Mental Health awareness

Our mental health awareness training delivers a practical approach to mental health first aid, based on real life scenarios. Learners will gain the knowledge and skills to respond effectively to situations that they might face at work.

By attending this course, it will allow you to support individuals who are experiencing mental ill health or distress. This support can vary from having a non-judgmental conversation with a colleague for friend through to guiding them towards the right support.

• Being able to recognise the early signs and symptoms of common workplace mental health illnesses
• Having the necessary skills to have a supportive, non-judgmental conversation with those who need it
• Possessing the knowledge and confidence to guide colleagues to the appropriate professional support if they require it
• Promoting greater awareness of mental health in the workplace and reducing stigma.

What is the impact of mental illness in the workplace?

Approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental illness each year. In 2016, 15.8 million UK work days were lost due to mental illness. The largest causes of sickness absence for our county’s workforce is depression, stress, and anxiety. Mental illness costs UK businesses around £35 billion every year, this equates to £10.6 billion lost to sickness absence, £21.2 billion in reduced productivity, and £3.1 billion in substituting staff members who vacate their roles due to mental illness.

How effective are the Mental Health First Aid courses?

Independent research and evaluation shows that taking part in a Mental Health First Aid course raises awareness of mental illnesses, encourages early intervention to aid recovery, increases confidence in dealing with mental illnesses and reduces stigma.
 

Research suggests that improving UK workplace mental health management could reduce employers’ losses attributed to mental illness by 30%, collectively saving £8 billion a year.

Why does an employer’s duty of care include staff mental health?

Employers have a legal duty of care to ensure that employees are provided with a safe working environment and must take reasonable care to prevent personal injury (including mental or physical harm) that may arise in the workplace.

What are the business consequences of ignoring mental health in the workplace?

Someone with poor mental health may not realise it and even if they do, they may be reluctant to seek help, or might not know where to turn for care. In the workplace, there is still a great deal of ignorance around mental health issues, including uncertainty about how to recognise mental illness, and uncertainty about how to react when faced with it. This means that those in need of mental health help and support do not receive it.
 

When left uninformed, managers and co-workers may unwittingly exhibit stigmatising behaviours, which can be detrimental to a person experiencing a mental health issue. Furthermore, by failing to respond appropriately to an employee with a mental health issue, an organisation may open itself to a claim for compensation. This could be lengthy, expensive, and take precious time away from managers and staff.

Why should you use Blossom Training & Development for your training?  

• You get a free initial consultation – you tell us what you need, and we recommend the training to help you achieve it.
• You can afford us – we may be expert but we’re also realistic. We know you have a budget, so we provide training that’s not only highly effective, but also very good value.