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 In line with this, from 7 - 11 October, Workplace Health will be running its Healthy Mind campaign under the theme: ‘Promote, Prevent, Support: Prioritizing mental health in the workplace’  aiming to raise awareness of  the importance of good mental health in the workplace and how staff can access support available to them through UCL. 

To view the events, click here 

As we start the new academic year, this is not just a significant time to highlight the importance of good mental health, but also an opportunity to bring fresh attention to an issue that pervades UCL.  

It is clear from our reported sickness absence data that mental health is the leading cause of all sickness absence °ÄÃÅÀúÊ·¿ª½±¼Ç¼. In 2023 mental health accounted for 27.8% of all reported sickness absence which equates to 9,926 days lost. This is a significant number of days lost and emblematic of the mental health landscape across higher education which is sadly not dissimilar to wh°ÄÃÅÀúÊ·¿ª½±¼Ç¼ reports.  

This year, UCL took steps to recognising the importance of prioritising mental health in the workplace with the launch of the new Mental Health Principles (2024). This was a collaborative effort towards the ‘whole university approach’ and was spearheaded by senior professional services and academia staff °ÄÃÅÀúÊ·¿ª½±¼Ç¼. These institutional principles take a strategic approach to the vision of wh°ÄÃÅÀúÊ·¿ª½±¼Ç¼ wants to achieve across the UCL landscape. 

The principles will guide our strategic approach for what long-term cultural change should embody and reflect across UCL. They will aim to improve our approach to our environment and culture facilitating a healthy community and supporting mental health and wellbeing needs. They will be embedded into everyday activities and highlighting the importance of promoting mental health and wellbeing from a preventative aspect. 

This ‘World Mental Health Day’, take part in Workplace Health’s ‘Healthy Mind’ campaign and take an active step to promoting a mentally healthier workplace. 

The campaign will take on a three-pronged approach to addressing mental health in the workplace. 

Promote – An open workplace culture

Promoting a healthy workplace culture for all staff across UCL

• Three working practises for managing stress at work
• Organisational Development: Mental Health and Wellbeing courses
• Managing Stress at WorkÌý±è´Ç±ô¾±³¦²â
• Manager's guide – support your staff
• Staff guide – how to seek support

Prevent – Recognizing early signs of deterioration 

Lunch Hour Lectures series organised in partnership with UCL's Grand Challenge of Mental Health & Wellbeing and UCL Workplace Wellbeing.

• 1 October, Dr Keri Wong – Mental health inequality: What can you and I do about it?
• 8 October, Professor Jo Billings and Professor Roz Shafran - Mental health in the workplace: What's possible in an impossible world?
• 10 October, Professor Praveetha Patalay – Unequal mental health: Society, power and the depressogenic environment
• 17 October, Professor Glyn Lewis and Associate Professor Gemma Lewis - The antidepressant controversy

Support – Understanding where to access support for your mental health

• Find your local Wellbeing Champion
• Find your local Mental Health First Aider
• Organisational Development: Mental Health and Wellbeing courses