A Special Issue: Mental Health in the Workplace
“ Mental Health in the Workplace: Towards Evidence-Based Practice”
E. Kevin Kelloway (2016)
The problem
Organizations are applying an increased interest in workplace health factors; notably, the normalization of mental illnesses and the importance to help mitigate and understand these issues. In doing so, organizations are including the availability of employee assistance programs (EAP) to target any illnesses related to health and wellness in the workplace. However, when it comes to mental illnesses, these resources are heavily underutilized. Kelloway (2016) states that EAP programs are under-assessed and underutilized for three main reasons:
Individuals may not recognize that they require a program, service, or resource
Individuals may not be aware of what resources are available
Individuals may not use available resources because of fears of stigma
The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) was established in reaction to the aforementioned issues. A movement MHCC has focused on is workplace mental health and partnering with corporate partners (e.g. Bell “Let’s Talk” Campaign). However, these programs have yet to see any progress and are often short-lived with no direct impact on individuals who suffer from mental illnesses. Its victim-centered approach, creates a sense of “it's not only me” and only offers at most a band-aid solution and not a systemic change the community needs.
In addition, organizations themselves – as never before – are looking for solutions and interventions focusing on mental health issues, especially with the emergence of new policies and movements to combat mental health in the workplace. Kelloway (2016) mentions, however, that there is a danger that “doing something” is being confused with “doing what is effective” – many interventions and practices implemented are, at best, weakly supported by empirical data. The Standard of organizations has focused mainly on workplace conditions and external benefits (e.g. money, health insurance etc.). The standard does not present a theory of what job stress is or even defines what psychological health and safety means, leaving out a big aspect of community understanding.
Evidence-based suggestions
The Three Pillars: Prevention, Intervention and Accommodation
Prevention
Researchers recommend the improvement of leadership styles of those who hold formal positions of leadership in organizations. Studies have shown that negative interactions with leaders have increased blood pressure and work-related stress, deducing that leaders may be a “root cause” of various forms of organizational stress. Research on prevention has focused strictly on the notion of transformational leadership; this has shown positive associations with employees' sense of optimism, happiness, and enthusiasm, in addition to an increase in sense of meaning and well-being. Thus, the development of leaders who carry strong characteristics of a transformational leader should be considered as a health intervention in organizations.
“Transformational leadership is a leadership style in which leaders encourage, inspire and motivate employees to innovate and create change that will help grow and shape the future success of the company”
Avolio and colleagues (2009) was able to use a meta-analysis of over 200 studies to prove this effectiveness, supporting the notion that transformational leadership can be developed through training and that it heavily increases employees in commitment to their organization.
Intervention
There is a considerable advantage in seeing the workplace as a site for intervention. A good example that portrays this are health programs (e.g. learning disabilities, anger management centres) aimed at children administered through the school system. Similarly, researchers argue to target mental health issues in the workplace because most adults spend their days at work. Managers and leaders who are able to identify behaviors as cues that an individual is struggling at work have shown to be successful in aiding employees with their mental health issues. In many cases, it is not the behavior alone, but rather the change in the behavior that signaled that an individual was having difficulties. Early detection and intervention improves the prognosis (the forecast of the illness) for mental health problems.
A common practice that researchers recommend is Psychological First Aid Training to be able to give initial help to a person who may be developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. This training program is designed to help individuals recognize and provide support for victims who may be suffering from a mental health condition. Researchers aim to utilize this to train leaders for several reasons:
A supervisor-employee relationship is important to maintain positive employee health and wellbeing
Supervisors typically are employee’s common contact
To support this, Kelloway (2016) implemented a Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT) program. Results showed that managers who received this training demonstrated increased knowledge about mental health and improved attitudes toward individuals with mental health problems. As a result, this led managers to play an intervening role with employees and directing those who may be struggling to certain resources to alleviate the burden of employees to ‘do it themselves’.
Accommodation
The suggestions are limited to allowing the availability of alternative work assignments or work accommodations for employees. Well-established channels of communication between workplace and health care providers will further benefit employees who are the victim to mental health illnesses. In doing so, employees who are at a disadvantage can still produce work without the added burden of managing their own mental health in the workplace.
The main takeaways are outlined below:
Why does this matter for organizations?
In recent years organizations have recognized and implemented mental health programs for victims of mental illness. However, building mental health literacy and deviating from a victim-centered approach is also important in effectively managing employees who may be suffering from mental illnesses. The research article poses strong support for leadership development programs that focus on fostering a transformational leader who not only motivates but is able to support and direct their employees when they feel overwhelmed. This piece of article is specifically highlighting an issue researchers have found in the workplace, for the actual execution of tangible interventions and practices, Occupational Psychologists will help the most.
References
Avolio, B. J., Reichard, R. J., Hannah, S. T., Walumbwa, F. O., & Chan,A. (2009). A meta-analytic review of leadership impact research: Experimental and quasi-experimental studies. Leadership Quarterly, 20, 764–784. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.06.006
Kelloway, E. K. (2017). Mental health in the workplace: Towards evidence-based practice. Canadian Psychology/psychologie canadienne, 58(1), 1.