SEL ICS staff wellbeing engagement events

13.10.2021 - 12pm-2pm

This webinar will discuss the experience of bereavement and how it has affected staff throughout the pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the government has reported a total of 152,183 deaths with COVID-19 on the death certificate, with over 850 health and social care professionals reported to have died of COVID-19 between March and December 2020. Inevitably, bereavement has been a significant factor impacting staff’s lives over the past year, many staff have experienced the loss of family members and/or colleagues as well as having been exposed to the loss of patients regularly. Due to social distancing restrictions, some of these losses happening abroad, and the high-pressure environment in healthcare in the past year, many staff will have been unable to fully grieve and address their loss, exacerbating feelings of helplessness and guilt among staff.

You will explore the impact of bereavement on the wellbeing of staff and teams, with a focus on steps that organisations and individuals can take to support staff who have experienced bereavement, and create spaces for teams to support healthy grieving and process work-related experiences of loss and trauma.

Event overview

The webinar will shed insight on and start a conversation about the following topics:

· The impact of bereavement on the wellbeing of staff and teams

· Professional support available for staff experiencing bereavement

· The role of managers in supporting staff experiencing bereavement

· How to create spaces for staff to have conversations about bereavement at work

Event objectives

At the end of this webinar attendees will be able to:

1. Discuss the impact of bereavement on staff wellbeing, particularly in relation to workplace-related impacts of loss.

2. Signpost to the available bereavement support in the different organisations, including support for managers on how to deal with bereavement in their teams.

3. Influence how spaces can be created for individuals and teams to process work-related experience of loss and bereavement.

01.11.2021 - 14:00 - 16:00

The webinar will discuss the experience of moral injury and how it has affected staff throughout the pandemic. The pandemic has created circumstances where staff have felt a lack of control or pressure to make decisions that do not align with their values and morals as healthcare professionals. The term moral injury has been used to define the psychological distress that results from such events. Experiences of moral injury can have negative outcomes, such as the development of psychological injury and mental health difficulties. However, it can also lead to psychological growth associated with higher esteem and resilience, depending on the support individuals receive before, during, and after challenging events. This presents a crucial opportunity to help staff process moral injury as part of the COVID recovery and protect them from long term detriment to their wellbeing.

You will explore the impact of moral injury on staff wellbeing, focusing on how individuals can apply coping strategies to manage experiences of distress, and how teams and managers can create spaces to have conversations about moral injury and provide support. You will have opportunities to engage in conversations about staff experiences, provide feedback and hear insight on current work in Southeast London

Event overview

The webinar will shed insight on and start a conversation about the following topics:

· How ‘moral injury’ has manifested in the health and care sectors throughout the pandemic

· Factors that increase staff distress and how this can result in the development of moral injury

· The impact of workplace distress and moral injury on staff wellbeing and team functioning

· Strategies and support available to improve individual coping with workplace distress and moral injury

· The role of managers and peer support in reducing the long-term impact of moral injury

Event objectives

At the end of this webinar attendees will be able to:

1. Develop understanding and awareness of distress and moral injury and the consequences it has on self-image, coping mechanisms, mental health, and work.

2. Apply and share techniques for resolving experiences of distress, moral trauma and moral injury as a result of work-related events.

3. Promote open conversations among staff who have experienced distress at work and moral injury to build employee networking and peer support.

08.12.2021 - 12:00 - 14:00

The webinar will discuss the experience of long-COVID and its impact on the workforce throughout and beyond the pandemic. Long-COVID, referring to an illness where impacted individuals experience long-lasting symptoms beyond three weeks of contracting the virus, continues to cause significant disruption to the healthcare workforce beyond the initial waves of the pandemic. The Office for National Statistics reported that at least 122,000 NHS staff have the condition, which is the highest out of all other occupational groups reported. Many health and social care professionals have experienced disruptions to their work due to the continued symptoms, consequently resulting in anxieties around job security, loss of professional identity, and feelings of guilt around not being able to contribute to the fight against COVID-19.

