Below you will find the steps to help you assess your mental health.
Organizational level
Do
Do: Implement prevention and proactive strategies
02 Step two
01 Implement stress and mental health awareness training for all staff
- To understand the risks of stress to themselves and to patient safety, and recognize the signs of stress and common mental health disorders – approx. 1-2 hours
02 Support and encourage healthy eating and living
- Encourage healthy eating habits
- Do not encourage unhealthy foods and drinks
- Provide water dispensers
- Protected mealtimes and breaks – when possible
- Promote cycle to work schemes
- Consider providing activities such as Mindfulness/Yoga/Pilates
03 Implement regular team meetings with time protection
- It can be challenging in some situations to ensure a healthy estate. A clinical/laboratory space should at least have a window and good ventilation
- Ensure team input into agenda
- Ensure a safe and respectful space
- Ensure all team members are given an opportunity to contribute
- Ensure change is well-communicated and its implementation involves input from the team
- Ensure that notes at staff meetings are taken with outcomes, actions and follow-up
04 Lead employer/manager to look at Human Resource factors relating to stress
- Identify and manage poor working relationships
- Look for presence of aggressions and microaggressions
- Implement equity, diversity, and inclusion training including gender attitudes and work/life balance
- Revisit practice/workplace policies and ensure well-being is embedded
- Revisit practice/workplace policies and ensure well-being is embedded
Example:
What makes you happy at work?
What causes you stress and/or anxiety at work? - Look at leave statistics. Identify where there has been long term and/or frequent leave
- Have systems in place to check-in (not check-up) regularly on well-being of staff, both opportunistic and structured
05 Lead employer/manager to look at clinical factors related to stress
- Leaders and managers should practice compassionate leadership skills
- Ensure regular staff meetings to identify training and support needs and support training
- In some countries where regular health assessments are routine, add mental health to the general health assessment
- Avoid chaotic appointment schedules
- Ensure clinician has control of appointment schedules and waiting lists
- Ensure technician has appropriate workload
- As far as possible, ensure protected scheduled emergency slots
- Implement 5-minute pre and post sessions huddles
- Identify a chill-out area
- Develop professional networks with other dental clinics/technician laboratories and national dental associations (NDAs)/professional organizations
06 Identify, train and support a Mental Health First Aider for the workplace
- Carry out staff surveys and action outcomes
- Facilitate opportunistic conversations – staff/patients
- Larger clinics/laboratories may consider using an external well-being support service for staff
07 Implement suicide awareness training for staff (optional)
- This should be implemented with sensitivity as not all staff may wish to participate in suicide awareness training due to lived experiences
