Looking after your mental health - helpful tips and advice
Faculty - organisational resilience, health, and wellbeing
This faculty works to foster a healthy work-life balance among the workforce and share programmes/interventions to encourage self-care and wellbeing strategies.
What is resilience?
It’s the ability to recover and bounce back from adversity and hardship, feeling stronger and able to cope even under testing times.
Looking after your mental health - helpful tips and advice
Having good mental health helps us relax more, achieve more and enjoy our lives more. The NHS website has expert advice and practical tips to help you look after your mental health and wellbeing. Take a look at Every Mind Matters - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
You may find the following resources helpful.
1. Evidence suggests there are 5 steps you can take to improve your mental health and wellbeing. Trying these things could help you feel more positive and able to get the most out of life. 5 steps to mental wellbeing - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
2. If you’re stressed, whether by your job or something more personal, why not try these tips. 10 stress busters - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
3. You could listen to a series of mental wellbeing audio guides to help you boost your mood. Mental wellbeing audio guides - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Remember, mind and body go hand in hand – visit Better Health for lots of free tools and
support to help you kickstart your physical health too.
Do you work in the NHS? there’s so much useful information and advice available including a range of guides, apps and resources that aim to support both your individual wellbeing and that of your team. Check out NHS England » Support offers where you’ll find;
i) Wellbeing apps
Free access to a number of wellbeing apps to support their mental health and wellbeing. Apps include; Headspace, Unmind and Movement for Modern Life.
ii) Support for Leaders
Support for leaders through COVID-19 – Our NHS People
iii) Do you lead a team?
There’s coaching support for those who lead, manage or organise a team or group in primary care. NHS England » Looking after your team
iv) How to guides
NHS England » How-to guides
Do you work in social care? there’s a range of resources for you when managing your own wellbeing, while looking after others. Check out NHS England » Support for health and social care
The following is available to anyone working in health and care
i) Leadership and lifelong learning
Develop new skills and discover new ways to improve your experience of work with short guides developed by experts. Bitesize learning – Our NHS People
ii) Do you have children?
Place2Be offers an online programme of expert support and resources to keyworkers, including all NHS colleagues. These resources are available free of charge and have been made possible through charitable donations, coordinated by a group of NHS doctors looking to support the mental health and wellbeing of keyworker children.
The programme consists of:
- Three webinars that cover: recovery and self-care; holding supportive conversations; understanding and managing anxiety in uncertain times.
- An Art Room resource pack for children and parents and carers to craft and create together. The Art Room pack includes stories, instructions and activities exploring the ways in which parents and children can stay connected even when they’re spending more time apart.
Here's how to access the offer, head over to Place2Be to view their webinar series and access their Art Room resource pack
ii) Young people can access support directly from Kooth, a free, confidential service for young people aged 11 to 18 (or to 25 for people with learning difficulties). Kooth offers text-based chat with a qualified counsellor. Counsellors are available from 12 midday to 10pm on weekdays and 6pm to 10 pm at the weekends, every day of the year. There are articles, forums and discussion boards. All content is age appropriate, clinically approved and fully moderated. www.kooth.com
iii) There’s NHS Go a free NHS app designed for young people aged 16 – 24 years. It provides confidential health and wellbeing advice and information, including mental health, sex and relationships, healthy eating and puberty.
For IOS devices, download iPhone NHS Go app from the Apple store For Android devices, download Android NHS Go app from Google Play. https://nhsgo.uk/
Services for everyone
i)Good Thinking is an NHS approved digital mental wellbeing service for adults in London. It offers support for the four most common concerns: anxiety, feeling low, sleep deprived, stressed. This resource provides information which has been co-produced with London’s diverse communities and offers some curated resources that feel more culturally appropriate for faith communities. https://www.good-thinking.uk/
What’s available for you where you work?
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust
What we offer (beh-mht.nhs.uk)
Haringey Council
Rewards and benefits | Haringey Council
North Middlesex Hospital NHS Trust
Benefits of working at North Mid | North Middlesex University Hospital
Whittington Health NHS Trust
Benefits (whittington.nhs.uk)