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Posted on 9 Oct 2024

10 October 2024 marks World Mental Health day.

'It is time to make prioritise mental health in the workplace'

Mental health means feeling and functioning well day to day and overall, maintaining levels of mental health are essential to as part of any workplace approach or ways of supporting patient mental health.

Many different companies and charities are promoting ideas of how to mark this special day and raise awareness.

Here's some ideas for you to try out:

1. Why not start the day with a mindful minute? Encourage everyone to take a minute to sit quietly and focus on their breath. This simple mindfulness practice can help to centre ourselves and set a positive tone for the day ahead. This is also a very quick and easy activity to start mental health day with.
2. Take a break! Make sure that everyone takes a proper break for lunch – Eating well and staying hydrated are essential for maintaining good mental health, so encourage your staff to make time for a healthy lunch. Maybe even provide some healthy snacks for them to munch on during the day!
3. Get moving! A little bit of exercise can do wonders for our mental wellbeing, so why not incorporate some gentle movement into the day? Even ten minutes of stretching or walking will make a difference. Alternatively, you could hold a ‘virtual’ fitness class at the end of the day – there are loads of great options on YouTube.
4. Connect with nature. If you’re lucky enough to have outdoor space, make use of it! Spend some time outside in the fresh air, surrounded by nature.
5. Check in with each other. At the end of the day, take some time as a group to check in with each other. How are we feeling? What’s been tough today? What’s been good? This is a chance for everyone to offload any concerns or stressors they might be carrying, and to receive support from each other
6. It is encouraged for workers to take a desk break - just 15 minutes of movement can help reverse the effects of poor mental health - move for your mind!

How are you celebrating World Mental Health Day? We would love to hear from you about how you marked this day on your wards - so please get in touch and let us know if you did a cake sale, had a cup of tea and a talk, or did some exercise.

Please let the communications team know on: impactcommunications@nottshc.nhs.uk