News: NHRD rolls out Mind Matters Week to help organizations focus on mental wellbeing

Employee Assistance Programs

NHRD rolls out Mind Matters Week to help organizations focus on mental wellbeing

Mind Matters is a movement spearheaded by the NHRDN in partnership with White Swan Foundation, a non-profit initiative, to spread awareness on mental wellbeing and enable great workplace practices to support it.
NHRD rolls out Mind Matters Week to help organizations focus on mental wellbeing

National HRD Network has announced Mind Matters Week from October 5 to 10 coinciding with Global Mental Health Day on October 10. Mind Matters is a movement spearheaded by the NHRDN in partnership with White Swan Foundation, a non-profit initiative, to spread awareness on mental wellbeing and enable great workplace practices to support it. The objective of Mind Matters is to make Mental Wellbeing a strategic priority in organizations by creating awareness & reduce stigma around mental wellbeing. 70+ companies across India have joined the movement to play their part in normalizing conversations around mental wellbeing. 

For the corporates who join the movement - NHRD will be their extended arm in the journey. To enable companies to drive awareness of mental wellbeing in their organizations, NHRD would help them with a ready Toolkit which would have:

 • Communication kit from Management to employees

• Framework for Managers on their role 

• Draft Mental Health policy

• Information repository on Mental Health at the Workplace 

• Resource list for Employee Assistance Programs

• Access to daily training sessions & webinars on mental health awareness, specific mental disorders, tools to manage it, etc during the Mind Matters Week (Oct 5 – 10). Session details are on website.

• Access to free LinkedIn courses on mental health during the Mind Matters Week

• NHRD Mind Matters Ambassador certification for upto 3 employees from each company

mindmatters

Speaking to People Matters, Krish Shankar, Group Head- Human Resources at Infosys, and Hon President of National HRD Network, India shared, “Mental wellbeing does not get adequate focus in India Inc! Fears from this pandemic, as well as reduced social interactions and long working hours, could make this a potential issue. We all need to be aware of this, and build capabilities in our organizations to promote mental wellbeing. To create this awareness, NHRD is planning a Mental Health Awareness week from 5-10th Oct, leading up to the International Mental Health Day on 10th Oct. Do join in and help spread the awareness."

Mental wellbeing: A growing cause for concern

Mental wellbeing is increasingly becoming a cause for concern. More so in India, given our low awareness, the stigma associated with it, challenging health infrastructure, and scarcity of mental wellbeing care workers and experts.

A report by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019 revealed that 7.5 percent of the Indian population suffers from some form of mental disorder. Mental illnesses constitute one-sixth of all health-related disorders and India accounted for nearly 15% of the global mental, neurological, and substance abuse disorder burden. Without anticipating a coronavirus pandemic, WHO also predicted that by 2020, roughly 20 percent of India will suffer from mental illnesses and that means, today, more than 200 million Indians are likely to have mental illnesses and the situation is certain to worsen with the pandemic.

A study by Mental Health Research UK in 2019 found that 42.5 percent of the employees in India’s corporate sector suffer from depression or an anxiety disorder. This has a huge implication on productivity and morale; and it is imperative for corporates to recognize and take preventive steps to reduce the impact on business.

The inability to balance work-life, stretched commitments, nuclear families, lack of social support/interactions and increased levels of anxiety add to the already delicate situation. The treatment gap, which is defined as the prevalence of mental illnesses versus the proportion of patients that receive treatment, was over 70 percent. Stigma, lack of awareness and a dearth of mental wellbeing professionals are responsible for this gap. 

More so, the pandemic has further adversely affected the mental health of many employees, with increased work from hours and no disconnect between work and home life, compounded by the stress of lockdown restrictions. Keeping this in mind, it becomes even more important for organizations to take measures to alleviate the mental health of their employees. 

 

To know more & sign up for Mind Matters Week, CLICK HERE. Join the Movement now

For any questions, write to mindmatters@nationalhrd.org 

Read full story

Topics: Employee Assistance Programs, #MentalHealth

Did you find this story helpful?

Author

QUICK POLL

How do you envision AI transforming your work?