Promoting mental health during this time of chaos is beneficial for the employer, the employees and the overall community. Employers should encourage their employees to practice a few mental health tips.
Stick to a routine. Get up at the same time and shower before starting the day.
Get outside. Exercise regularly and go for a walk outside between meetings. Vitamin D is crucial, and exercise helps both mental and physical health.
Stay connected. Connect with others, rekindle old friendships or increase a support network.
Get reconnected. Reconnect with old colleagues and build a professional network.
Talk about it. Many are struggling, so reach out for help. Call a professional or share concerns with a trusted individual such as a member of clergy, a close friend, family member or trusted adviser.
Create a healthy environment. Take breaks from work and make time to unwind. Limit the news, including social media. Take deep breaths, eat healthy, avoid alcohol and drugs.
Engage in mindfulness activities. Limit worry by focusing on the present and staying grounded.
Give back. Help those in need, volunteer at the local pantry, adopt a pet or donate blood.
Take advantage of resources. Contact the Warm Line by calling 602-347-1100. Call the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Helpline at 800-950-NAMI or, in a crisis, text “NAMI” to 741741.
The NAMI Helpline At
Trending areas for employee healthcare benefits include telemedicine, flexibility — and a focus on mental health. Telemedicine allows for employees to receive individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, patient education and medication management. Employers should encourage this use of telemedicine as it allows employees the chance to obtain support and/or treatment in an efficient manner. Employers should ensure there is a private, safe place for employees to participate in telemedicine. In addition, employers need to be flexible. They must understand that employees are not only struggling with their job duties, but they are having to adjust to the “new normal.” They may have kids learning from home, family members who are ill and quarantined and their own mental health issues. Employers need to provide that flexibility to employees so they can meet the multiple demands of this “new normal.”
COVID-19 testing can absolutely fit in with a business’s health, wellness and safety programs. However, we think it is just as important to fit mental health screenings into the workplace. Mental Health America has a free, online screening at https://screening.mhanational.org that employers should take advantage of for their employees. Following screening, employees will be provided with information, resources and tools to help them understand and improve their mental health.
Serving Business
The Peer & Family Career Academy provides education within the behavioral health community, as well as customized training on behavioral health for the general community. In times of crisis and uncertainty, employees often look to the leaders within their place of employment to help them interpret what is going on and to find purpose and meaning in chaos. The Peer & Family Career Academy will be building a leadership training course to help develop leaders who understand the value that emotional intelligence brings to the workplace and how to leverage that emotional intelligence to help develop a strong and healthy workplace culture.
This pandemic will have long lasting impacts on our workplaces. Now more than ever, it is important to make mental health a priority — at home and at work.
Kristina Sabetta (pictured)
Paige Rogers
Interim Co-Directors
Peer and Family Career Academy
Read the other “As Business Changes, So Will Our Healthcare” perspectives.
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