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Well Issue 3: Autumn/Winter 2003/04
welcome to well?
Most of us spend a large amount of our time at work. So it makes good sense to ensure that our work and our workplaces are looking after our mental health. However, at the last count only 10% of workplaces had any form of mental health policy in place.
Virtually anyone is susceptible to mental illness and it's estimated that up to 30% of employees will experience mental health problems whilst at work in any one year. With 2.4 million employees in Scotland, this would suggest that as many as 700,000 people will experience mental health problems at work.
It therefore makes good economic, business and workplace sense to be able to respond positively to mental health problems at work which is why this edition of
Well? focuses on mental health, employment and working life, one of the vital areas of action for the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-Being in Scotland.
We look at how employment and mental health is now getting the attention it deserves and explore the five main objectives for and mental health, and working life - raising awareness and promoting positive mental health, supporting people to remain in work, enabling people to get back to work after a mental health problem, getting people with mental health problems into work and reducing stigma and discrimination in employment and in workplaces. Read some of the statistics on page 6 and you'll understand why this is such an important issue.
In this edition, we also look at the increasingly important role of arts and culture in raising awareness of mental health. Drama, creative arts and books all have a part to play.
Now that the National Programme is well and truly underway, we're very encouraged by the positive feedback we're receiving from people with experience of mental health problems, families, voluntary organisations, agencies providing services, schools, workplaces and a range of large and small agencies. They all agree on the importance of good mental health becoming a public issue - and one which we all need to understand and engage with.
So please keep your feedback coming and, of course, any ideas or suggestions you may have for future issues. We very much welcome your feedback and now that the new website is live (www.wellontheweb.net) you can register online for regular updates making it even easier to keep in touch.
We have also included in this issue a handy pull-out centrespread which clearly illustrates the different components of the National Programme and its key areas of action, on both a local and national level, until 2006.
Our next issue of
Well? is due in March 2004 when we will be focusing on mental health in later life.
Until then, good mental health!
Gregor Henderson
National Programme Director
well@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 0131 244 0109
www.wellontheweb.net
Acknowledgements:
We would like to thank everyone who contributed to this edition of
Well?
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in
Well? are not necessarily those of the National Programme or the Scottish Executive.
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