Study: Mental Health Training Encourages Employees to Seek Support

Earlier this year, the United States Navy released its Mental Health Playbook, a 26-page document designed to help Navy leaders in preventing, mitigating or addressing mental health issues among the military members under their command.

The playbook outlined specific actions that Navy leaders must take as part of this effort. For example, leaders “must build a climate of trust and respect with open, two-way communication,” and “eliminate stigma for pursuing nonclinical or clinical support for mental health concerns.”

The stigma that stubbornly surrounds mental health remain a significant factor in employees’ reluctance to seek the resources they need when struggling with their mental well-being.

New research finds that training programs that focus on low-intensity psychological interventions for mental health conditions can not only encourage workers in need to seek support, but such programs can significantly cut down on employee sick time.

For their study, psychologists at Swansea University and Cardiff University in the United Kingdom implemented a special intervention program, called Prevail, at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DLVA) in the United Kingdom, with the intent to “help [DLVA employees] cope with their problems and reduce stigma,” according to a Swansea University statement.

Priorities for improvement were common conditions experienced by many, such as depression, anxiety, stress and distress brought on by bereavement, debt, housing problems or friendship issues, according to the study, which found that introducing the Prevail program also led to a 22% drop in staff sick days.

Noting that he and his fellow researchers were “delighted” by the positive findings, Robert Snowden, a professor in the department of psychology at Cardiff University and one of the study’s co-authors, expressed hope that other agencies see similar results with mental well-being initiatives.

“We hope that other [organizations] will also want to support their workforce within the area of mental health, and support them to learn evidence-based techniques to improve emotional functioning and mental well-being.”

Shedding the Stigma

In the aforementioned statement, researchers point out that mental health difficulties, such as stress, are responsible for “a large proportion of work absences,” adding that “many people may be needlessly embarrassed or ashamed of their mental health problems.”

As a result, the authors noted that these feelings of shame often result in employees either not seeking help or reporting a physical health problem instead. The team of researchers conducted a randomized control trial to evaluate the effectiveness of Prevail, in terms of helping to shed the stigma around mental well-being in the workplace and providing workers with the tools they need to address their mental health concerns.

Rather than identifying staff who may need help, Prevail seeks to provide training on psychological interventions and coping techniques in the event they experience mental health issues, according to the investigators. The program also aims to help employees recognize when colleagues, friends or family members may be experiencing mental distress

For the study, employees were split into two groups, with one cohort of 1,051 workers taking part in the Prevail intervention, receiving training delivered by specially trained colleagues who taught psychological techniques for treatment of common mental health conditions and basic mental health literacy, according to the researchers. The other group did not attend the training.

A questionnaire measured participants’ satisfaction and analysis of the Prevail program, measuring attitudes toward mental health one-to-two weeks before the intervention and roughly four weeks post-intervention. Data pertaining to sickness-related work absences were gathered in the three-month post-intervention period, and for the same period 12 months earlier.

Overall, Prevail was “well-received” and helped cut down on the stigma related to mental health problems, according to the authors. And, while the number of sick days taken by those who participated in the program dropped by 22%, the number of sick days taken by the group that did not receive Prevail training actually increased.

“Mental health problems are often hidden and therefore get worse over time without effective intervention,” said Nicole Gray, a professor in the school of psychology at Swansea University, and the study’s lead author.

“Prevail teaches people evidence-based psychological techniques for the treatment and management of these conditions. It also aims to reduce stigma by providing evidence that these problems are common and can happen to anyone. People who are struggling should seek appropriate help, just like they would if they had flu or a broken leg.”