Presentation by professor Bob Grove on the occasion of the EESC SOC public hearing on European year of mental health - Better work, better quality of life in Brussels on 30 October 2012.

1. Managing Mental Health @ Work
– preventing disability,
promoting inclusion Qs 2,3 & 8
Professor Bob Grove PhD
Senior Professional Adviser

2. Pressure, stress, mental
illness, disability Q2 & Q3
Pressure is what we all experience at work – it provides the
challenge to keep us going. Stress can arise if the individual
finds that the demands of the job exceed their physical and
emotional resources
Mental illness is associated with a clinical diagnosis, does not
necessarily have a single obvious cause or trigger and is usually
amenable to medical and/or psychological treatment
Disability due to mental ill health is a social construct arising
from changes in the relationship between the individual and
their social environment and is almost always avoidable

3. Some facts...
Mental health problems are almost as common in the workplace
as they are anywhere else
In UK nearly 1 in 6 of the workforce is affected by depression,
anxiety or other mental health condition at any one time (over 1
in 5 if alcohol and drug dependence are also included)
Self report studies indicate that only 20-35% of mental ill health
in the workforce is directly work-related
Common mental health problems are so common as to be
normal and therefore even to best workplaces will have to
manage employees with diagnosable levels of mental ill health

4. ...and costly to
employers
£95
Total cost - £1,035
£335
sickness absence
reduced productivity at work
staff turnover
£605
www.scmh.org.uk/publications/MH_at_work.aspx?ID=575

5. Risk factors for mental ill
health
Common risk factors for mental illness:
Trauma
Bereavement
Divorce
Relocation
Job loss
Work stress

6. Risk factors for work
stress
HSE Management Standards:
Demands (both qualitative and quantitative)
Control over workload, decision latitude etc.
Support from colleagues managers and organisation
Relationships – ostracism (conscious and unconscious),
harassment, bullying etc.
Role clarity
Change management

7. What does a good
employer do?
Evidence points increasingly a 3 stage model involving the
whole organisation:
Promotion of wellbeing
Early identification of mental distress and signposting to help
Case management of rehabilitation for those not recovering
as expected

8. Promote mental health
Promote health and wellbeing at organizational level
Promote mental health, raise awareness, combat ignorance
and prejudice and discrimination -see NICE guidelines
A simple mental health promotion/prevention programme
has produced an 8-1 ROI (see McDaid et al 2011)

9. Prevent mental ill
health
Screen for risk at organisational and individual levels
(McDaid et al 2011)
Resilience development programmes at organisational level
Emotional resilience toolkit BITC
Reduce risk at individual level
Discuss reasons for perceived risk and come up with plan
Self help materials such as resilience training, problem
solving, time management, goal setting, mood management
for those at risk have been shown to be effective
(Seymour & Grove 2005)

10. Early identification and
access to treatment

11. Case management with
rehabilitation for those not
recovering as expected
Active vocational rehabilitation for employees not
recovering as expected – second sick note?
Case management – team approach*
Condition management - access to work-focussed
psychological therapy*
Task adjustments/modifications
Return to work plan - includes agreement from all parties on
workload, adjustments, disclosure, clinical management and
ongoing support eg. “advance statement”
* L. Seymour Common Mental Health Problems at work – what we now know
about successful interventions CMH 2010

12. What would success
look like?
A whole organisation achieving business success
through developing:
a healthy workforce with high levels of trust and support
managers who are trained to manage people
flexibility that allows everybody to give of their best in a fast
moving, fast changing world
systems of support and rehabilitation that recognise anyone
can experience periods of not coping or breakdown and that
it makes business sense to help them recover

13. Work and inclusion Q8
Surveys tell us that 70-90% of people with severe mental illness would
like to do some paid work
In the UK only 20-25% of this group are in work or full time education
With evidence-based supported employment (Individual Placement and
Support – IPS) 50-70% of those who enter programmes achieve paid
work
Unlike most forms of treatment, supported employment’s beneficial
effects increase over time – individuals work longer, get paid more, use
fewer health services and report more satisfactory lives.
“If you think work is bad for people with mental illness, try poverty,
unemployment, and social isolation”. Marone & Golowka (2000)
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal

14. Thank you
For further information:
www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk