°×С½ãÂÛ̳

 In line with this, from 7 - 11 October, Workplace Health will be running its Healthy Mind campaign under the theme: ‘Promote, Prevent, Support: Prioritizing mental health in the workplace’  aiming to raise awareness of  the importance of good mental health in the workplace and how staff can access support available to them through °×С½ãÂÛ̳. 

To view the events, click here 

As we start the new academic year, this is not just a significant time to highlight the importance of good mental health, but also an opportunity to bring fresh attention to an issue that pervades °×С½ãÂÛ̳.  

It is clear from our reported sickness absence data that mental health is the leading cause of all sickness absence at °×С½ãÂÛ̳. In 2023 mental health accounted for 27.8% of all reported sickness absence which equates to 9,926 days lost. This is a significant number of days lost and emblematic of the mental health landscape across higher education which is sadly not dissimilar to what °×С½ãÂÛ̳ reports.  

This year, °×С½ãÂÛ̳ took steps to recognising the importance of prioritising mental health in the workplace with the launch of the new Mental Health Principles (2024). This was a collaborative effort towards the ‘whole university approach’ and was spearheaded by senior professional services and academia staff at °×С½ãÂÛ̳. These institutional principles take a strategic approach to the vision of what °×С½ãÂÛ̳ wants to achieve across the °×С½ãÂÛ̳ landscape. 

The principles will guide our strategic approach for what long-term cultural change should embody and reflect across °×С½ãÂÛ̳. They will aim to improve our approach to our environment and culture facilitating a healthy community and supporting mental health and wellbeing needs. They will be embedded into everyday activities and highlighting the importance of promoting mental health and wellbeing from a preventative aspect. 

This ‘World Mental Health Day’, take part in Workplace Health’s ‘Healthy Mind’ campaign and take an active step to promoting a mentally healthier workplace. 

The campaign will take on a three-pronged approach to addressing mental health in the workplace. 

Promote – An open workplace culture

Promoting a healthy workplace culture for all staff across °×С½ãÂÛ̳

• Three working practises for managing stress at work
• Organisational Development: Mental Health and Wellbeing courses
• Managing Stress at WorkÌý±è´Ç±ô¾±³¦²â
• Manager's guide – support your staff
• Staff guide – how to seek support

Prevent – Recognizing early signs of deterioration 

Lunch Hour Lectures series organised in partnership with °×С½ãÂÛ̳'s Grand Challenge of Mental Health & Wellbeing and °×С½ãÂÛ̳ Workplace Wellbeing.

• 1 October, Dr Keri Wong – Mental health inequality: What can you and I do about it?
• 8 October, Professor Jo Billings and Professor Roz Shafran - Mental health in the workplace: What's possible in an impossible world?
• 10 October, Professor Praveetha Patalay – Unequal mental health: Society, power and the depressogenic environment
• 17 October, Professor Glyn Lewis and Associate Professor Gemma Lewis - The antidepressant controversy

Support – Understanding where to access support for your mental health

• Find your local Wellbeing Champion
• Find your local Mental Health First Aider
• Organisational Development: Mental Health and Wellbeing courses