Every employer knows that the majority of their people have faced a very tough year throughout 2020.
In the past, Jan 1st has presented us all with the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and begin the new year with a renewed lease of positivity. Join a gym. Start a new diet. Make a promise to ourselves to do better or to try harder. In general, we all look at the New Year ahead as a fresh start where we can leave the baggage of last year behind us.
Unfortunately, 2021 is different as the hangover from 2020 is dragging into the New Year and the continued threat of the virus and the consequential tier restrictions makes it tough to remain optimistic and positive.
It’s not all doom and gloom as MyMindPal can help your business to navigate the landscape and help your people to manage the road ahead.
The decline in the UK workforce’s Mental & Physical health:
Whilst some people have managed to use the pandemic to create some new healthy habits, a greater number have adopted behaviours that have a negative impact on their physical and emotional wellbeing. The levels of alcohol consumption and unhealthy takeaway food are at an all-time high. In parallel to this people have experienced a significant increase in levels of stress and anxiety. Worst of all, these behaviours combined with the continued stress responses of the body are compromising the immune system of millions of individuals.
The coronavirus crisis poses the greatest threat to mental health since the second world war, with the impact to be felt for years after the virus has been brought under control, the country’s leading psychiatrist has said.
Dr Adrian James, the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said:
“A combination of the disease, its social consequences and the economic fallout were having a profound effect on mental health that would continue long after the epidemic is reined in. As many as 10 million people, including 1.5 million children, are thought to need new or additional mental health support as a direct result of the crisis”.
What can employers do to help their people start 2021?
The biggest thing you can do to help your people this year is to show them that you understand the challenges that they face and that you are providing tools to support them. This needs to be followed by quick and easy access to a range of benefits that enhance their wellbeing during their greatest hour of need.
The prediction of a population-level mental health crisis is well-founded and it is vital to provide resources to keep your people mentally fit. Likewise, with gyms being closed and the winter weather, it’s important to keep the UK workforce active.
We asked Khody Damestani (Therapist and health behaviour expert) for his top 5 immune system boosting benefits employers should consider offering their people in 2021
Mental Fitness app’s
Mental fitness is more accessible now than ever before. Finding and engaging frequently with digital tools and exercises will help your people to manage stress and build resilience.
Online exercise classes
Regular exercise is a vital pillar of a healthy immune system. Supporting your workforce to build their fitness levels will help them to reduce their risk of suffering mental and physical health problems as well as enhancing their ability to fight infection.
Access to healthy food options
Healthy eating not only improves energy levels and gut health, but it has also been shown to improve both mood and performance.
Vitamin D to boost the immune system
Ensuring that your people are receiving the recommended amount of specific vitamins is more important now than ever. Vitamins C, B6 and D have all been shown to enhance the functioning of the immune system.
Sleep support tools
Getting enough restful sleep has a multitude of benefits. It allows the body to recover and repair as well as boosting immune system function and protecting mental health.
MyMindPal is committed to delivering Mental Fitness support to the UK’s workforce regardless of the size of the business.
We asked Simon Moyle, Commercial Director at Vivup about how he feels MyMindPal has helped strengthen their offering to cover half of the UK’s NHS Trusts:
“We are really pleased to enter into a partnership with MyMindPal, not just because of the great product they have created but also because of the ethos and strategy behind their business matches our own.”
