adult The BeWELL project results will enable SME's all over Europe to implement these important mental health initiatives, and incorporate them into how they do business, without financial strain. The results include; • Project Platform (website/app) • A handbook for Employers on how to implement MHFA in the workplace, to work in conjunction with the website and training videos. • An informative and training handbook for Employees to work in conjunction with the website and training videos. • Suite of Employee Training Videos • Suite of templates, forms and documents needed for the MHFA management system. • A suite of dissemination and promotional materials for running a Mental Health Awareness campaign in the workplace. • A campaign to have Occupational MHFA adopted as Best Practice in Europe The main aims and objectives (impact) of BeWELL are; • To increase awareness among employers of the personal and economic cost of Mental Illness, and the benefits, personal and economic, of addressing this issue • To provide employers with a cost effective solution to address the issue of mental health in the workplace and comply with their regulatory duty of care • Eliminate stigma and address discrimination in the workplace by having MHFA form a fundamental part of H&S management systems in every workplace in Europe • Promote more inclusive workplace by helping people to help each other • To tackle the issue at EU Policy level to achieve this goal of Occupational MHFA being the recommended best practice solution. Project partners have the requisite range or skills, experience, expertise and reach to deliver on this important project; • Mullingar Employment Action Group Ireland - working in the field of employment and enterprise support • Good2Talk Ireland - working in the field of counselling for mental health. • Dramblys Spain - works in the promotion of social innovation • Inn Training UK - specializing in training for the workplace, including OH&S and MHFA • Agency for Territorial Marketing Slovenia - working in sustainable development in training and social infrastructure • Ekpaideftiria Kaloskami S.A Greece – working in the field of VET • Karabağlar District Governorship Turkey - local authority working with Education, Health, Sports and Youth, Population and Citizenship Affairs The management and coordination will be based on the Institute of Project Management system and tools that will ensure the correct information processing and will present clearly the decision making responsibilities and tasks by partner. Project management will be closely interlinked with Quality Assurance, Monitoring & Control and Evaluation processes. The milestones of the project are summarized as follows; • Delivery of national 'state of play' reports from all partner jurisdictions, which will be compiled and reviewed with a view to inform the content of the intellectual outputs going forward • Delivery of draft versions of the intellectual outputs • Revision and pilot testing of the intellectual outputs • Final revision and translation of intellectual outputs followed by publication and 'official launch' • Complementing the dissemination strategy which has its own targets and milestones, with a series of multiplier event
Partner words. "it is important to solve the negative behaviors of the employees that they are not aware of before they cause more serious problems." "the project proposal was a great interest due to the innovativeness of the idea, the challenge and the needs identified regarding this issue. Further motivation was the personal interest of our staff, eagerness to learn, gain new knowledge, expertise and competences to providing support, assistance and to contribute to the development of new solutions." "national policy reveals a general objective to address psychosocial conditions, but not in the workplace. We are among the countries that are least likely to implement measures to manage psychosocial risks at work." "We wanted to achieve 1.Raising awareness (and knowledge) among our staff (this kind of training is scarce in our country). 2.Contribute to the awareness raising of the impact and costs of mental health at the workplace. 3. Contribute to the destigmatisation by talking openly." "We saw this as an opportunity to promote mental health and the courses that we had recently brought into our portfolio. We want to help bridge the gap between employers and employees ideas around mental health, and support reducing stigma"
Work-related stress and other risks to mental health and are among the most challenging issues in occupational safety and health. They impact significantly on the health of individuals, organisations and national economies Accidents and ill-health cost businesses money, in lost time, lost skills, insurance premium hikes, legal proceedings, etc. The benefits of effective health and safety management (including mental health) to small businesses are very significant. This is true across all industry sectors and amongst businesses of all shapes and sizes. Promoting mental health at work has become a vital response to these challenges since the workplace is both a major factor in the development of mental and physical health problems but also a platform for the introduction and development of appropriate preventive measures. An important element of achieving a healthy workplace is the development of strategies and polices specifically addressing mental health. There are many reasons why mental health, safety and wellbeing is important to your organisation including It’s the right thing to do - social and corporate responsibility. It’s the law - duty of care. It’s the smart thing to do - performance, productivity, reputation.