Listening, such a simple action, yet taking the time to do so could change someone’s day or in some cases their life.

The 24^th July is Samaritan’s Awareness Day. On this day and throughout the whole of July they are running an awareness campaign “Talk to Us”. This campaigns focus is to remind people that the Samaritan’s are there to talk to them 24/7, 365 days of year.

Samaritans are not only there to listen but working hard to take actions and put plans in place to prevent someone from reaching the crisis point stage.

Like most aspects of our health, prevention and early intervention are generally better than waiting for the cure. The same applies for mental health.

So, what can you do to improve your own mental health and that of your employees/colleagues?

Here are three tips for improving mental wellbeing in the workplace.

1. Mental health focus groups – establish a mental health and wellbeing focus group. No one understands the pressures and culture of your business better than the employees. Having a focus group allows those involved to meet on a regular basis (generally monthly) to discuss ideas aimed at improving overall wellbeing. It’s important to ensure these ideas are feasible so they are followed through with and put into action.

2. Mental health first aid training – similar to physical first aid, mental health first aid training is a recognised qualification. This qualification trains people to operate as workplace mental health first aiders. They will be able to recognise the signs and symptoms of common mental health issues and understand how to direct a person toward the right available support.

3. Explore added value benefits within your staff reward package – do you provide benefits? Do you know that most benefits such as medical insurance, cash plans and income protection, come with many added value benefits? These often include online wellbeing portals, employee assistance programmes, retail discounts and various other ways to proactively improve wellbeing. These added value benefits can easily go under the radar so its important to understand what you have in place and ensure you are making the most of it.

Just remember that mental health should be given equally, if not more, attention than physical health.

You can find out more about the Samaritans’ Talk to Us campaign here.