How to communicate World Mental Health Day 2024

Thursday 10 October is World Mental Health Day 2024.

This year, the theme set by the World Federation for Mental Health for is workplace mental health.

You can download a toolkit from the Mental Health Foundation if you want to find out more.

It’s important to talk about mental health throughout the year. This helps make genuine changes within organisations that will benefit your colleagues.

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) 2023/2024 Workplace Mental Wellbeing Audit, “revealed that one-third of public relations practitioners are currently diagnosed with a mental health condition.”

The audit also found that 91% of PR professionals experienced poor mental health at some point in the past year, with 58% citing workload stress as a significant contributing factor.

World Mental Health Day 2024

The guide ‘How to support mental health at work‘, published by the Mental Health Foundation, provides ideas and suggestions you could implement in your organisation.

We recommend working with other stakeholders such as senior leaders, Human Resources and mental health first aiders or wellbeing champions when planning for the year ahead.

You’ll also find these links helpful to accompany the guide:

To help with your mental health and wellbeing communication planning, here are some insights and resources.

Resources from All Things IC

How to communicate World Mental Health Day 2023

How to communicate Mental Health Awareness Week 2023

How to keep a mental health conversation going

Why we need to talk about mental health in Comms

Paws for thought – giving colleagues a voice on mental health

You can also bookmark this shortcut to all our blogs on Mental Health.

Workplace focused articles

Prioritising mental health in the workplace

Confronting workplace loneliness

Prioritising Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace

People Manager – Employee wellbeing needs to be a year-round conversation

Mental wellbeing at work.

Workplace resources

CIPR/PRCA – 2023/2024 Workplace Mental Wellbeing Audit

Mental health in PR – Small steps that will make a big difference

CIPD – Wellbeing support and guidance.

External organisations and charities

Mental Health Foundation

Mental Health UK

Mind

NHS.

Mental health support for comms professionals

Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC) mental health factsheet

How to stay mentally healthy if you work in comms

CIPR Members – Health Assured service.

How to go about talking about mental health internally.

All Things IC Communication Consultant Dan Holden shares some tips to help you get started on encouraging colleagues to talk about mental health at work.

Check out the resources available from professional services and charities.
There’s a lot of helpful content from organisations such as Mind, the Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health UK and the World Federation for Mental Health.

They have some fantastic toolkits, including images, PDFs and copy for internal articles and emails. Do check over them to make sure the language matches that of your colleague groups.

Create a central location for signposting and resources.
Having one place where colleagues can go to access not just resources about mental health but other aspects of wellbeing make it more accessible. You could have an intranet hub, a page on your employee app, or a dedicated area with noticeboards and literature stands in breakout areas in the office.

Provide dedicated resources for line managers.
Managers can often be the first person a colleague will speak to about any wellbeing concerns. Guides such as how to start a conversation with a colleague or what to do if a colleague approaches you to talk about mental health can give managers more assurance that they’ll able to support their teams. The Chartered Institute of Professional Development (CIPD) has a range of resources to support.

Focus on wellbeing throughout the year.

World Mental Health Day shouldn’t be a standalone event in your content calendar.

Plan across the year different aspects of wellbeing that can support colleagues. Working closely with your Human Resources can be helpful when you’re looking to embed wellbeing throughout your organisation.

Don’t be afraid of signposting to external activities.
As communicators, we aren’t the experts when it comes to mental health and our colleagues don’t expect us to be. There are lots of events, both in-person and online, that can be helpful to promote with colleagues. Make sure you do your due diligence on any activities you signpost to. The Mental Health Foundation provides free events throughout the year.

Be inclusive of everyone.
Mental health can affect people in different ways. Promoting specific support for colleague groups such as your LGBTQ+ networks, parents or ethnic groups shows that extra consideration has been given to supporting colleagues. If you have colleague networks, ask them what support they’d most value, rather than trying to guess.

Simply be human.
Asking a colleague, your manager, a friend or a family how they are can be a powerful action in itself. By being authentic and ourselves to others, a small gesture of kindness can go a long way to making others feel valued and supported.

Post author: Dan Holden
First published on the All Things IC blog 9 October 2024.

Submit a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

How can we help?

All Things IC helps practitioners around the globe increase their knowledge of internal communication.

There’s a variety of ways we can support you including trainingconsultancy and 1-2-1 support to boost your skills and confidence.

Or visit the shop to see everything we offer.

Who has hired All Things IC?

Clients say working with All Things IC leaves them feeling inspired, motivated, full of ideas and ready to turn plans into action.

We’re proud to have been invited to work with, and advise, some of the world’s leading brands.

Get in touch...

Would you like to work with All Things IC? Do get in touch as we'd love to hear from you.

We'll have a free consultation call and come up with a plan together.