Wellness and EAP

Trainers and child-related workers working for community wellness are daily trying to meet the differing needs of clients of all different backgrounds. Often this includes relating to people with mental health concerns, trauma backgrounds and various issues that can impact upon the employee.

At a personal level, recent research (HRM Australian Institute, 2022) has revealed that Australian employees are feeling the pressure of financial instability resulting in three-quarters of Australian employees avoiding taking leave due to factors such as rising cost-of-living pressures and increased workloads.

This adds an increased pressure and responsibility on workplaces to ensure staff well- being, psychological safety and overall wellness are accounted for. Amongst these findings, burnout was prevalent and impacting on employee well-being according to a report that 42% of employees experienced burnout in this last quarter (Lessem, HRM Australian Institute, 2022).

There are also increased mental health concerns arising in families influencing employees. The most recent National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing*, a community survey of 8,841 people aged 16-85 years of age, living in private dwellings across Australia, found that one in five (20%) had a common mental illness: anxiety, depression and/or substance use, at some time during the previous 12 months.

This means that one in five Australians aged 16-85 experience some form of mental illness in any year. This is equal to 3.2 million people. A mental health problem is not always a diagnosed illness but may be severe enough to warrant crises such as impaired daily functioning in the workplace. Mental health illness and issues are known to be comorbid with trauma and other negative life experiences that have an impact on the whole self and impair daily function in some capacity (physical, emotional, social, and spiritual).

*Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing Summary of Results. (Document 4326.0) Canberra: ABS; 2008.