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Linda and Danielle take a look at why wellbeing is so important in the health and community services sector, and why it's so important to talk about it.
Caring for others is usually top priority for people working in the health and community services sector. So much so, that it’s often all too easy for us to neglect our own wellbeing. Workplace Wellbeing natters is the podcast that encourages us all to take care of the wellbeing of ourselves and the people we’re working with, whether that’s in primary care, mental health, disability, aged or community services, government, or any other part of the health and community services ecosystem. Hosts Linda and Danielle take you through some of their own insights from working in both the wellbeing, and health and community services sectors, and provide you with evidence-informed strategies to help foster wellbeing in your workplace.
Linda: Hello. Welcome to the Workplace Wellbeing Natters podcast, wellbeing that works for the health and community services sector. Join us for our very first episode as we talk about who we are, what we do, why workplace wellbeing is so important for the health and community services sector and the language of wellbeing in the workplace. Hello, I'm Linda. I'd like to acknowledge that I'm on the land of the Gunai Kurnai people and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. My pronouns are she/her. I'm a facilitator, coach and trainer specialising in workplace wellbeing with nearly 30 years experience in the health and community services sector. I'm passionate about the wellbeing benefits of walking in nature to our body, brain and mind.
Danielle: And hello, I'm Danielle. I'd like to acknowledge that I'm also on the land of the Gunai Kurnai people and my pronouns are she/her. I'm a wellbeing specialist, a psychology student, and I'm a passionate about all things wellbeing, especially workplace wellbeing.
Linda: Danielle, this is our first episode as Workplace Wellbeing Natters. So in this episode, let's kick off with who and what we are and why we're dipping our toe into the podcast waters.
Danielle: We can also start unpacking the language of wellbeing, wellness, mental health and thriving. What do they actually mean and why language is so important.
Linda: So where to start? Workplace Wellbeing Natters. We're a podcast with the vision to be the trusted source of knowledge for workplace wellbeing in the health and community services sector,
Danielle: And our mission is to equip people and organisations in the health and community services sector to be well at work through evidence-informed strategies. So work can be a safe space where you can be happy, healthy, and productive. We do this through sharing insights and evidence informed strategies.
Linda: We both come from the health and community services sector and between us have a raft of quals in things like applied positive psychology, business wellbeing, neuroscience of leadership. And I think that's probably enough.
Danielle: Yes, I think so. If you'd like to know more, click on our bios in the show notes.
Linda: So why have we started a podcast focusing on workplace wellbeing for the health and community services sector? Well, firstly, when we say health and community services, we're talking about areas such as aged care, disability, youth and family services, both community and residential mental health, community and acute health, local councils, as well as state government.
Danielle: So if you're working any of these sectors in any role, whether it's a frontline role or as a manager or leader, this podcast is for you. But also, if you're just generally interested in workplace wellbeing as well, because to enhance wellbeing in the workplace, we all need to work together.
And we're both passionate about the health and community services sector. We think workplace wellbeing in the sector is important because everyone deserves to work in a place where their health and well-being matter. So for many of us, our focus is on our participants, our clients or patients. The people that we're providing service to and our own wellbeing often comes second place. In a female dominated workforce, we may also have caring roles outside of the work we do, which can mean our wellbeing can come in second in our home life as well. As a sector, we do important and meaningful work, often with limited resources, and it can be challenging as well. We're not used to thinking about our own well-being or how we go from surviving to thriving. Yet we know that if we are at our best, we are more likely to provide better care to others too.
Danielle: Exactly. You raise so many great points there, Linda. And I think, too, that a lot of workplaces are really trying to do great things, or at least they want to do great things for their people's wellbeing. But there's so much information out there and workplaces are just not sure where to start.
Linda: So throughout our podcast, we also want to hear from you about what's important to you when it comes to workplace wellbeing. And to get us started, we've asked some people working in the sector why workplace wellbeing is important, and this is what we've heard.
