First of its Kind Study to Research Mental Health Peer Support in the Workplace

Mental Health Innovations (MHI) is thrilled to part of one of ten teams awarded contracts by Wellcome Trust- UK to explore the impact of one nominated approach to prevent or address anxiety and/or depression in the workplace, with a focus on those under the age of 25.

MHI is privileged to partner with the National Alliance on Mental Illness – New York City (NAMI-NYC) and New York University (NYU) to assess whether peer support could be a viable approach to prevent or address mental health problems in the workplace for young adults.

This international collaboration is the first of its kind and has the potential to impact workplace culture for future generations.

Wellcome Trust is funding the following 10 different approaches:

1. Group Psychological First Aid

2. Workplace financial wellbeing programmes and mental health in younger workers

3. Mental health peer support, particularly as it relates to young adults in the workplace

4. How flexible work policies may mediate the negative impact of poor supervision on mental health, specifically anxiety and depression

5. Reducing prolonged bouts of sitting time with light activity

6. Social support interventions for prevention of depression and anxiety among young healthcare workers

7. Mindfulness training as a stress management intervention and its application in low- and middle-income countries

8. Impact of employee autonomy on anxiety and depression for young people

9. Challenge of stigma toward mentally ill persons among general workforce in low- and middle-income countries

10. Buddy schemes at induction/onboarding of new employees under 25

MHI’s role and how this research will impact workplaces 

Mental health problems in the workforce are often the biggest health expenditures for businesses resulting from the high costs of absenteeism, presenteeism, and disability claims. Increasingly, businesses recognize the need to have a well-rounded and effective mental health strategy. This review of mental health peer support in the workplace as a promising approach to address anxiety and depression among young adult workers will have significant implications for businesses. Organizations will be able to use this review to build a business case for implementing a workplace peer support program for their employees.

By detailing the key principles and best practices of workplace peer support, businesses can make informed decisions about what is offered to their employees and how programs can be implemented.

This will help build out their mental health strategy, thereby bolstering recruitment and engagement strategies and resulting in significant cost savings.

Lastly, the results of this research can be used to develop further opportunities, specifically for workplace mental health peer support and more generally for young adults who may experience mental health problems.

Have you received peer support while working and are under 30?
IF SO, WE ARE INTERESTED IN HEARING ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCES.

Please follow this link Employees Who Have Received Peer Support Survey to access this short survey, which will ask you to identify if you would be interested in participating in a virtual focus group (end of September 2020 – Date to be confirmed), conducted by our partner, NAMI-NYC, about your experiences receiving workplace peer support.

We hope that this project will result in publications and presentations about peer support in the workplace as a promising approach to address mental health problems. Please let us know if you would like to be informed of the results of this project and we will be happy to send a summary of the findings.

To learn more about this project or to be part of it please connect with Dr. Taryn Tang, MHI’s lead researcher at t.tang@mhic-cism.com

For more information on the Wellcome Trust – UK, visit: https://wellcome.ac.uk/