Use Triage To Help Crack Mental Health Issues

This month we are delighted to have our thinking on the importance of nipping mental health issues in the bud profiled as the lead story in Occupational Health & Wellbeing magazine. The editor, Nic Paton, praised our recognition that mental health issues can be a bit like windscreen chips: “Sometimes you can drive around for a while before a crack appears but, for the most part, they need a quick repair if they’re not to splinter into something worse.” The problem highlighted is the extent to which most employers are still in the habit of adopting a “wait and see” policy when it comes to mental health. Mistakenly thinking that someone affected by a mental illness will get better given some time, when the reality is that the longer a mental health issue is left unsupported, the more entrenched and harder to treat it typically becomes. Unlike physical injuries, which generally benefit from time and rest. Our cover story describes how instead of waiting for the cracks to fully appear, you can use a ‘triage’ process to identify and repair mental health chips. It also explains how train operator GWR went about using triage to identify and support people affected by a mental health issue, in a way that’s not only saved the business hundreds of thousands of pounds, but also created a culture where managers feel able to approach people struggling to cope.

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