Understanding and meeting our mental wellbeing needs is an essential part of maintaining our overall quality of health.
Like all aspects of health and wellbeing, the time and energy investment required to stay well is often much less demanding than what is required for successful treatment and recovery!
Building even a few simple mental wellbeing activities into your daily routine can be a highly effective way of protecting your mental health.
The links on this page contain a wealth of ideas and resources to help you develop you own self-care plan.
If you need any additional guidance, support, or encouragement, do not hesitate to get in touch with the many support providers that are in place to assist you.
Qwell – Anonymous access to a wealth of wellbeing information, self-help tools, read and contribute to a moderated anonymous peer support forum, and the facility to have a 1-2-1 online appointment with a mental wellbeing practitioner Home – Qwell
TASC have commissioned access to a range of computerised wellbeing courses through Rightsteps on a variety of mental and physical health topics, including depression, stress, menopause, gambling, quitting smoking etc, for ambulance workforce personnel. TASC (rightsteps.co.uk)
It’s instant access, no waiting time, no cost and doesn’t require a referral. Staff do have to register with an email address but the usual confidentiality terms apply and no identifying data gets shared with employers. Click the link above or the image to the left to access the TASC & Rightsteps Wellbeing Platform.
Blue Light Together – Dedicated to providing information, ideas, and support specifically for the staff (and their loved ones) of UK emergency service organisations. Blue Light Together
West Midlands Ambulance Service, along with other Senior Leaders from Emergency Services, have signed the Mental Health at Work Commitment. This is an unprecedented agreement, declaring that mental health is, and will remain, a firm priority for all UK emergency services. For the first time, a uniform set of standards for supporting staff mental health will be adopted and integrated into their workplaces.
Association of Ambulance Chief Executives – Information and support for ambulance service staff Supporting Ambulance Staff on Mental Health and Wellbeing – aace.org.uk
College of Paramedics – Information and advice about the mental health and wellbeing needs of staff working within emergency healthcare organisations Paramedic Mental Health and Wellbeing (collegeofparamedics.co.uk)
Headspace for NHS – You’re here for them, we’re here for you. Be kind to your mind with free access to Headspace — the world’s most science-backed meditation app — to all NHS clinical and non-clinical staff. Headspace is everyday mindfulness for everyone. Stress less, sleep soundly, and be more resilient. Your Headspace Plus membership will help you learn the life-changing skills of meditation and mindfulness, to use whenever you need it most. Click here to sign up for your free subscription.
MindEd have selected the best advice and tips from our large panel of experts from the mental health, ambulance, fire and police services.
In addition to the tips, MindEd have developed 4 full elearning sessions for Blue Light Services Staff, available here on our main website. The aim of this content is to help staff to identify, better support each other and so to manage early distress and stress in its various forms. Click here to access the MindEd Blue Light Top Tips for Staff.
#DoingOurBit is the largest free platform of its kind. Offering externally verified sessions from leading professionals across fitness, wellness, mental health and nutrition – with #DoingOurBit you can be assured each session has the highest level of safety, integrity and quality.
#DoingOurBit have also now created a free mental wellbeing hub for NHS staff to use.
#DoingOurBit is a specially designed online fitness platform with over 60 free workouts for NHS staff, with new content being added all the time. Every workout has been externally verified to ensure the highest level of safety, integrity, and quality. To read more about #DoingOurBit read this blog post.
Soon you will be able to access the #DoingOutBit app and early next year they hoping to have in-person classes, gym sessions, and swimming. To access the updated platform and additional services you need to re-register or register your details.
Counselling and talking therapies for our Ethnic Minority colleagues
Looking after you too: Coaching support for out Black, Asian Minority colleagues
This programme has been developed to support any NHS colleagues who
identify as part of our Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic workforce in NHS and
ambulance trusts, in maintaining their psychological wellbeing during this
challenging time.
This individually tailored coaching support will focus on proactively supporting
you to process experiences, offload the demands of whatever you are
experiencing, deal with difficult conversations, develop coping skills and be
supported in developing practical strategies.
Find out more: NHS England » Support for our diverse colleagues
Coping with everyday life and feeling well
What is mental wellbeing?
If you feel you are able to cope with everyday life, make decisions and react appropriately to situations and people around you, you might be described as having good mental wellbeing.
But perhaps you are struggling to express emotions, feel overwhelmed by day-to-day life and experience mental health issues or crises and you could do with some help to improve your mental wellbeing.
If you are experiencing mental health problems or want to improve your mental wellbeing Able Futures could help you. Click the text to watch the video.
Apply now for free mental wellbeing support from Able Futures.
Supporting Our NHS People – Self-care guides and information about products and services available to the NHS workforce to support their wellbeing needs NHS England » Supporting our NHS people
NHS Every Mind Matters – Expert advice and practical techniques to help you create your own Mental Wellness Plan Every Mind Matters – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
NHS Mental Health Pages – Information, self-assessment, wellbeing self-help tools and mental health services details Mental health – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Self-help guides from Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust – An online bookshelf of concise, award-winning self-help leaflets. The free to download collection explains the signs and symptoms of the most common mental health challenges and provides practical strategies to help address them. Self Help Leaflets – Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (ntw.nhs.uk)
Reading Well – Details of self-help books that have been recommended by health experts, as well as people with lived experience of the conditions and their relatives and carers. Reading Well (reading-well.org.uk)