One year on from the first COVID-19 lockdown, Cheryl Lythgoe, Matron at Benenden Health, offers advice to businesses on how they can support employees’ physical health whilst working from home.

Twelve months ago, when many businesses up and down the country shifted their operations to home working, the prospect of employees setting up workspaces away from the office was widely seen as a short-term measure.

However, one year on, and with stay-at-home restrictions still in place, as much as 40 per cent of the UK workforce are still working from home, with more than 11 million people operating in environments that aren’t necessarily conducive to physical health. Musculoskeletal (MSK) problems – conditions that affect the joints, bones and muscles – have risen, with the Institute for Employment Studies revealing a “huge uptick” in reports of back pain since the advent of remote working prompted by the pandemic.

With the prospect of many businesses exploring hybrid models to ensure a healthy work-life balance, employers should – if they haven’t already – look at what they can do to enable staff to work healthily and productively from home. Here are five tips to make this process effective and stress-free as possible.

Change the mindset around home working

Up to this point, home working may have been seen as a short-term measure by both employers and employees. However, now is a good time to consider whether the reality is that in some shape or form, remote working will have a permanent role to play within your organisation.

If so, changing the mindset of the business and your employees into believing and accepting that home working may be part of their lives in the long-term is an important step. This acceptance can encourage employees to consider their space at home as a permanent fixture and as such, they will be more inclined to consider changes than if they believe it will just be ‘for a little while longer.

Employers have the same legal duty of care for remote working employees as they do for office-based workers, so it’s important to change your mindset to ensure you are considering the safety of employees in their own home in the same way you would if they were in an office. 

Conduct a remote risk assessment

In a given workplace, risk assessments allow employers to keep a tab on the physical wellbeing of their employees’ workspaces: remotely, this is much more difficult to achieve; and the impact of COVID-19 on business continuity has meant that this has – understandably – fallen off the list of many organisations.

A comfortable workforce is a more productive one, so it’s important that employers take some time to see if their teams’ needs are being met whilst working remotely.

For the best uptake, keep questions short and pointed. Ask each of your team members what they lack and what they need.

Invest in the basics

Ordinarily, those who spend a lot of their day sitting (e.g. at a computer) would have a reasonably ergonomic chair and desk set-up, allowing the spine to be elongated. Poor seating arrangements equate to us sitting in “C” shape, which is the root cause of many MSK problems, whether or not they are pre-existing.

As such, ensuring employees have a height-adjustable chair, a peripheral mouse, a wrist wrest and a footrest in place is a simple yet hugely important step in combating potential MSK issues. While most employees may have similar requirements, ensure that you are not simply adopting a one size fits all approach and that you support individuals that have specially-adapted workspaces in the office to accommodate these requirements at home.

If providing all employees with the right equipment is too much of a practical or financial challenge, there is some compromise “hacks” to help you on your way. Encouraging employees to use a book or an angled lever arch file to elevate a laptop to a more ergonomic height and position is a straightforward solution and above all, simply ensure employees are not conducting their working day from their sofa: it’s an absolute no-no in terms of your posture!

Encourage regular movement

A typical workplace is a hubbub of banter, interruptions and meetings – all of which make us get up from our seats and walk around, even if only to the water cooler. Remote working is seeing more of us spend protracted periods of time sat stationary. We need to move, whether that’s proactively walking or stretching ourselves out every so often.

Whether it’s going for a walk, marching on the spot or shrugging our shoulders gently every so often, these actions will pay dividends to aching bodies so encouraging remote workers to move every half hour can help avoid the dreaded seize-up.

Consider if you can gamify exercise for your team and help bring out some camaraderie. A simple challenge, that everyone in the business can complete, could act as a real incentive. This approach not only facilitates exercise but also shows your team that taking a quick break and looking after their health is endorsed from the top down.

For more ways to promote keeping mobile within your organisation, you can download our guide here which features a range of beneficial daily exercises.  

Provide access to physiotherapy

Rapid access to physiotherapy, particularly first contact physiotherapy, will be an ever-increasing need during remote working, for all of the reasons above.

There’s already a backlog of patients waiting to be seen, so it pays to have a partner on your side that can provide your team with rapid assessment and referrals if needed. Timely intervention from physiotherapists isn’t just about getting the injured back to work; it’s about keeping healthy people at work and away from a long-term injury.

