Career development practitioners should take a holistic approach, supporting their clients’ mental health while helping them navigate career planning By Derrick McEachern

Career planning is a mental-health intervention and a well-being practice. What people do each day shapes who they are and how they feel about their daily lives

People who are disengaged from their work, unemployed, undergoing a work transition or ambivalent about their career path may struggle to varying degrees with stress, uncertainty, low self-worth, anxiety and, in many cases, depression. However, government programs traditionally focus solely on employment: helping people find work using their current skills or retraining them in specifically targeted fields with a high probability of employment.

Well-being and mental-health research (Walsh, 2011) suggest a more holistic approach is necessary. There is a need for more comprehensive services that account for employees’ lifestyle factors and support employee engagement and retention while also addressing mental-health problems.

Well-being and mental health

In their book Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements, Tom Rath and Jim Harter document research conducted across 155 countries that suggests five interconnected elements are predictive of overall well-being. Read more

How clients can learn to recognize stressors and develop strategies to better manage them during career change By Mary Ann Baynton

Any transition in life can be stressful. Career transition in particular often happens at the same time as other life stressors, including personal, family, health or financial concerns. Recognizing our current reactions to stress and choosing healthier, more effective responses is what building resilience is all abou

Resilience is the capacity to adapt or recover from stressful situations, including a transition into the workforce or from one job to another. Building resilience doesn’t mean you’ll avoid stress. What it means is that you’ll be able to cope better and recover from stress more effectively.

Research has helped us understand practical strategies to build resilience.

Identifying our stress responses

For most of us, stress is a daily occurrence and our responses to it are automatic. This means we don’t choose or plan them. With that in mind, if we can identify some of our immediate responses to stress, we’re more likely to recognize and address them before they create a major life or health concern.

Some automatic responses can be physical in nature – cold sores, hives, and sweating or stomach problems. Some may be behavioural responses such as reaching for a substance, sleep pattern changes, clumsiness, forgetfulness, impatience, overscheduling or overworking. Emotional responses may also be present and could include irritability, anger, frustration or emotional outbursts. Read more

All schools will teach children about good physical and mental health, how to stay safe on and offline, and the importance of healthy relationships under bold new plans published today by Education Secretary Damian Hinds.

Under the proposals, all pupils will study compulsory health education as well as new reformed relationships education in primary school and relationships and sex education in secondary school.

The guidance – which was last updated in 2000 – will become compulsory in all schools across the country from September 2020, and will put in place the building blocks needed for positive and safe relationships of all kinds.

Schools will be supported as they prepare to teach the new subjects and will be able to begin doing so as soon as the materials are ready and available from September 2019, building on the existing best practice that will be shared by high performing schools.

By making health education compulsory we will ensure pupils are taught about the benefits of a healthier lifestyle, what determines their physical health and how to build mental resilience and wellbeing. It will also make sure children and young people learn how to recognise when they and others are struggling with mental health and how to respond.

The proposals, which follow the publication of the Childhood Obesity Plan and the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Green Paper, will ensure that the importance of good physical and mental health are an integral part of the updated subjects.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: Read more

 MHFA came to England in 2007 and was launched under the Department of Health: National Institute of Mental Health in England (NIMHE) as part of a national approach to improving public mental health.

MHFA training courses were first developed in Australia in 2001. In the years since it has evolved into a global movement with licensed programmes in 24 countries and counting. Over two million people have been trained in MHFA skills worldwide.

They have numerous free resources to download on their website tailored to schools, workplaces and universities.

For example, their  Line Managers Resource is an increasingly valuable tool for line managers across the spectrum of private, public and third–sector organisations. Exceptionally practical, the resource offers a step-by-step framework for creating healthier workplaces and has traditionally focused on key areas such as how to spot an employee experiencing mental ill health, and how to manage and support them at work, while they are off sick, and when they return after sickness absence. The resource also provides signposts to relevant employment legislation and further sources of help for both the individual and the organisation.

To view their full range of resources Click Here

There are 2.2 million people being educated and trained in colleges, including 685,000 16 to 18-year olds. The government’s focus on mental health will never truly be realised until they are prioritised. A new Association of Colleges survey has found that:

• 90 per cent of college leaders have seen an increase in the number of students aged 16-18 with disclosed mental health conditions
• 86 per cent of college leaders have seen an increase in the number of students aged 19+ with disclosed mental health conditions

That is why AoC has today launched Mental Health & Wellbeing: A Collection of College Case Studies – a snapshot of just some of the work going on in colleges day in and day out to support students and staff. It covers a wide range of successful and easy-to-follow approaches to tackling poor mental health and to promoting wellbeing.

Case studies include:

New City College – Hackney’s work with East London NHS Foundation Trust to support adults with psychiatric issues

The service, aimed at breaking down barriers, offers emotional and practical support, including advice and guidance on college courses and help with enrolment. There is a specialist advisor on hand to support students during college and then their progress on to higher education and employment. Read more

This free service, delivered by Remploy and funded by the Department for Work and Pensions is available to any apprentice who is experiencing mental health difficulties at work.

It complements any existing occupational health service you have, delivered by trained professionals with expertise in mental health in the workplace.

Remploy specialist advisors provide:

• Emotional wellbeing support and advice for six months
• Advice on simple workplace adjustments
• Successful coping strategies
• A step-by-step support plan.

Get in touch on 0300 456 8210 and speak to an advisor, or email us at apprentices@remploy.co.uk.

Please note
To be eligible for this service, individuals need to be in an apprenticeship (attending work or signed off) and have a mental health condition (diagnosed or undiagnosed) that has resulted in workplace absence or is causing difficulties to remain in work.

Remploy invites you to join them on the webinars they have taking place this month to help employers increase your understanding and confidence in supporting disability and health conditions in your business and create a happy, healthy and productive workforce.

Supporting disability and health – workplace adjustments
Discover the facts and legislation around disability in the workplace and learn about the support and interventions available through our workplace adjustments service.
Wednesday 25 April at 10am – BOOK HERE

Workplace Mental Health Support Service
Explore the facts around mental health and how we can support mental health issues across your workforce, through the free Workplace Mental Health Support Service, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Thursday 19 April at 12pm – BOOK HERE