Who We Are
Workplace Mental Health
"The development and implementation of a workplace mental health policy and programme will benefit the health of employees, increase productivity for the company and will contribute to the wellbeing of the community at large." (WHO, 2005).
Rationale for WFMH Section on Workplace Mental Health
Working individuals spend over 60% of their waking hours in the workplace. Mental health is essential to overall wellbeing and productivity. Compromised mental health exacts a tremendous cost to the world economy. The World Health Organization estimates that depression and anxiety disorders alone cost the global economy US$1 trillion annually in lost productivity. Work is necessary to one's economic security, and for many it is a core dimension of identity and an important source of social connection.
Creating healthy workplaces hinges on effective workplace policies aimed at eliminating stigma toward mental disorders and disability, promoting open communication between leaders and workers, establishing employment policies that are fair and equitable to employees regardless of status, gender, ethnicity, sexual identity, or seniority, offering employee health benefits that ensure adequate access to quality mental health services, and integrating workers with lived experience who are newly entering the work force or returning from a leave due to a mental disorder.
The overriding objective of the section on Workplace Mental Health is to support and promote knowledge exchange, education, research, training, and policy development aimed at enhancing mental health within the workplace.
Section Objectives:
- To provide education and promote the dissemination of information on the creation of policies in support of mental health in the workplace.
- To support the creation of regional summits of C-suite executives focused on the promotion and enhancement of workplace mental health.
- To serve as a hub for the promotion and dissemination of high-quality research addressing psychological safety and wellbeing in the workplace.
- To foster collaborative initiatives with local, national and international organizations invested in improving the lives of workers (e.g., World Health Organization, OECD, Mental Health Commission of Canada, Institute of Work and Health, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology).
- To offer training opportunities through the World Congress on Mental Health that address the needs of employers, researchers and clinicians committed to enhancing workplace mental health.
- To take an active role in contributing to the scientific program of the World Congress on Mental Health.
- To bring attention to the importance of Workplace Mental Health as part of World Mental Health Day in a manner that recognizes and honours the unique cultural and economic context of a given region and their impact on the workforce.
Membership Section of Workplace Mental Health
- Section Chair: Elizabeth King
- Section Deputy Chair: Sam Mikail
- Section Secretary: Toluse Francis
- Section Deputy Secretary: Kathy Pike
- Micheal Pietrus: Member
- Michael Kariuki Kamau: Member
- Shelley Oldham: Member
Additional Members
Additional members will be recruited once the WFMH Section on Workplace Mental Health is formally established
Workstreams
Once the WFMH Section on Workplace Mental Health is formally established the group will meet to develop a workplan agreed and approved by the members
Governance and Protocols
The WFMH Section on Workplace Mental Health will follow the WFMH Section Policy & Protocol as published by WFMH.
26 May 2024
Submitted by WFMH Secretary-General