BT developed a mental health framework for all its staff to address the growing awareness of mental health issues both within in the workplace and among the general population.
The framework operates on three levels: the first is around promoting good mental health and preventing ill health; the second is about identifying any early signs of distress and acting at an early stage to prevent it deteriorating into more significant mental health issues; and the third provides a suite of intervention services or treatment services to help people when they have developed a problem.
Against that framework, BT has developed a number of programmes and initiatives. These include an online self risk assessment tool that gives employees feedback on their level of stress, offers guidance and suggests actions they can take; mental first aid training for the company's people managers; and a fully triaged, case-managed cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) service that offers face-to-face counselling, guidance, self-help and computer-based therapy.
Dr Catherine Kilfedder, group health adviser at BT, says: "We continuously work to promote a culture of positive mental health in the organisation and use a variety of communication channels to do that."
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