Helping staff deal with grief and other trauma is the focus of a free online session hosted by a Health Cash Plan and Wellbeing Training provider.
Kerry B Mitchell, Wellbeing Manager at not-for-profit organisation Paycare, has been running monthly e-clinics on different themes since autumn 2020. The next hour-long session at 10am on Monday 10th May and will be centred around ‘Pathways 4 Support’.
Kerry will be joined by Adam Page from Cruse Bereavement Care who will discuss how the charity can support people struggling with loss and grief, and Debbie Cullen who is the Relationship Manager at Validium, which provides the Employee Assistance Programme offered as part of Paycare’s Health Cash Plans.
More than 250 people have benefitted from the e-clinics so far, with 400 overall attendances meaning many have opted to attend more than one session since they launched last September.
The Pathways 4 Support session will help attendees understand how an EAP could support their team; how they can assist colleagues dealing with worry, loss, and bereavement; and the current research, statistics and facts around the topic.
Kerry said: “All of us will experience grief and loss at some point in our lives, but this doesn’t mean we should simply push the topic aside because it’s so common. Quite the opposite: especially in light of the widespread grief arising from the Coronavirus pandemic, we should be advocating for more people to feel comfortable accessing support for their feelings.
“Managers are likely to know when a member of their team has experienced a bereavement, so it’s important they feel confident talking about the subject, supporting their member of staff to access support, and signposting towards helpful organisations.
“Having an Employee Assistance Programme in place gives teams the opportunity to talk directly and confidentially about any issue, including grief.”
To join the webinar and register your free place, simply email [email protected] or visit paycare.org/mhfa – where there are also details of the Mental Health First Aid training courses run by Kerry and her team (two-day, one-day, half-day, and online options available).
Since 1874, Paycare (formerly known as Patient’s Aid Association) has worked to help individuals, families, businesses, and their employees access a variety of preventative and reactive healthcare services which protect their financial, physical and mental health and wellbeing. Its dedicated mental health service — Paycare Wellbeing — launched in 2019 and provides qualified and confidential training to Corporate Groups including Managers, CEOs and HR teams. Visit www.paycare.org to find out more.