Research Paper on Mental Illness: A Growing Economic Burden in the UK

Introduction

The UK Department of Health claims that most of the workers are susceptible to suffering from mental illness at some stage in their life. When I reviewed HEE's documents, I learnt that nearly 20% of the working class persons in England are likely to have a mental health disorder before their retirement (HSE, 2018, p.3). In 2017, the mental health problems were projected to have led to the UK into incurring almost PS99 billion in its annual medical expenses. My analysis revealed that the aggregate organisational medical expenses were roughly PS42 billion of the gross medical expenses that were equivalent to each employee spending about PS1,560 in the entire UK labour force (HSE, 2018, p.5). Consequently, I discovered that firms spend nearly PS8 billion to replace their employees who are incapable of executing their obligations due to work-related stress and mental health conditions. For that reason, I believe that every company is affected by the mental health and work-related stress problems among their staff, and addressing the issue enhances the chances of establishing a viable solution.

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Managing Mental Health and Work-Related Stress

HEE relies on the Staying Well at Work program to address its workplace health and wellbeing concerns. I learnt that the Staying Well at Work initiative is a holistic programme that offers personalised support, guidance, and coaching to a workforce experiencing stress and mental wellbeing issues. I found out that HEE prefers using post and pre-service questionnaires to evaluate their employees' wellbeing after and before work using the programme. The program consists of a core questionnaire that is characterised by a 34-item assessment tool that gauges different psychological distress aspects (Whitmore et al., 2018, p.12). HEE relies on the feedback obtained from unstructured organisational surveys and post-event feedback analysis to ascertain the program's efficiency (Center for Advancing Health, 2014, para.4). I think the management should integrate a mindfulness programme and computerised cognitive behavioural therapy to obtain systematic and formal data from their staff members. The integration of such innovative techniques will empower HEE to identify employees with mental health and work-related stress quickly.

The Staying Well at Work program integrates cognitive processes to influence the workers' emotions, thoughts, and behaviours. The Cognitive Theory focuses on empowering supervisors to resolve and explain abnormal workplace behaviour (Malik, Blake and Suggs, 2013, p.164). I presume that HEE's managers should understand employees' attitudes and assumptions to influence their thoughts and perceptions to foster a conducive workplace environment. The program relies on the cognitive theory to resolve mental and stress issues that can lead to abnormal workplace behaviours.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Program

Strengths

The Staying Well at Work Service is a relatively cheap wellbeing program since it utilises the resources readily available at HEE. I learn that the administration regulates the program's cost. The program gives HEE several low-cost and efficient strategies that can resolve the work-related stress concerns (Whitmore et al., 2018, p.13). After reviewing organisational manuals, I realised that the program advocates for a shared medical payment system between the employees and employers to facilitate the treatment of work-related stress and mental health conditions.

The health and wellbeing program supports and acknowledges the Occupational Health and Safety guidelines. According to the Health and Safety Executive (2018), Occupational Health and Safety is a mandatory legislative policy that should be prioritised in any workplace (p.8). I found out that the intervention program reinforces the Occupational Health and Safety rules to promote workplace wellbeing. I believe that the integration of the program contributes to the accomplishment of Occupational Health and Safety results.

The Staying Well at Work initiative is an effective program since it is managed by the HEE's leaders. I discovered that the line supervisors are delegated the task of identifying significant work-related stress and mental health issues that should be addressed using the program. I learnt that the programme has to be reviewed regularly to re-align the approach used to resolve the concerns and ensure that the line managers handle the issues effectively (Prothero, 2016, p.121). The intervention program integrates external health experts when the company has identified specific mental health and stress conditions that it lacks the required skills to mitigate the problem. I believe the external health specialists should be incorporated to facilitate the program rather than control it. I learnt that the consultation between employees and employers determines the decision-making process of the wellbeing initiative.

The program advocates for voluntary participation to enhance the staff's involvement. I noticed that all aspects of the Staying Well at Work initiative were executed voluntarily at HEE. I realised that the workers were not marginalised if they were reluctant to participate in the health assessment program (Franco-Santos and Doherty, 2017, p.2326). However, I noticed that the employees are permitted to provide feedback on effective strategies that help in resolving work-related stress and mental health concerns. I learnt that the health program integrates the employees' reviews to improve their participation levels.