By taking action and supporting employees to work healthily and have access to relevant healthcare, employers can show commitment to their staff, express a proactive attitude to the future and cultivate a healthy and productive workforce to the benefit of everyone within the organisation.

For more information, go to https://www.benenden.co.uk

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Thursday 21st May 2020: Leading global men’s health charity, Movember, has today launched its ‘Take our Words for it’ campaign to support men during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Developed by creative agency MATTA, the concept is designed to compel people to engage with Movember Conversations, Movember’s new mental health tool to help to tackle issues of social isolation, stress and anxiety made worse by the global crisis.

The idea, ‘Take our Words for it’, is both literal and reassuring. The Movember Conversations tool gives users the right words to say to help a man who’s struggling, but the tagline also boasts a sense of encouragement to the help-giver: “You can do this, we’ve got the experience, take our words for it”.

The execution is based on the all-too-common tech fails we have been dealing with as we communicate at a distance – everything from poor internet connection to dodgy camera angles. It explains that while Movember can’t guarantee your technology will connect, it can ensure your words will.

UNIT9 – Ad Age’s 2019 Production Company of the Year – worked with MATTA and Movember to bring the films to life, with Director Simon Neal tasked with finding the delicate balance between humour and sincerity. All managed remotely, the actors not only took direction on performance but also framing and set dressing.

The men’s health charity also worked with Bountiful Cow on the global media strategy, which focuses on being in the centre of the male mental health conversation during COVID-19.

Focusing on the platforms for conversation and circulating around the credible debate, the campaign targets the male help-givers, those with more capacity and resilience to reach out to a man they know who is having a tough time.

Juliette Smith, Chief Marketing Officer at Movember, said: “Movember is committed to tackling the crisis in men’s mental health through its investment in early intervention and prevention programs.

‘Take our Words for it is designed to make men aware that it’s okay to not know what to say because Movember is there to guide you with its new online tool.

“We want to give people practical support when faced with a tough conversation and they just can’t find the right words themselves, and Movember Conversations does just that.

“During the pandemic, communication isn’t always easy. But while technology might let you down, Movember will make sure your words won’t.”

‘Take our Words for it’ launches on Thursday 21 May and will run for three weeks across major markets in the UK & Ireland, USA, Canada and Australia.

For more information: ukmedia@movember.com

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Eastern Daily Press has launched a new mental health campaign to tackle loneliness during social isolation.

The aim of the newspaper is to try and ensure people not to become mentally ill during these times of social isolation and show solidarity to those who may be feeling the strain at this, particularly tough time.

Stay home to save lives may be the message when it comes to combating the coronavirus pandemic, but that has meant many of us battling with new mental health challenges in recent weeks.

From those who are potentially vulnerable to Covid-19 self-isolating, to parents who are homeschooling, key workers pressing on with vital roles, people furloughed from their job and those working from home – all of us are facing new challenges at the moment.

So, Eastern Daily Press has decided to send this message that you are ‘Not Alone’ and encourage readers to show their support, particularly for those who battle with anxiety or depression issues.

Readers were asked to participate by posting a short video on social media using #NotAlone to offer their tips on the best way to keep a clear mind and a positive outlook or email the video to the newspaper.

David Powles, the editor of the EDP and Norwich Evening News, said: “There has rightly been a lot of focus on physical health over the last few weeks, but I’m concerned that as the isolation period extends we need to really look after our mental health as well. Through this campaign, we just want to remind people to try and stay as positive as possible, remember that this will not last forever and to look out for yourself and each other. If every person picked a minimum of five of their friends and family to stay in close contact with and keep an eye on their well-being, I think it could make a real difference.”

The public’s reaction to the campaign was very positive, with a host of passionate mental health advocates giving their support to underline the importance of staying close to our family and friends during this difficult period.

Ben Langley, comedian and panto star of the Norwich Theatre Royal, said: “I want to contribute towards good feeling and positivity at this time, so please remember to stay positive as much as you can, this isn’t going to last forever. Follow the government guidelines and just remember we are all in this together. We’re all in the same boat, which in a way is quite comforting, I feel.”

