ADD2376 Mental Health Awareness Training

In the Mayor’s manifesto in 2016 under ‘Improving London’s Health’ one of his pledges was to provide greater support for mental health. This was to be by leading a campaign to break down the stigma of mental illness, promoting and supporting Mental Health Awareness Week and coordinating efforts to reduce the number of people taking their own lives.

As referenced in MD2439 in October 2018, the GLA Health Team has developed a programme of work to lead and implement the Mayor’s Health Inequalities Strategy (HIS) with relevant partners and stakeholders and support his leadership role as chair of the London Health Board. The aims set out in the HIS are:

• Healthy Children;
• Healthy Minds;
• Healthy Places;
• Healthy Communities;
• Healthy Living; and
• Supporting the Mayor’s leadership role for health.

Funding of the training of Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) instructors in every London borough and delivery of Youth MHFA in state schools and further education colleges is being rolled out through the Young Londoners Fund with project management support from Thrive LDN.

Mental Health Awareness and Mental Health First Aid training for GLA staff builds on the Mayors aim that all Londoners share in a city with the best mental health in the world. The Healthy Minds chapter of the HIS sets out 5 objectives to achieve this with London’s workplaces supporting good mental health being a key ambition.

MHFA is referenced in the HIS implementation plan, and the Mayor referred to it directly in the Assembly plenary on Monday 3rd September. This can be found at this link.

The training is complimentary to the GLA’s London Healthy Workplace Award (LHWA), and the Time To Change Employers’ Pledge, both of which are being reviewed and updated as part of the GLA’s Transformation Programme. In addition, the training will help to address concerns raised in previous staff surveys regarding staff mental health and the Mayor’s ambition to make London a zero-suicide city.

Objectives:

• meet the Mayor’s commitment to ‘roll out training in mental health first aid informed approaches across City Hall, and support TfL, the Metropolitan Police and London Fire Brigade to build on the mental health awareness work they have already started’. (The London Health Inequalities Strategy, September 2018)
• have up to 100 staff trained in a half day mental health awareness course, which should cover:

o what mental health is and how to challenge stigma;
o equipping staff with a basic knowledge of some common mental health issues. This should also include some reference to those who may be at more risk of poor mental health as well as common life and work stresses that when exposed to can put people more at risk. For example, moving home, having a child, changing work hours, bereavement, working long hours or long period of illness;
o giving an introduction to looking after your own mental health and maintaining wellbeing; and
o giving confidence to support someone in distress or who may be experiencing a mental health issue.

Outcomes:

• staff will be equipped with:

- understanding of what mental health is and how to challenge stigma;
- a basic knowledge of some common mental health issues;
- an introduction to looking after their own mental health and maintaining wellbeing; and
- confidence to support someone in distress or who may be experiencing a mental health issue.

• upon completion, attendees should receive resources such as:

- a certificate of attendance;
- a reference manual; and
- a workbook including a helpful toolkit to support your own mental health.

• In addition to the half day course, the training will also include a digital package which could include case studies, scenarios and interactive activities. The digital package would be able to be accessed by at least 350 staff.
• The training should support the GLA’s transformation programme’s workstreams, particularly ‘New Ways of Working’ and HR/People policies. In particular, the training will help further line managers’ awareness of mental health issues in the context of managing staff who are working remotely.
• Following the roll out of Inclusive GLA Programme, the training will support further work on creating an inclusive and supportive working culture at the GLA.

The training supports the GLA’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion Duty’s (EDI) Health actions under “Strategic Objective 34: To work with communities, employers and the voluntary sector to ensure London’s diverse populations no longer experience stigma associated with mental ill-health”. Namely, embedded mental health and related inequalities in City Hall strategies and programmes.

The training supports the organisation’s work in the area of disability equality, notably supporting awareness around poor mental health. The training will have a positive effect on staff’s mental health awareness and general sense of wellbeing inside and outside of work. It will be encouraged that this knowledge will be shared with friends and family.

Staff from all GLA Networks (BAME, Womens, Disability, LGBT+ etc) will be specifically invited to undertake the training to encourage participation from as diverse a pool of staff as possible. These networks will be invited to come together to discuss the training.

The training will be open to all staff, dependant on line manager sign off and completion of learning and development requirements when booking.

All GLA Line managers will be encouraged to complete the digital training as mandatory and a lunchtime presentation will be run by the successful provider for all staff.

Risks

Links to Mayoral strategies

Health Inequalities Strategy, Healthy Minds section : Objective 1: Mental health becomes everybody’s business. Londoners act to maintain their mental wellbeing, and support their families, communities and colleagues to do the same and Objective 4: that ‘London’s workplaces support good mental health: /sites/default/files/health_strategy_2018_low_res_fa1.pdf.

Approval is being sought for expenditure of up to £15,000 for a provider to be confirmed to deliver mental health awareness training. This expenditure will be funded by the Communities & Intelligence Minor Programme budget for 2019-20.

1. Dates are indicative and subject to change.

Once the package of support is procured, the L&OD Team will take over the implementation of the training as part of the existing L&OD offer. This will mean liaising with the appointed supplier to design, pilot and roll out the session as per the specification. While L&OD will take on the lead role, the Health team will input into the design, pilot and review of the evaluation.