Celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month in the Workplace
In our fast-paced work culture, prioritizing mental health has become imperative, especially as burnout rates surge. For example, according to a recent survey by Mental Health America, a staggering 83% of the workforce experiences work-related stress. As Mental Health Awareness Month approaches, many HR teams look to raise awareness and create supportive environments through programming initiatives. Below are six of our tried & true programming ideas to promote mental well-being for your team.
Get the Team Talking with a Mental Health Board
🏢 💻 In-Person & Virtual 🙋♀️ Interactive 🆓 Low Cost
Having a bulletin board for the team to use all month long fosters conversation, awareness, and education. If your team works in person, you can use a whiteboard or bulletin board in shared spaces. If your team works from home, there are lots of digital options. We recommend checking out Mural (easy to use & they have a free version)! But what would you post on the board? Below are some of our favorite options:
Create an affirmations board - Share a bit about affirmations and invite the team to post their own on the board.
Create a Gratitude Wall - Practicing gratitude improves mental health, so we recommend creating a board that outlines what gratitude is, why practicing it helps mental health, and asking the team to share what they are grateful for.
Myths vs. Facts - There are lots of misconceptions about mental health. Posing a myths vs. facts board can help provide education on commonly misunderstood parts of mental wellbeing. You can also propose a few statements and have the team vote if they believe it is a myth or fact and share the results at the end of the month!
Ask Questions about Wellbeing & Stress Relief - Ask the team questions about mental wellbeing & invite them to share their answers. Some sample questions include:
What made you smile today?
What do you do for self-care?
What are you grateful for?
Dedicate Time for Rest
🏢 💻 In-Person & Virtual 🆓 Low Cost 🤫 Quiet & Independent
One of the biggest mental health challenges facing the workforce is burnout. To combat it (as well as improve mental health generally) we recommend giving the team some extra time off. While the gold standard is providing an entire day off, even just letting folks log off a couple of extra hours early can help! We recommend being clear that the time is for them to take care of themselves. On Monday, when everyone is back at it, share what you did for self-care on a Slack channel or during a meeting.
If offering some time off isn’t an option for you, providing flex hours can be a good alternative! About 34% of workers say that flex time improves their mental health.
Provide Time for Mental Health Screenings
🏢 💻 In-Person & Virtual 🆓 Low Cost 🤫 Quiet & Independent
Lots of folks don’t realize that they are struggling with mental health issues, so offering time & resources for mental health screenings can go a long way. If you decide to incorporate screenings for your team, we suggest the following:
Blocking 20-30 minutes at the end of the day off for folks to complete their screenings.
Allowing folks to take the screenings on personal devices instead of corporate ones.
Providing confidential screenings. This one is really important as folks are less likely to partake and feel comfortable when they think their employer will learn about their results.
Research the organization that provides the screening you choose. There are many tools out there so it is important to confirm that you are using an evidence-based screening with a credible organization behind it. Our recommendation is below.
Our top pick is Mental Health America’s series of free mental health tests that can be taken confidentially.
Netflix & Chat
🏢 💻 In-Person & Virtual 🙋♀️ Interactive 🆓 Low Cost
A movie screening is a great way to get the team engaged in conversations about mental health! Dedicating time in the day when the team can watch a movie on mental health & hosting a discussion afterward can help educate the team and also get folks more comfortable talking about mental health and sharing ideas on how to promote wellbeing. We recommend The Social Dilemma or Episode 3 “Anxiety” of The Mind, Explained which is only 20 minutes long but packed with great information!
Create an “Escape” Room
🏢 In-Person Option 🤫 Quiet & Independent
For in-office employees, many organizations create wellness rooms. A wellness room is a dedicated, private space within the office where employees can take time to tend to their personal health needs. It’s a calm, quiet space where people can drop in when they’re feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or simply in need of a break to relax & reset. For tips on creating a wellness room and what to provide within the room, we recommend this article from Insightful Environments.
Taking & Scheduling Better Breaks
🏢 💻 In-Person & Virtual 🙋♀️ Interactive 🆓 Low Cost
The cost of being always on (and doing it well) is high and can lead to burnout, depression, and anxiety. Pausing work rather than pushing through helps us be more productive & promotes wellbeing. But how do we make the most out of breaks, especially short ones? We suggest incorporating movement such as stretching or yoga or trying a mindfulness activity or breathing exercise.
During Mental Health Awareness Month, we recommend scheduling team-wide breaks and having someone lead an activity to help get the most out of the time. By providing guided meditations or stretches, your team can learn what works best for them and offers restoration.
If you don’t know where to start, check out a few of our 15-minute guided breaks here.
Offer Access to a Diverse Network of Therapists
🏢 💻 In-Person & Virtual Option 🙂 Personalized Care
Even employees with great health insurance lack access to mental health care. Only about half of mental health providers in the U.S. accept insurance. Even pre-pandemic, 60% of employees who sought mental health care had to pay for it out-of-pocket. As a result, many teams turn towards modern mental health benefits to support their team. An impactful mental health benefit should provide an easy-to-use, digital interface to meet employees where they are. It should also treat employees as individuals, considering their preferences and offering a broad range of culturally competent, licensed therapists. If you’re interested in learning more about mental health benefits that are affordable without compromising quality of care, our team is happy to help!
In Conclusion
There are lots of creative ways teams can support their employees throughout mental health awareness month. Ultimately, employees recognize & appreciate the organizations who aren't just saying they care about their team's wellbeing - but proving it. If you’re looking for more programming ideas, support, or free resources, we’re always here to help!