Danielle: First up, we have a newly graduated social worker who was working in the mental health sector. They say workplace wellbeing is important in my sector because when working in a field where we hear difficult stories regularly, we need to be able to leave appointments and come back to a supportive office environment where our health and wellbeing is made a priority. Being able to do this both guards ourselves against burnout and poor mental health, but also makes us more effective clinicians because when we can come into a room and give our full attention to the needs of the people we work with,
Linda: We also have a snippet from Clare Hambly, who works at the National Disability Services. So let's hear from Claire now.
Clare: Hi, I'm Clare Hambly, and I'm a Policy and Projects Officer at National Disability Services, and we are the peak body for non-government disability support providers in Australia. What does workplace wellbeing mean to me? Well, it means feeling heard, feeling supported and feeling safe so that I can do the best work that I possibly can to support the disability sector and ultimately make life better for Aussies with disabilities. I think workplace wellbeing is incredibly important to the disability sector. People generally work in our sector to make the world a better place for people with disabilities. We know that with supportive management and teams mentoring and physically and psychologically safe work environments, we are empowered to create better outcomes in our work. And this is critical to workers in our sector, I think, because at the end of the day, when we slump on the couch after our long shift, we want to feel satisfied that we've made a positive contribution in the lives of the people that we supported that day. I think that is essential to our workplace wellness.
Linda: Marcelo Calderon, who is the current Human Resources Team Leader at Interchange Outer East, also provided us with some words of wisdom. So he says traditionally these sectors are about helping or supporting others to live their lives to the fullest, providing opportunities and choices. A healthy workplace is less likely to have absenteeism, Workcover claims injuries and incidents. All these things cost money, time and can be expensive, not to mention, have a negative effect on the workplace. Having people unable to work doesn't help the people we support as they rely on less staff to be able to support or assist them. We work in a sector where it's often easier to help others than oneself, where we prioritize the needs of others before our own.
Danielle: And let's now hear from Simon, a former Victorian now living over in Belgium.
Simon: Hi, I'm Simon. I work as an organizational psychologist, coach and supervisor in Belgium. For me, wellbeing is about my ability to give my value to being able to find some way to express the things I'm passionate about. Workplace wellbeing is important in my sector because we spend so much time supporting community mental health that taking care of ourselves can sometimes become secondary. And as you can imagine, the wellbeing of crisis support workers is directly related to the quality of support we can provide to the community
Danielle: I just want to say thank you to Claire, Simon, Marcello and our anonymous contributor for sharing why workplace wellbeing is important in the health and community services sector. Thank you.
Linda: We're hearing some common themes in why workplace wellbeing is so important, and it's really shining through that when employees feel well within themselves and that their wellbeing is supported by their work, they can bring their best selves when working with the clients or community.
Danielle: With this all in mind, through this podcast, our aim is to provide you with knowledge, resources and motivation to enhance your capability to be well at work.
Linda: And workplace wellbeing it's not a one and done or a set and forget. Just like our physical safety, it's important to look after everyone's health and wellbeing in the workplace and embed this as a normal part of work. So we will explore some different topics in each episode, which you can dip into along your wellbeing journey. Over the next few episodes, we'll be looking at what is wellbeing, really, what are mentally healthy workplaces or what thriving workplaces look like, and also the risk and protective factors for wellbeing at work, as well as the power of language.
Danielle: And after that, we'll take a look at frameworks for wellbeing and we'll talk about strengths and job crafting. And we'll also tackle some tougher topics like burnout, moral injury and how people within workplaces can support each other when life happens, amongst other things. So get in touch and let us know what you'd like to hear is talking about, so please pop us an email at matters@workplacewellbeingnatters.com.au today.
Linda: So let's set the scene by talking about language, the language we use can shape how we see the world, our thoughts, feelings and expectations, which is important when thinking about well-being and choosing activities that are in line with our needs.
