Here at i-teachers, we have always had a strong passion for improving mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. For many of us, work is a major part of our lives! It is where we spend much of our time, where we get our income, where we make friends and where we express our passion! We believe in a workplace where everyone can thrive and believe that good mental health and wellbeing at work go hand in hand with job satisfaction and success. At i-teachers, we want to help our employees the best we can in order to help them make the most of their potential!
Although we do have measures in place at i-teachers for mental health and wellbeing, we decided to explore this further. For this reason, our Compliance Officer Shehla decided to undertake some extended training through St John Ambulance. Read on to find out more!
Meet Shehla!
Say hello to Shehla! Shehla is one of our fantastic Compliance Officers at i-teachers and has been with the company since June 2018 after graduating from London Metropolitan University with a BA Hons Sociology degree!
“I joined i-teachers after seeing the vision they had to help graduates get into work having been a graduate myself and seeing the difficulties graduates face when looking for jobs. The diverse range of employees in the organisation made me want to be a part of this growing company and be part of its success!”
Recently, Shehla decided she wanted to help develop a further focus on mental health and wellbeing in our workplace. I-teachers welcomed the idea greatly and sent Shehla on a fantastic course provided by St John Ambulance – ‘Mental Health: Workplace First Responder’.
Mental Health: Workplace First Responder
The course qualifies Shehla as a Mental Health First Aid Responder. This allows Shehla the knowledge of mental health conditions to promote positive attitudes towards mental health in the workplace.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the course and I gained so much knowledge on promoting mental health and wellbeing in the workplace! I now know how to better provide a support system to my colleagues and have a much better understanding of different conditions. I feel confident that I can come away from the course with strategies to further take away the stigma on mental health in our office and with plans to further promote wellbeing”.
What did the course focus on?
The course covered an extremely wide range of topics useful for workplace mental health and wellbeing. For example:
- What is mental health?
- What is the difference between a mental health episode, crisis and condition?
- What are the factors that affect our mental health?
- The mental health continuum
- Roles and responsibilities of a Mental Health First Aid Responder
- Mental health action plan protocol
- Active listening skills
- How to show empathy
- How to have a conversation about wellbeing
- How to give immediate mental health support and where to signpost for additional support
- Recognising stress
- Recognising depression
- Anxiety and anxiety disorder
- How to recognise OCD, PTSD, eating disorders, self-harm, substance abuse and psychosis
After passing the assessment, Shehla was awarded the FutureQuals Level 2 Award in Mental Health: Workplace Responder qualification!
What now?
Upon completion of the assessment, Shehla is now looking forward to planning and implementing strategies to put all her knowledge to good use!
“Since completing the course, I have been spending time coming up with ideas on how best to implement my knowledge and promote mental health and well-being at i-teachers. I have recently put up some posters around the office to spread awareness to my colleagues of the course I have completed and the importance that we as a company emphasise on mental health. I have also implemented regular 1-1 catch up sessions with my colleagues in which they can freely talk about any worries or concerns they may have which I can help with. We will also be creating a monthly social media post around the subject of mental health and wellbeing as we are keen to spread the word to others! Ultimately, we would like to promote the same level of passion on a wider basis – such as to our candidates and clients!”
If you’re interested in completing a similar course to promote mental health and wellbeing in your workplace, or if you simply want to find out more, take a look at the amazing opportunities provided by St John Ambulance!