MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID

OPIC has teamed up with a group of professionals and created a critical mental health program covering all levels of organisations.

Mental health is one of the greatest scourges in modern life, with all statistics showing that it is an issue that pervades through all levels of society, including the workplace.

The consequences of mental health in terms of the wellbeing of individuals and their capacity to undertake their normal work related endeavours are now critical. How organisations deal with this scourge is now a primary responsibility and focus

Taking Care of Your People

OPIC has had 40 years in assisting organisations to create an environment where staff can thrive, perform most effectively, and work within teams and roles which will maximise their potential and create a sense of accomplishment and a capacity to sustain performance.

The urgent need however to extend the understanding of wellbeing into the identification, intervention and support of people suffering from mental health problems is now critical.

OPIC has now created with our partners a 3-stage model that aims to assist organisations in the early identification and intervention of mental health issues. This 3-stage program will arm individuals, Managers and Executives with the tools they need to be able to help themselves and help their co-workers.

Module 1 – The Fundamentals of Mental Health First Aid

This half day program is designed to provide participants with insights into:

  1. What mental health is.
  2. How it relates to wellbeing and success within an organisation.
  3. Exploring the early warning signs of people who may be suffering from mental health issues.
  4. Understanding how to intervene and how to support others.
  5. Understanding your own mental health signs, and how to monitor your own wellbeing.

Module 2 – Mental Health First Aid for Managers

This program is designed to assist Managers to identify and manage mental health issues within the team.

This program aims to:

  1. Help Managers understand the antecedents of mental health issues in staff.
  2. Provide Managers with behavioural audits in understanding the signs of staff struggling with mental health issues.
  3. Help Managers understand how to intervene and how to undertake a mental health wellbeing discussion with staff.
  4. Provide Managers with an infrastructure and network of where to go to get help for people, including crisis intervention and longer term counselling and therapy services.

The aim of this program is to assist you in differentiating between unmotivated and poor performing staff, and those with broader mental health issues.

Module 3 – Leading in a Mental Health Environment

This program is designed for Executives to assist them in creating a safe mental health environment within their organisation.

Mentally healthy workplaces have certain characteristics and certain behaviours and values.

This program assists Executives in understanding:

  1. The nature of stress and the nature of dysfunctionality in managing staff stress.
  2. How to create a mental health environment and what the elements of that look like.
  3. Assisting Executives to coach and encourage front-line Managers to implement a mentally healthy workplace strategy.
  4. Assist Executives in understanding their own mental health signs and management, including physical, psychological and emotional wellbeing strategies.

The program will also explore how to lead and champion mental health issues for organisations.