Charlie Hodson, chef at the Crown Inn in Northwold, mentioned: “Text your mate, call your mate, Skype your mate, Instagram your mate, tweet your mate – one thing you mustn’t do, please don’t visit your mate! We can beat Covid-19 together but also at the same time, watch out for each other, look out for each other and keep each other safe.”

Public Health England (PHE) has released mental health and wellbeing help in recent days, providing guidance for anyone feeling vulnerable during the social restrictions put in place to combat the spread of Covid-19, with backing from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

You can watch the video contributions here. If you’d like to record a video message of hope and contribute to this initiative, you can send them to david.freezer@archant.co.uk or by tagging @EDP24 or @eveningnews on Twitter and using the #NotAlone hashtag.

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Laura Palmer, Marketing and Business Development Director at Promotional Handling Limited (PHL), shares why mental health awareness is important in the business environment and how it can attract highly creative individuals. 

At some point in life, most of us will suffer from poor mental health, but people still find it hard to discuss the topic with employers for fear of stigmatisation. Conversely, employers shy away from tackling mental health head-on due to lack of knowledge and resources. Thankfully attitudes are changing both socially and in business. Mental health is slowly gaining awareness and recognition through the efforts of charities and key influencers.

We talk a lot about Branding in the Marketing Industry, but how are we Branding ourselves to employees? Marketing Employers need to offer a desirable working environment to attract the highly creative and dynamic individuals on which our business is so reliant. This environment must include a positive and hands-on approach to tackling mental health issues, forming an employment benefit over and above salary and remuneration. Additionally, such a climate should help nurture the potential of creative individuals, allowing them to thrive in what is a highly pressured industry. So how can we change our work culture to foster a healthy approach to mental health?

Start by knowing your audience – get to know your staff and understand the risks within your demographics. For example, according to the Office for National Statistics, UK industries with a workforce predominantly made up of men aged 45-49 will sadly have higher rates of suicide. Creative individuals tend to be more vulnerable to mental health issues such as depression and bipolar disorder. Add to that a pressured work environment and the hectic pace of modern-day life, and you can begin to put together a picture of what the dangers are for employees working in the Marketing Industry.  

The next step would be to upskill people within the business to act as go-to mentors for anyone struggling with their mental health. However, there is no need to start all employees on a psychiatry course. Teaching a small team of people with the ability to listen to and signpost colleagues to the right departments or resources, for professional help and advice, should be sufficient. Ask the mentor team to meet regularly and review policy and procedures that promote mental health awareness within the business. Many mental health charities offer on-line literature and courses that help with this type of training. For example, the charity Mind has a fantastic toolbox for businesses here https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/.

As a team, learn the difference between anxiety, stress, depression, etc. Learn to recognise what these mental health issues might look like so that you can employ suitable management techniques and early intervention. Offering someone who is struggling the opportunity to work from home or a quiet secluded office might have a massive impact on their wellbeing. Small adjustments may stop an individual’s mental health issues escalating, without adding cost to the business. Such a strategy will hopefully result in a reduction of crucial staff being out of the company for prolonged periods. Additionally dealing with employees as individuals, accommodating their mental health needs, will help create a happier workplace.

Most importantly, encourage conversations in the workplace around mental health. Creating an environment of openness and removing the fear of talking about it can be a great way to alleviate stigma and improve employee mental health. “Time to Talk Day” is on the 6th of February this year if you are looking for a good starting point to engage staff in dialogue https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/get-involved/time-talk-day. Remember Its ok to ask employees what support they think they need and the best way to keep the conversation going is to learn to listen carefully to feedback.

A desirable working environment will attract the best staff, prevent escalation of mental health issues and reduce the impact of illness and absence on the business. Mentally healthy and engaged employees will give back to the company with passion, creativity and be a driving force that can take the business forward to a brighter and better future for both the people within it and the bottom line.

If you would like to get in touch with PHL, email Laura Palmer at Laurap@promotionalhandling.co.uk 

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New research launched by the Movember Foundation reveals nearly half (47%) of men feel they are unable to confide in friends about their problems, compared to 63% of women who do.

This may be attributed to men having fewer social connections. On average, the men who were surveyed said they had three close friends, although nearly a third (27%) said they did not have any close friends or any friends at all.