Danielle: The saying "Words Create Worlds" has been attributed to many people, and it's definitely true. The language we use shapes our reality. It draws our focus and attention in ways that can be either helpful or unhelpful.
Linda: Absolutely. And we know that person centred and recovery oriented language is important, especially when working with people.
Danielle: So to embrace well-being and well-being at work is firstly about getting used to the language of well-being and the whole language around wellbeing, wellness and mental health can be confusing, so let's begin by providing some definitions, clarifying our language and busting some myths.
Linda: So first, let's look broadly at health. A common definition is that health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. So from this definition, we can see that health is not just about avoiding ill health or injury. It's a holistic approach to feeling good in all aspects of life, including at work.
And focusing now on mental health, a common definition is that mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes their own abilities can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and can make a contribution to their community. And so again, we can see from this definition, just like health, that mental health is not just a lack of mental illness, it's about feeling good in all aspects of life and feeling like we can cope with what comes our way. We all have mental health, and it ebbs and flows over time. Some people also experience a mental health condition, which we might also know as a mental ill health, mental health, illness or mental illness.
Linda: And in fact, each year, one in five Australians between the ages of 16 and 85 will experience a mental illness. Some common mental illnesses are depression and anxiety. However, there's many more. There's post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder or schizophrenia. Really, just to name a few. And sometimes we use the term mental health when we really mean mental illness. So for instance, a worker might say to me, "I work with people with mental health" when they actually mean they work supporting people with mental illness or mental health conditions. So clarity of language is really important. When we say mental health, we mean feeling good in all aspects of life and feeling like we can cope with whatever comes our way.
Danielle: People may have noticed that both the health and the mental health definitions included the word well-being. So what is wellbeing and how is it different to wellness? So let's have a look at these now.
Linda: These words are often used interchangeably, but there are actually some really big differences. Broadly, wellness is about being healthy. Wellness activities can include personal care, beauty, anti-aging and spa treatments, a wellness tourism, healthy eating, physical activity, complimentary medicine and mental wellness.
Defining well-being is a little more challenging as there are multiple definitions for well-being. Wellbeing is about feeling good and functioning well in areas of life that are important to us, as well as making choices that are good for us. It's about how we view ourselves as a whole and includes many aspects of our lives and people who have a good sense of well-being likely experience positive emotions. They're connected to each other, as well as having that sense of being connected to something bigger. They also experience a sense of fulfillment and feel that they can cope with the challenges of life, whatever comes their way. So wellbeing is a more complex topic, and we're going to unpack this in more detail in our next episode.
Danielle: Both wellness and wellbeing activities can be helpful for our health and happiness, and it could be really useful to think of wellness activities as one of the ways we can achieve a sense of well-being.
Linda: So let's apply it now to the workplace. So in the workplace, some common terms are workplace wellness, workplace wellbeing, mentally healthy workplaces and thriving workplaces. So let's unpack each of those a little bit further.
Danielle: If we think back to the definition of wellness that we just spoke about, about it being about health, some examples of workplace bonus activities might include meditation or yoga and exercise tracker, for example, a Fitbit, or it could include healthy food choices such as a fruit bowl. And while these are great initiatives of workplace wellbeing goes beyond that.
Linda: The International Labor Organization provides the following definition Workplace wellbeing relates to all aspects of working life, from the quality and safety of the physical environment to how workers feel about their work, their working environment, the climate at work and the work organization
Danielle: Within a workplace, what wellbeing means for each person is likely to be influenced by our age, gender, our role, the culture, seniority and our relationships with our team members and manager.
Linda: And this is really interesting because some organizations use the language well-being and assume it means the same thing to everyone. So when they implement activities, they may not actually meet staff member expectations and people might choose not to be involved in the activities or they might become disengaged. So whilst the intention of the workplace might be good, it doesn't have the positive effect on well-being that they're aiming for because we know impact trumps intention every time.
Danielle: Exactly, Linda. And we're going to hear in our next episode some quotes from people working in their sector about what well-being means to them.
