How to develop an integrated intervention approach to workplace mental health

What is an integrated intervention approach to mental health?

An integrated intervention approach to mental health in the workplace is a strategy that aims to address and improve the mental health and wellbeing of an organisation’s employees.

The approach encourages a workplace to consider its mental health strategy on multiple levels, from top-level organisational factors to individual, employee-related factors.

LaMontagne et al (2014) suggest that a successful integrated intervention approach should consider three different ‘strands’ that come together to form a comprehensive approach to managing employee mental health and wellbeing:

• Strand 1: The reduction of workplace mental health risk factors
• Strand 2: The promotion of positive attributes in the workplace
• Strand 3: The management and understanding of mental health problems

Each strand aims to complement the others to ensure all aspects of workplace mental health are covered, including awareness, prevention, early intervention, and treatment.

If you are looking to develop an integrated intervention approach to mental health in your workplace, it is important to understand each of the three strands in a little more detail first:

Reduce workplace risk factors

Reducing workplace risk factors involves implementing strategies to mitigate stressors on three levels:

• Primary
• Secondary
• Tertiary

The primary level refers to the organisation as a whole and its overall functioning. It is a top-level way of looking at mental health risk factors at work and finding solutions that can reduce stressors at the source. This can include controlling workload, setting clear expectations, and defining job responsibilities fairly and realistically. Ultimately, it is about stopping problems before they begin.

Reducing risk factors on a secondary level involves improving ways that your employees respond to work stressors. This can include teaching them stress management techniques for the workplace, facilitating  open and supportive communication , and clearly signposting where extra help can be accessed. The aim for reducing risk at this level is to prevent early symptoms from developing further into diagnosable mental health conditions.

Unlike the primary and secondary levels, the tertiary level is a reactive way of reducing workplace risk factors. This level is all about offering mental health support for employees dealing with mental health challenges and facilitating their recovery.

Promote positives

Promoting the positives encourages you to focus on the strengths of your organisation and what is being done well, rather than fixating on what is considered to be wrong or in need of fixing.

This can be done on an organisational level, as well as on an individual level which focuses on the strengths of each employee. Positive reinforcement can help your employees build a more positive mindset when it comes to work and make them feel more engaged and motivated. Ultimately, you will foster positive wellbeing across your organisation and help your people thrive.

Ways you can promote the positives in your own workplace could include:

• Creating a caring and inclusive workplace culture
• Implementing a supportive leadership structure
• Recognising and celebrating good work
• Making work feel meaningful

Address mental health problems

The third strand, addressing employee mental health problems, is about implementing workplace initiatives and programs that support employees with their mental health as well as destigmatising the subject of mental health.

As well as supporting employees directly affected by mental health challenges, this can include improving awareness and knowledge of mental health conditions across employees, encouraging people to seek help when needed, and emphasising the importance of early intervention.

Why is developing an integrated intervention approach to workplace mental health important?

An integrated intervention approach to workplace mental health ensures that all aspects of mental health and wellbeing support are covered, from a top-level, organisational standpoint down to an individualised, employee-focused level.

Having a comprehensive mental health and wellbeing strategy that considers everything from education, awareness, and prevention to early intervention and treatment is important in creating a strong and healthy workforce.

Some of the main benefits include:

• Improved productivity
• Reduced sickness absences, presenteeism, and absenteeism
• Reduced staff turnover
• A positive and supportive work environment
• Reduced costs for the business
• Improved employee return on investment (ROI)

Want to see exactly how much value your business can gain from investing in a comprehensive mental health strategy? Check out our free online ROI calculator.

How can you develop an integrated intervention approach to mental health in your workplace?

There are many ways you can work towards an integrated mental health strategy for improving mental health in your workplace. We have outlined some ideas below that would help you implement an integrated intervention approach, as outlined by LaMontagne et al (2014).

Create an inclusive environment and be aware of neurodiversity

Creating an inclusive working environment is vital in supporting all employees and making them feel seen and valued. Knowing your people, understanding their individual differences, and recognising how you can make their working life easier and less stressful are all important elements when building an integrated intervention approach to mental health at work.

For example, recognising and understanding neurodiverse employees can help you make reasonable adjustments for them to reduce work-related stressors and promote a positive working environment for all employees.

