Our approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing

The approach we take with the National Wellbeing Hub follows research evidence and clinical expertise. We believe in the importance of taking preventative approaches to supporting wellbeing, approaches which focus on enhancing the skills and assets you already possess, as well as making use of the support of those working alongside you. Read on to hear more detail about our approach to good mental health and wellbeing.

Taking an upstream approach

We follow a public health approach when developing resources for the Hub, with this approach emphasising the importance of taking preventative action to support mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. You may be familiar with the public health river metaphor, don’t worry if you’re not, we’ll explain it briefly now.

Imagine you are out for a walk one day and come across a river. You notice there are a lot of people in the water unable to get out. Further downstream there is a waterfall, a number of people have gone over the waterfall and are struggling in the plunge pool below. More people are getting pulled towards the waterfall and are at risk of going over.

Luckily, you’re not the only person walking past, others are lining the riverbanks desperately trying to pull people out of the water. These people are taking a reactive approach to helping – once people are in danger and at risk of further harm, they stepped in to help.

You, instead decide to head upstream. Why? Because you want to know why people are falling in in the first place. Once you get upstream you realise there are a number of things you could do to prevent anyone else from falling or getting into danger; you could build barriers, erect warning signs, even give people swimming lessons so they can get themselves out should they ever fall in.

You are taking an upstream, or preventative approach to helping – putting strategies in place to stop people from being harmed in the first place. The more successful your strategies are, the less help will be needed downstream.

What would ‘upstream’ and ‘downstream’ approaches look like in relation to your psychological health in the workplace? Downstream interventions focus on managing the symptoms of work-place stress, without addressing the factors which cause these. This might include things that focus on treating psychological injuries, anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress, for example.

Upstream interventions, on the other hand, would focus on the causes of work-place stress rather than the symptoms. They might include learning about your own triggers and responses to stress, so you know the situations and experiences to look out for. They might include learning about the things that keep you well, the coping strategies you can put in your psychological first aid kit, to keep you well. They might include forming close, supportive bonds with the team you work alongside, so that you have people to turn to when you need them.

These upstream interventions will not remove the stressors and challenges you face at work, but they will put you in a better position to manage them in a way which is more likely to keep you psychologically well. You can learn more about this in our Psychological First Aid kit learning modules.

Of course, there will always be occasions when downstream interventions are needed, we can only ever manage risk. That’s why we make sure to also have details available for support services you can contact to help you manage the symptoms you may be experiencing, such as the National Wellbeing Helpline or Workforce Specialist Service.

Organisational vs Operational Stressors

Regardless of how fulfilling your work can be, the stressors you face can still have an impact on your wellbeing. When we talk about workplace stressors, we break them down into two categories: operational and organisational stressors. Operational stressors come from the content of your work, the day-to-day tasks and roles you have to perform. Working in health, social care or social work, these stressors could include things like caring for people who are in pain or distress, or situations where it is not possible to save a life or make things better. Equally, operational stressors could involve situations where you feel you didn’t perform well as an individual or within a team, or where you felt unsupported through a challenging situation.

Organisational stressors, on the other hand, come from the more general aspects of the work environment. These are factors which do not necessarily come from the specific tasks you perform for your role, but which you are faced with nonetheless. Organisational stressors could include things like working long hours, working within a stressful team environment, feeling isolated from your colleagues or lacking a sense of connection and belonging to the team, not feeling adequately trained or prepared for what you have to do, or experiencing poor management or even bullying in the workplace.

It is sometimes assumed that our operational stressors, the challenging things we see and do every day, are the ones which impact us the most, but research tells that our organisational stressors affect us just as much, if not more. We also know that it is easier to manage the operational stressors when we are working in a supportive environment where we have colleagues and managers we can go to for support, when we feel we are valued and respected for the work we do, and when we feel adequately prepared to perform our role.

The importance of a supportive team

Positive social support is linked to good mental health. Good social support from colleagues helps individuals deal with stressful or even potentially traumatic events, as well as consistently being shown to be supportive of staff wellbeing. Being part of a team which looks out for each other is one of the most effective ways to manage some of the operational and organisational stressors. Often, when we think about peer support, we think of quite a formal process where peer supporters are staff members who have received training or upskilling allowing them to be a designated peer supporter within their organisation. While this set up can be of value to some who seek out support, we promote an informal model of peer support, one where everyone can deliver support to those around them. You can find an overview of our approach to peer support by completing our Peer Support learning modules.

Peer support isn’t only about being there for colleagues who may be in distress or struggling. Although that is a really important part of it, peer support is also about being a source of connection to others every day, through the good times and the bad. Kindness, compassion and camaraderie go a long way, that’s why we put them at the centre of our approach to good workplace wellbeing.

In conclusion…

The ideas presented in this article provide a background to the approach that we take in our development of the national wellbeing hub and its resources. But they can also provide inspiration for some of the things you may want to consider in your own workplace to help keep you and your colleagues well.

We encourage you all to think about what you can do, ahead of time, to support yourself and those you work alongside. Take the time to recognise the factors which cause you stress, as well as the coping strategies you use to overcome this. And perhaps most importantly, take the time to get to know your teammates, understand what keeps them well and learn to recognise the signs they might need a bit of support.