Weaknesses

The Staying Well at Work program utilises a categorisation method that relies on a study-specific analysis on the workplace health intervention. Hence, I learned that the participants' submissions are not based on an analytical evaluation of the Theory of Change (Whitmore et al., 2018, p.8). I noticed that the extent and quality of the data obtained from the participants vary consistently. Most of the submissions might provide incomplete information that does not enable HEE to issue an affirmative categorisation verdict. I assumed that a candid wellbeing intervention policy might be neglected as a result.

If HEE opts to use a case study approach to address the mental health and workplace-stress concerns, it will have to use information recorded by third parties. I believe the evaluation and collection of the secondary data might be limited to specific limitations that were considered during the review process (Franco-Santos and Doherty, 2017, p.2321). I think organisational constraints do differ. HEE has to establish a customised categorisation process that depicts its health findings.

The program relies on the evidence provided by participants. Therefore, its health intervention approach depends on self-reported data. The self-reported information might be unreliable if HEE seeks to obtain a general outlook on the prevalence of mental health and work-related stress issues. Some of the participants might provide biased feedback that leads to deceptive and negative outcomes. The scope of study adopted by the intervention program does not guarantee an independent verification process on the data obtained from the respondents (Whitmore et al., 2018, p.8). I felt that some of the organisational strategies endorsed to address the mental health and work-related stress problems might be ineffective in resolving the concerns.

Relevant Health and Workplace Legislation Policy

The voluntary wellbeing programs being established in firms should complement the Occupational Health and Safety objectives outlined by the Health and Safety at Work Act. I realised that the House and Safety Executive aims at increasing productivity and efficiency by compelling companies to develop organisational cultures that improve, support, and value employees' wellbeing (HSE, 2018, p.9). I noticed that the Occupational Health and Safety rules enacted at HEE do prioritise their obligation to establish a conducive workplace, which is a stipulated ministerial requirement.

The randomised controlled tests conducted by HEE on the health initiative have revealed a positive impact on work-related stress. The program has lowered the workers' vulnerability on developing mental health disorders. I learnt that the eight-week stress management program seeks to minimise workplace stress and depression. I realised that the intervention programme is founded on the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy principles, problem-solving, mindfulness, and positive psychology (Pescud et al., 2015, p.647). I learned that it has seven major and three extra modules. It is mainly a self-help programme that can be supplemented with technical e-coaching support. The users can opt to complete questionnaires that provide in-depth analysis of their treatment process. My independent assessment revealed a positive change when the line supervisors raised awareness on the work-related stress and mental health concerns.

Areas of Delivery

I discovered that the program aims at improving three fundamental aspects to promote the workers' efficiency. Firstly, the wellbeing program should not undermine the provision of a conducive work environment. I found out that it is an important health priority that HEE had to comply with as an essential requirement under their safety and health policies. Secondly, I learnt that the critical planning process of the wellbeing intervention prioritises consultation with an Occupational Health and Safety specialist (Goh et al., 2015, p.46). Lastly, I noticed that the program should outline issues that are perceived as workplace hazards that enhance work-related stress and mental health conditions.

I learnt that most of the workers spend more than 50% of their time at HEE. I realised that the workplace has a significant impact on the employees' health. The nature of tasks, physical environment, and organizational culture have a substantial effect on the workers' lifestyle choices (Carolan, Harris and Cavanagh, 2017, p.145). The program prioritises healthy workplace practices to develop strategies that catered to the contentious wellbeing issues at HEE. I found out that the intervention program requires regular updates to avoid being obsolete in addressing mental health, alcohol consumption, nutrition, and physical activity issues. I felt that organisational health promotion principles should provide well-coordinated policies that prioritise the prevention of mental health and work-related stress ailments rather than offering curative measures.

Improvement Strategies

Making the worker's wellbeing and health an administrative priority is a vital approach in catering to...