Linda: Okay, so back to our definitions. We've heard definitions for wellness and well-being within the workplace context. So what a mentally healthy workplaces. What are thriving workplaces?
Danielle: So why don't we look at mentally healthy workplaces first? And there's no one definition of a mentally healthy workplace. However, heads up and the Mentally Healthy Workplace Alliance suggest they have four things in common. So, Linda, do you want to go through some of those?
Linda: Absolutely. So first up, they have a positive workplace culture, so they're places where people feel good about coming to work and everyone feels encouraged and supported. They are also places where stress and other risks to mental health are managed. So risk factors such as heavy workloads, unrealistic deadlines, poor communication and uncertainty, they can contribute to stress, anxiety and depression. So mentally healthy workplaces are able to identify and then manage or look at mitigating those risks.
Danielle: Exactly, Linda. And they also support people who do have a mental health condition. And so this support can be provided to stay at work or to return to work through talking with the person about what would be helpful and manageable for them and looking at things like reasonable adjustment. And this should be decided with the person and tailored to their specific requirements and their specific circumstances.
Linda: Last up, and importantly, they also have a zero tolerance approach to discrimination. So protecting their people from discrimination and ensuring an inclusive environment, encourages diversity of people and ensures that everyone's treated fairly.
Danielle: The National Mental Health Commission released a Blueprint for Mentally Healthy Workplaces in 2021, and they suggest that this three pillars to mentally healthy workplaces.
Linda: So the first one is to protect. So that's around identifying and managing work related risks to mental health.
Danielle: And the second is to respond and that's about building capability to identify and respond to support people experiencing mental health or distress.
Linda: So the third and final one is promote. That's about recognizing and enhancing the positive aspects of work that contribute to good mental health. So the three pillars just to recap are to protect, respond and promote and what each of these pillars look like will be different, depending on a whole range of factors. For instance, the role you have within the community services sector might look different if you're an allied health worker within an acute setting or if you're a youth residential worker, and we will be exploring this in further detail in future episodes.
Danielle: Okay, time to unpack our remaining definition. Thriving workplaces and so SuperFriend describe thriving workplaces as environments where people can do their best and be their best. Thriving workplaces promote the positive mental health and well-being of all the people who participate in that workplace, and that's including workers, leaders, contractors and consultants.
Linda: And a thriving workplace is achieved through alignment of activities across five domains, so the domains of leadership, connectedness, policy, capability and culture. And again, we will be diving into those in more detail in future episodes. So just like wellness contributes to well-being, being a mentally healthy workplace contributes to becoming a thriving workplace.
Danielle: And so we're coming to the end, Linda of our first episode and say, let's recap on what we've discussed today
Linda: In this episode. We've introduced Workplace Wellbeing Natters and our aims, along with why wellbeing is important in the health and community services sector.
Danielle: And we discuss the importance of language and offered some definitions for workplace wellness, wellbeing, mentally healthy workplaces and thriving workplaces, which we're going to explore in more detail in future episodes. So stay tuned for those.
Linda: We all have a role when it comes to caring for our health and well-being at work and creating a wellbeing culture. So now we've offered some definitions, we invite you to reflect on what those mean for you and your workplace, whatever your role.
Danielle: We encourage you to think about what can you do to contribute to a culture where everyone cares for each other's health, safety and well-being.
Linda: We have so loved connecting with you and sharing insights into the language of well-being at work. In our show notes, we'll have any links that may support your journey toward workplace wellbeing
Danielle: In such a thrill to record our first podcast and we really want to know what you think, what you've been inspired by, or any questions you might like answered, or if you want to make a contribution to the podcast. So leave a review or contact us by our email matters@workplacewellbeingnatters.com.au or if you'd like to submit a case study or comment for us to include our podcast.
Linda: We look forward to next time when we'll be discussing what is wellbeing in more detail.
Danielle: Bye for now. Bye for now. Thanks for being here.