Mental Health in the Workplace: Strategies and Programs for Employee Wellbeing - Desklib

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE 1
Mental Health in the Workplace
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation
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MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE 2
Part 1: Mental Health and Wellbeing in the workplace for named organisations
The organisations that form part of this work are the University of Birmingham, the
Victoria police force and the Link Health and Community.
Components of a mental health and wellness program
Mental health is a state of an individual’s body being fit so that the body can realise its
potential, can cope up with life’s challenges, it can work productively thus deliver results, and
the individual becomes of value to the community (Galderisi, Heinz, Kastrup, Beezhold &
Sartorius, 2015).
Work can at times result in mental disorders among employees. This reduces the functionality of
such employees. Thus the need to ensure that employees are healthy to maximise human capital.
To be able to address the issues that affect an employee’s health, organisations should develop
mental and wellness programs (Bauman, Merom, Bull, Buchner & Fiatarone, 2016). Such
programs consist of the following components:-
Development of policies that are health-related- the programs needs to have very clear principles,
the current status of the issues at hand should be known which forms a guide on the kind of
policies to be established.
Create an environment within the workplace that is in support of good health- the culture of the
organisation should be health sensitive, there should be support from the leadership. Encouraging
active participation by employees- this will be realised through identification and motivation of
knowledgeable employees who will champion the planned program at all levels of the
organisation and clarity while communicating organisational strategies.

MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE 3
Seeking for assistance- it is imperative to get things right at first time (Farnbach, Eades, Gwynn,
Glozier & Hackett, 2018). Therefore, the need to ask for support from other organisations with
experience in dealing with such programs.
Components of named organisations
In the policing context, the following components have been used: - development of
policies that are health-related where awareness of certain diseases is created. Encouraging
active participation by employees where employees with skills on first aid assist the others.
Create an environment within the workplace that is in support of good health; this is addressed
by the different programs in place within the organisations. Seeking for assistance; Victoria
police works together with Worksafe Victoria and the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation.
The University of Birmingham promoted the development of policies that are health-related,
encouraged active participation by employees as well as the creation of an environment in the
workplace that supports good health since the leadership is in the forefront.
The Link Health Community achieves its objectives through the use of the whole of organisation
approach where there is use of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, the employment of a
socioecological framework and integration of the community health service.
Program/activities involved or offered
The success of any organisation depends on the wellbeing of its employees. Any ill-
health among the employees has adverse effects regarding the physical, mental, emotional and
financial welfare of the employee (Goetzel et al., 2018). Such ill-health will impact negatively in
the organisation in which the employee works.

MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE 4
The beyondblue’s program has been implemented in the workplace among the police with the
role of the program being awareness creation about depression and anxiety as conditions that can
be treated, inculcating a culture where persons suffering from a health condition can seek for
assistance and reducing attitudes of stigmatisation and enhancing the skills. The Mental Health
First Aid aims at providing knowledge on mental health as well as providing skills on how to
point out at common disorders of the mind. The program also includes knowledge as to the most
effective means of treatment of mental illnesses as well as stigma reduction (Lamontagne et al.,
2016).
At Birmingham University, Employee Assisted Programs (EAP’s) which assist an individual in
the short run to deal with small issues like smoking and alcohol abuse are used. There is also use
of Health Promotion Programs (HPP’s) which focus on the provision of education and
organisational interventions which works towards addressing the needs of all workforce in the
workplace (Fenton, Pinilla, Sing, Sadhra & Carmichael, 2014).
In the Link Health and Community there a dedicated family team has been developed which
deals with issues of violence affecting women and children.
EAP programs and referrals for named organisations
Employee assisted programs are programs developed in the workplace to identify and
offer help to employees to resolve their problems (Sonnenstual & Trice, 2018).
In the research on the policing context, a program on peer support has been rolled out within the
stations as well as the creation of healthy workplaces that result in the wellbeing of the leaders
under the Victoria police program on “Healthy minds at the work”. The good mental health of
the leaders will be reflected in the organisational performance as a result of a calm and peaceful