Prevention & Promotion

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CEO of Global Roundtable speaks about the stigma at work

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Helping Raise Awareness & Reduce Stigma

Many people with mental health issues do not seek treatment because they fail to recognize the signs and symptoms or are too embarrassed to reach out for help. The majority of mental health conditions can be treated, allowing people to recover and lead normal, productive and satisfying lives.

Stigma and lack of awareness of mental health issues often prevent early identification and effective treatment. In the workplace, the attitude towards employees experiencing mental health issues such as depression and anxiety can be the defining difference between a workplace that is perceived to be committed to the mental health of its employees and one that is not.

What you can do:

• Assess the situation
• Create a plan of action
• Implement the plan
• Evaluate the plan
• Sustain the plan
• The business case

Adapted from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Developing a Stigma Reduction Initiative. SAMHSA Pub. No. SMA-4176. Rockville, MD: Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2006.

Resources

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Assess the Situation

Understand where mental health related stigma lies and how it is experienced in your workplace. The best way to accomplish this, is through an employee poll or survey. While every organization is different, some concerns may be:

• Lack of understanding about mental health and mental illness
• Unsubstantiated fear of violence related to mental illness
• Perception that people with mental health issues cannot function or perform their duties
• Self oppression - fear or shame that prevents someone from seeking assistance
• Management's response to an employee with mental health issues

It's important that you invest enough time and effort preparing and implementing the survey as it will be the basis of your stigma awareness plan.

Create a Plan of Action

Create a plan to address stigma in general as well as the particular findings of your stigma awareness survey.

• Identify key issues or myths that need to be addressed.
   
• Set goals for addressing these issues.
   
• Know your message - it should be clear, consistent and support your goals. Your theme should resonate with your employees and reflect their main areas of concern (e.g. Canadian Mental Health Association's slogan: No Health without Mental Health)
   
• Watch your language - make sure that the words you use are respectful.
   
• Establish champions for change - who is going to lead this initiative within your organization?
   
• Establish a timeline and budget - set milestones that help mark your progress and communicate any special achievements to staff. Budget for any activities such as events, printing posters and pamphlets so you can monitor the value of the investment for your organization. The more directly you address key areas of concern, the better your return on investment can be.
   
• Make use of expertise that's available to you - there are many organizations that have local chapters to assist businesses and employees with mental health. Some examples include the Canadian Mental Health Association, Mood Disorders Society of Canada, Schizophrenia Society of Canada and Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments.

Implement the Plan

So now that you have a plan, what's next?

• List all activities including training and awareness opportunities for all staff
• Elaborate on the steps required to complete each activity
• Estimate the cost of each step
• Estimate staff resources and consider candidates for each activity
• Create a timeline for all activities

Evaluate the Plan

Ongoing evaluation is important to make sure that the plan is effective and efficient, and to ensure that the plan remains flexible enough to accommodate any necessary changes or improvements.

• Be sure your timeline includes milestone dates to take stock of accomplishments and progress
• Assess challenges and achievements
• Take steps to address challenges and celebrate achievements
• Repeat the original survey to assess change and progress
• Analyze survey results and modify strategies as required

Sustain the Plan

Your plan should consider the long term outcomes as well as the initiatives that can be put in place to ensure that the hard work you've invested continues.

• Be clear and consistent about the organization's position on stigma reduction.
• Validate staffs' efforts by sharing the results in a variety of ways (e.g. posters, internet, etc).
• Be flexible in your approach and respond to changes that affect the workplace.
• Train and support your leaders to continue the effort.
• Assign individuals to keep the initiative alive.

The Business Case for Reducing Stigma

Potential benefits of reducing stigma in the workplace:

• Reduced recruitment and training costs
   
• Reduced staff turnover
   
• Reduced sickness levels
   
• Compliance with legislation such as Human Rights Codes
   
• Showing others and your own staff that you are a good employer
   
• Demonstrating your corporate social responsibility
   
• Enhanced customer service
   
• Improved productivity
   
• Making your organization more attractive to people with mental health issues and others
   
• Makes your workplace healthier

*reprinted in part courtesy of COI for the Department of Health, United Kingdom

See also Assessing Risks & Returns for a broader mental health strategy.