The research also revealed that these friendships get weaker as they get older with men aged 55+, spending half the amount of time with friends than 16-24-year-olds. Over one in five (22%) men in this 55+ age group said they never saw their friends for a catch up.

Almost two in three men aged 16-24 (67%) would prefer to be known for having a ‘short fuse’ than ‘vulnerable’, and almost half (47%) would rather speak to a salesman for half an hour than a counsellor further highlighting the belief that men are reluctant to talk about their problems and feelings.

A previous study from the University of Harvard has shown that the biggest indicator of long-term health and well-being is the strength of your relationships with family, friends and spouses. According to the study, having someone to rely on has many health benefits, including helping your nervous system relax, your brain stay healthier for longer, and reduces both emotional and physical pain.

The Movember research also found men aren’t creating opportunities to meet up with their friends, for example; nearly two in five never go out for drinks (38%) or food (38%) with their close friends. Further to this when it comes to life challenges, only one in 10 (10%) of men go to family and friends for help when they face a challenge in life.

Owen Sharp, CEO of the Movember Foundation said: “Previous studies have proven that poor social connections have a negative impact on physical and mental health and this has to change. This is what the whole month of Movember is all about and the year-round initiatives we fund to tackle social isolation and loneliness. Three out of the four people who take their own lives every year are men and it’s the biggest killer of men under the age of 44.”

Movember’s annual month-long fundraiser calls on men across the UK to grow a moustache. The campaign aims to not only to raise awareness and funds, but to encourage men to connect with friends and create real change for men’s health. The charity also invests in innovative year-round projects that help foster quality relationships, whilst building the evidence of what works to support men building and maintaining stronger social connections.

One example of this is the Men’s Pie Club in Newcastle; socially isolated men are brought together to learn the skills they need to cook and create great food, as well as an opportunity to build relationships with each other. Another is Brothers Through Boxing in Peterborough, which provides boxing training sessions to young men who are not in employment, education or training, and who are at risk of social isolation and loneliness. Through training and coaching they are able to build social relationships among other young men, leading to a stronger sense of belonging, and a greater ability to stay mentally healthy.

The Movember Foundation is the leading charity dedicated to changing the face of men’s health in the UK and around the world. The foundation recognises that men are dying six years younger than women around the world. It campaigns to ensure that men take their health more seriously and act when necessary, as well as raising funds for vital research to combat prostate cancer, testicular cancer and male suicide. The foundation is aiming to reduce the number of men dying prematurely by 25% by 2030.

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This November, the Movember Foundation returns with its annual month-long fundraiser challenging men across the UK to grow a moustache to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues.

Now in its 11^th year in the UK, millions of men around the world are encouraged to embrace their handlebars, wisps and everything in-between. Whether flying the flag solo, joining up with friends, work colleagues, sports clubs, schools or universities, growing a moustache is the homegrown version of wearing a ribbon.

To date, through the moustaches grown, connections created, and conversations generated, the Movember Foundation has proudly welcomed over five million supporters and helped fund 1,200 innovative men’s health projects across twenty countries. But there is still much work to be done.

In the UK, the stats are shocking – one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and there are more 333,000 living with the disease. Twelve men a day take their own life, and three out of four suicides are by men. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men and although in most cases the outcome for men with testicular cancer is positive, a 95% chance of survival is no comfort to the one man in twenty who won’t make it.

When it comes to their health, too many men don’t feel like they have the support to talk, don’t act, and die too young.

Men who are planning to join in with Movember should register at www.movember.com and start with a cleanly shaven face at the beginning of the month. After that, it’s as simple as letting a ‘Mo’ grow for the rest of the month, whilst asking for donations. Funds will go on to invest in four key areas: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention.

Those who are follicly challenged can alternatively choose to ‘Move a Mo-ment’ to support the charity this year. Participants will need to run or walk 60 kilometres over the month. That’s 60 kilometres for the 60 men we lose to suicide each hour, every hour. There is also the opportunity to ‘Host a Mo-ment’ by organising a get-together to raise much-needed funds for men’s health.

The Movember Foundation is the leading charity dedicated to changing the face of men’s health in the UK and around the world. The foundation recognise that men are dying six years earlier than women due to common health issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide. The foundation is aiming to reduce the number of men dying too young by 25% by 2030.

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