You will explore the impact of long-COVID as it moves towards being potentially classified as an occupational disease, and engage in discussions on how organisations can plan to support a phased or flexible return for workers affected, and the importance of providing mental health support and peer support for affected staff.

Event overview

The webinar will shed insight on and start a conversation about the following topics:

· The prevalence and presentation of long-COVID among health and social care staff

· The impact of long-COVID on individual wellbeing, team and organisational functioning

· Priorities to support the wellbeing and mental health of staff with long-COVID

· How managers can support staff returning to work from long-COVID

· Local plans and national plans to support staff with long-COVID

Event objectives

At the end of this webinar attendees will be able to:

1. Develop an understanding of long-COVID and its impact on individuals, teams, and organisations

2. Discuss the priorities for supporting the wellbeing of staff with long-COVID, including reasonable adjustments and peer support

3. Deliver insight into local and national plans to support staff with long-COVID

15.12.2021 - 10:00 - 12:00PM

This webinar will discuss the challenges faced by staff returning to the workplace and explore ways to maintain positive wellbeing throughout this transition. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused dynamic shifts in how services are organised and resources, including the workforce, are utilised. While most changes were temporary, some adaptations are likely to stay in the longer term, as they have brought more flexibility and efficiency in the ways of working. Transitioning back to the workplace can be associated with feelings of anticipation, anxiety, and self-doubt relating to the new working conditions. Furthermore, employees’ mental health may have been affected by the consequences of self-isolation, loneliness, and bereavement in their time away from work.

You will explore how recent changes in the way of working, such as remote work, returning to the workplace, enhanced virtual consultations and collaboration, can impact the person, and start a conversation about how we can equip staff with better resilience and flexibility to navigate the new settings.

Event overview

The webinar will shed insight on and start a conversation about the following topics:

· Key changes and related stressors impacting the wellbeing of staff returning to the workplace

· Individual's hopes and concerns about returning to the workplace

· Available support and reasonable adjustments to support staff returning to the workplace

· The role of managers in supporting staff returning to the workplace

Event objectives

At the end of this webinar attendees will be able to:

1. Develop an understanding of the factors affecting wellbeing in the transition back to the workplace and how they can be managed effectively.

2. Deliver insight into changes and new ways of working and how staff’s roles and practices may change as a result.

3. Improve staff’s knowledge of available resources, including Occupational Health, wellbeing initiatives, and employee support groups

12.01.2022 - 14:00 - 16:00

The webinar will discuss the culture of health and social care staff around mental health, and how individuals and organisations can promote a positive culture and reduce stigma. Surveys into employee attitudes reveal that health and care staff find it difficult to seek help for their health, particularly when it relates to mental health. There are a range of reasons for why staff may be reluctant to openly share their psychological distress, including mental health stigma, fear of how this may impact their career progression, and guilt of letting down colleagues. Importantly, when such attitudes are shared among many individuals, they become embedded in the organisation with little opportunity to resist or challenge cultural beliefs. The COVID-19 pandemic shed light into the experience of mental health and wellbeing within the health and care professions, and multiple initiatives have originated thereof. In order to support and enhance the current initiatives and immense work going into improving staff wellbeing, it is crucial to raise awareness of the deeper cultural and systemic issues that may prevent or delay the uptake of wellbeing offers.

You will gain insight into the evidence of workplace culture regarding wellbeing, including discussions on what evidence shows the current situation is, and how culture can be positively changed on individual, team and management levels.

Event overview

The webinar will shed insight on and start a conversation about the following topics:

· The current evidence around mental health stigma among health and social care professionals

· The impact of workplace culture on the wellbeing of individuals and teams

· Introduction of a model of organisational change

· Steps to improving the organisational culture around mental health and wellbeing

Event objectives

At the end of this webinar attendees will be able to:

1. Understand mental illness-related stigma, how it affects the individual, their team and the organisation.

2. Share knowledge of recent efforts to transform the culture around mental health in health and care organisations.

3. Discuss the elements and dynamics that shape organisational culture, how cultural change occurs, and the importance of proactive promotion of wellbeing.