Jump to content
  • Occupational mental health: Addressing patients’ occupational, educational and psychosocial needs as an essential aspect of mental health care (RCPsych, 14 July 2022)


    • UK
    • Guides and guidelines
    • Pre-existing
    • Original author
    • No
    • Royal College of Psychiatrists
    • 14/07/22
    • Health and care staff, Patient safety leads

    Summary

    Many people don’t receive enough support both to find and stay in work when experiencing mental health difficulties. The Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) have launched a new occupational mental health guidance with recommendations for the government, NHS, and psychiatrists.

    The guidelines highlight the crucial, positive role that ‘good work’ can have on an individual’s mental health, and how poor experience of work both risks exacerbating pre-existing poor mental health and/or contributing to the emergence of a mental health condition. It provides advice and recommendations to the key organisations and individuals who have a role in ensuring work makes a positive impact on mental health.

    Content

    Recommendations

    For Government

    1. Giving workers with mental health problems early access to occupationally focused healthcare, which should include helping them to obtain, remain in, or return to, appropriate work.
    2. Expanding vocational support services in both NHS and community settings for patients with mental health problems to help them remain in, or return to, work.
    3. Improving access to flexible benefits and sick leave for patients with chronic fluctuating health conditions to help patients remain in, or return to, work.
    4. Ensuring that all employers (including the NHS) recognise the benefits of ensuring that all supervisors, from the most junior upwards, feel confident to identify potential mental health difficulties in their staff and to speak with them about such difficulties using a salutogenic approach (an approach to wellness that focuses on health rather than disease).

    For the NHS:

    1. All healthcare staff understand the close links between someone’s state of mental health and their ability to work. This is especially important when providing care for people who work in safety critical occupations (e.g. vehicle operators, emergency services etc).
    2. All healthcare staff provide care in a way that helps patients stay in, or return to, appropriate work.
    3. All NHS staff understand the key role that occupational health services have in helping to support patients staying in, or returning to, appropriate work.
    4. Ensuring, as a priority, that all NHS supervisors, from the most junior upwards, feel confident enough to identify potential mental health difficulties in their staff and to speak with them about such difficulties using a salutogenic approach (an approach to wellness that focuses on health rather than disease).

    For psychiatrists

    1. Routinely exploring a patient’s employment history – including their current employment status – to understand what role it may have played in contributing to their state of mental health.
    2. Viewing it as an important treatment outcome to help patients to obtain, remain in, or return to, appropriate work.
    3. Encouraging healthcare colleagues to recognise the mental health benefits of being in work and to consider work as a key treatment outcome for any care provided.
    4. Advocating for their patients by appropriately communicating with employers and occupational health providers to challenge any discrimination or stigma that exists about mental health, with the aim of helping their patients remain in, or return to, appropriate work.

    For employers:

    1. Ensuring that those in supervisory positions, from the most junior upwards, feel confident enough to identify potential mental health difficulties in their staff and to speak with them about such difficulties using a salutogenic approach (an approach to wellness that focuses on health rather than disease).
    2. Adopting policies and practices which support people who develop mental health conditions to remain in, or return to, appropriate full- or part-time work.
    3. Recognising the value of occupationally focused mental healthcare in helping their staff remain in, or return to, appropriate work.  
    Occupational mental health: Addressing patients’ occupational, educational and psychosocial needs as an essential aspect of mental health care (RCPsych, 14 July 2022) https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/improving-care/better-mh-policy/position-statements/ps01_22.pdf
    0 reactions so far

    0 Comments

    Recommended Comments

    There are no comments to display.

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...