5 ways to make an impact beyond World Mental Health Day
World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to boost awareness for your well-being efforts. Here’s how communicators can get the word out—beyond sloganeering and one-off sound bites.
Mental health is trending thanks to Sunday’s designation as World Mental Health Day.
The World Health Organization’s #WorldMentalHealthDay campaign has helped boost awareness, but the truth is that interest in mental health is more than a blip. The topic has surged since the pandemic began and even hit a Google Trends rating of 87 with over 1.5 million online mentions this same week last year, according to Talkwalker.
“The day really helps open up the conversation about mental health, just like Mental Health Month did in May and Suicide Awareness Month in September,” says Aparna Samuel Balasundaram, a global wellbeing and resilience consultant.
“But we can’t stop there,” she says. “Employee well-being efforts can’t be one-offs. They have to be sustainable and wide-reaching, because we’ve all suffered some mental toll due to the pandemic.”
Here’s how you can step in and steer your organization’s mental health offerings:
1. Learn to spot red flags. “It’s important for communicators to be aware of mental health red flags and to share them with other departments,” says Balasundaram. For example:
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