Awareness and Education

There is a lot of misinformation about how mental health conditions start, what causes them and how they are treated. These erroneous ideas range from mental health disorders being thought of as a weakness in some countries to being thought of as witchcraft in others.

Addressing Stigma

Testimonials and Storytelling: One of the most effective ways to combat stigma is to have people share their stories.

Providing Access

In many countries, there is relatively little convenient, safe and affordable access to mental health clinicians. Inpatient or psychiatrist visits may be covered for serious mental health disorders, and medications may be covered, but counseling is unheard of except for the very rich.

Peer/Manager Training
Peers and managers often report being concerned about the mental health of co-workers and supervisees, but they are unsure about how to start the conversation on this sensitive topic. Global employers are implementing various training programs to assist in starting this dialogue, build awareness of the resources available and promote utilization of services.

Workplace Champions

Similar to well-being champions, mental health champions typically volunteer to address stigma and misinformation about mental health issues, as well as spread the word about available benefits and programs at their worksite. This can be done both informally, through sharing with peers, and formally, through workshops, webinars, World Mental Health Day campaigns and more.

Leveraging National Campaigns

In many countries, there are already national campaigns and NGOs addressing mental health in the workplace. Some of these have training tools, employer pledges, testimonials and other resources available. Rather than starting from scratch, partnering with or utilizing tools from these organizations can give global employers head starts in a resource-constrained environment.