Professional assessment gives your people the strategies, support and therapies they need to channel their talents and move forward with more self-assurance.

Improve working practices and implement wellbeing strategies

Making improvements to your working practices and implementing wellbeing strategies can promote a positive working environment and improve employee engagement and productivity, making your organisation happier and healthier.

Workplace consultancy is a great way of assessing and mitigating mental health risks at your organisation, reviewing and refreshing policies and procedures, and receiving expert advice about the state of your employees’ mental health. This can be done through thorough workforce auditing, the collection of clinical data, and detailed reporting.

Provide mental health training to your employees

Offering mental health awareness training to your employees can be an effective way of building knowledge of mental health conditions, how they can affect people in the workplace, and will destigmatise mental health at work.

This is key to prevention and early intervention by teaching members of staff how to identify signs that a colleague might need extra support, and how they can help support them to access the right help.

Whether you are looking for training for the whole team or specifically targeted to managers, team leads, and HR professionals, Onebright can offer a range of mental health training courses tailored to your organisation’s needs.

Support employees with their mental health

There are a range of mental health services for employers available that can help you support your employees with their mental health. From therapies like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), to counselling and specialist support (including oncology support, addictions and chronic pain), Onebright can help you look after the wellbeing of your team.

Our team of experts can work with you directly or in partnership with your existing benefit providers to assess, and treat the mental health conditions affecting members of your team. And, if you require more urgent support for an individual, we offer a rapid access mental health pathway for access to support within 2 working days..

Top tips  for developing an integrated intervention approach to workplace mental health

There are many ways to approach workplace mental health, though it is essential that the strategy you create works well for your organisation. Developing a strategy that is personalised and tailored to your workplace is key for success.

Onebright’s Chief Commercial Officer, Shamira Graham, shares what she believes are the most important considerations when creating a smart, comprehensive workplace mental health strategy:  

Understand your workforce

Firstly, it is important to understand who makes up your workforce and know what they want in terms of mental health support.

Use data to learn more about who is a part of your organisation, thinking about factors like age, sex, generation, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Having a comprehensive understanding of your employees will help you better tailor your mental health support initiatives and strategies.

Outline your existing provision and identify gaps

Next, you should consider your existing mental health provision and identify where there are gaps or areas for improvement.

Consider who is currently supported and who isn’t, and where there are risk areas. This might differ between demographics and different job roles and responsibilities. For example, age and gender differences can impact who is most at risk of experiencing mental health challenges at work.

Map out what you are currently offering as an organisation and plan what you might do to fill any gaps in the support you currently provide.

Personalise your approach

Once you have a comprehensive understanding of your people and an idea of where you can make improvements to your provision, you can come up with strategies that are tailored to suit your employees.

Personalising your approach to mental health support will ensure that the employees most in need of help are able to access relevant and effective support.

Target upstream and optimise downstream

Finally, targeting ‘upstream’ and optimising ‘downstream’ can help make sure your mental health strategy offers support at all points, from the early signs of mental health conditions starting to those in need of more critical intervention.

Targeting upstream means implementing measures on an organisational level that aim to prevent early signs and symptoms from developing into diagnosable mental health conditions. It is about early intervention and trying to stop problems before they start.

Optimising downstream shifts the focus to more reactive measures and ensuring your organisation has support in place for employees who are in need of more critical help. This means making sure you have supportive provisions in place, as well as ensuring employees know what support is available to them and how they can access it if they need it.

Contact Onebright for help with workplace mental health and wellbeing

Ultimately, developing an integrated intervention approach to workplace mental health is about mitigating risk, promoting positives, and supporting employees with their mental health and wellbeing.

There are a range of services available that can help you create a comprehensive mental health strategy that works for your workplace by considering who your people are, what your existing provision is, any areas for improvement, and tailoring your approach using data.

At Onebright, we provide expert support for employers looking to improve their workplace mental health provision. Having helped over 200 UK businesses with their mental health strategies, we have extensive experience from consultancy and training to more individual mental health services and neurodevelopmental support for employees.

Contact us online today for more information about how we can help your business create a tailored, comprehensive mental health strategy, or call us on 0330 838 2000.