March On Stress

March on Stress conference round-up!

Added on the 19th February 2020

The second March on Stress conference took place on Tuesday, 11th February 2020 – bringing together wonderful speakers and delegates for a really worthwhile day.

The conference, titled ‘Mental Health at Work: What’s the Evidence?’, aimed to bring together experts in mental health research and real-life examples of supporting mental health in the workplace, to provide delegates with insights and learning they could take back to their own organisations.

March on Stress Director, Professor Neil Greenberg, opened the day with an evidence-based talk on mental health at work, including evidence on primary prevention, the importance of leadership and evidence that mental health screening does not work.

Next up, Dr Will Ponsonby, President of the Society of Occupational Medicine, discussed mental fitness for safety critical workers and what support can and should be given to this important group.

We heard from Dr Andrew Ronald of NHS Grampian on how Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) has been introduced into their trauma network to support NHS staff. Andy gave valuable insights into the process that has been used, what is in place and future opportunities and challenges.

Ed House from the Home Office and Anthony Birkett from HM Passport Office followed Andy with an excellent talk on how the Sustaining Resilience at Work (StRaW®) model of peer support has been introduced and developed nationally within the Passport Office to support staff facing day-to-day stress and occupational pressure.

These real-life examples were a valuable addition to the day, in learning what has worked and what can be done including lessons learnt along the way.

Sergeant Martin Lally of Greater Manchester Police gave an incredibly powerful, personal account of TRiM in Greater Manchester Police, and how it has been used to support teams there following significant and traumatic incidents.

In a fascinating and energised presentation, Dr Brock Chisholm got the audience to work backwards in their thinking for how to better support people. Brock is a clinical psychologist who specialises in working with people affected by trauma.

Dr Laura Rafferty, of King’s College London, presented the findings of research into stigma and barriers to for military veterans, for which many of the outcomes can also be identified in other working populations. The research has also been published in a journal which can be accessed here.

Next up, Dr Vanessa Moulton of Mindflex Group spoke about the importance of psychological fitness and proactive strategies. Rather than reactive strategies for when mental health becomes mental ‘ill’ health, Vanessa talked about focusing on prevention through proactive approaches to build psychological fitness.

Rounding out the day were Dr Karla Greenberg, March on Stress Clinical Director along with Darren Humphrey, March on Stress Clinical Services Manager. Karla discussed the importance of evidence-based support under the topic of ‘what next – evidence based clinical support’ including the recommendation to use a full clinical assessment (as recommended by NICE) as a starting point.

Darren talked through the model of clinical support offered through the Vetlife Health Support service – an option to bridge the gap in NHS delays for mental health support by conducting assessments at an early stage and providing support and signposting as required. A new study has also been carried out looking at the Vetlife Health Support Service and is available here.

Professor Greenberg said: “We would like to thank our excellent speakers and the wonderful delegates who attended for a fantastic day. The feedback on the day and subsequently has been overwhelmingly good and we are really pleased to have been able to put this day together. We hope that as well as gaining and developing knowledge, it gave attendees the opportunity to hear from and meet likeminded colleagues working to boost mental health support in the workplace.”

If you would like to keep in touch about future events, please email info@marchonstress.com.

 

 

Click here to go back to the main News list