Leeds Mindful Employer Network recently held an event exploring: ‘Helping the helpers: Supporting staff who care for, support or advise others’.
The network’s events always explore wellbeing at work, but this was only the second time they’d looked at the topic from a specific industry’s point of view.
The health and care sector is a particularly interesting one for workplace wellbeing. It can have heavy physical and emotional demands on its workforce. It is also common for roles to be low-paid or on zero-hours contracts, which can create additional stressors around finances and job security.
The event was attended by a mix of public, voluntary and private sector organisations, mostly within Health and Social Care.
Dr Sarah Munro, CEO of Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT), opened the event. She shared personal and professional experience around family mental health and suicide loss. Dr Munro thanked the organisations present for the work they do to support the citizens of Leeds, saying: “We in these jobs need compassion ourselves”.
What we learned
- Duncan Pearse, CEO of Northpoint
Duncan talked about how Northpoint had to adapt internally in line with rapid growth during and after the pandemic. He talked about how the team had supported staff through that change, and embedded staff wellbeing into the evolving culture as they grew.
- Gary Butterfield, Founder of Joy Junction
Gary gave a workshop on the five ways to wellbeing and presented his ‘conversation canvas’, which is currently being used by HM Courts and Tribunals. The canvas “empowers managers to confidently explore wellbeing with their colleagues, providing a structured yet adaptable framework for navigating these crucial discussions.” It facilitates “authentic conversations” and strives to ensure every voice is “heard and valued”.
- Andrea Wallman, Training and Development Lead for Leeds Mind
Andrea gave a taster training session on burnout in the care sector. Drawing on both research and anecdotes, the interactive session explored: contributors to burnout in the sector, what burnout looks like (in both mind and body), and what measures we can put in place to reduce incidences of burnout. Andrea also outlined the other mental health training courses that Leeds Mind offers.
- Bridget McDonagh, Kelvin Allenye, Valerie Hewison and Thelma Mbanje from Dynamic Social Support Ltd
The team from Dynamic Social Support Ltd generously shared their experiences as an organisation which employs frontline health and care workers. They said: “it hasn’t been a quick fix, but there’s been a huge amount of investment in the mental, physical and emotional wellbeing of our staff.” This is a great example of network members really nurturing and developing workplace wellbeing as part of the network.
The team discussed their specific efforts around working to provide migrant workers with a supportive, flexible and caring work environment. This accounts for the upheaval they have likely experienced when moving country and re-establishing their lives.
They showed their wellbeing space, which has been developed over time into a safe and quiet space where staff can seek respite from dealing with difficulties in their caseloads.
Thelma, a care worker, shared her experience of previously working for an organisation that refused to take her wellbeing or care responsibilities into account. She emphasized the difference it makes to now work for a company that invests in its staff’s wellbeing.
- Simon Burton, Leeds Recovery College
Simon talked about what Leeds Recovery College offers for people living, working or studying in the city, with a focus on the benefits of Wellness Recovery Action Plans (WRAP). A WRAP is a tool that you can use to identify the things that keep you well and helps to create an action plan to put them into practice in everyday life.
Finally, the following organisations held stalls, while their representative gave us a whistle-stop tour of the services their organisations have available to support a caring workforce:
- Emily Cotter, Leeds Mind
- Emma Holford, Leeds Health and Care Academy
- Gemma Johnson, Mindwell
- Tatiana Zaituni, Public Health Resource Centre
- Simon Burton, Leeds Recovery College
- Jonathan Holdsworth and Fiaz Amin, Northpoint
What was the outcome of the event?
Attendees were asked to make a pledge about one thing they’ll do following the event to support the mental health of their employees. They also received a host of services and support to which they could signpost their staff.
Feedback from the event included:
- “Informative and good takeaways”
- “Building up knowledge and context is key to supporting staff in various ways and trying new ways is important”
- “A good range of useful information and topics covered”
- “We are going to look at numerous things around team wellbeing moving forward from the session”
Leigh Staunton, Leeds Mindful Employer Network Co-ordinator, said: “I wanted to thank everyone who attended the event again for coming and contributing to the insightful discussions we had.
“All of our speakers offered something different, whether it was the experience of offering support to staff in health and care, lived experience, or expert insight.
“We were honoured to have Dr Sarah Munro opening the event. It was great to hear such a senior figure in our regional healthcare system recognising the need to look after those who look after others as their profession.
“I’m looking forward to hearing more about what action attendees are taking around wellbeing in their caring organisations.”
Leeds Mindful Employer Network is also pleased to be hosting: Why Supporting Working Carers Matters, 23rd January – 12 – 1pm. You can book your free place on the Eventbrite page.
Find out more about what is meant by the term ‘working carer’ in our recent blog with Carers Leeds.
