Investing in Mental health at work training provides you and your teams with the skills and confidence to build a resilient and supportive work culture, and support yourself and others who may be struggling with poor mental health or stress in the workplace. When you learn with British Red Cross Training you will also receive a certificate confirming you are now a British Red Cross Mental Health Champion, but what does this mean?
This blog explains the difference between a mental health first aider and a mental health champion, and what it means to be a British Red Cross Mental Health Champion.
What is a mental health champion?
Mental health champions are empowered through training to offer help and support to colleagues and to promote mental health awareness in the workplace.
They have the skills and confidence to support and signpost employees who may be suffering from poor mental health or stress. Mental health champions are able to explore preventative measures to protect employee wellbeing, advocate for mental health in the workplace, and support colleagues in crisis. How each individual chooses to utilise their role as mental health champion will be personal to them and also what is the best fit for the organisation.
Some of their responsibilities may include:
- challenging stigma around poor mental health in the workplace
- advocating for better understanding and procedure around wellbeing
- organising events and facilitating communication to help raise awareness of positive and negative mental health behaviours.
What is the difference between a mental health champion and a mental health first aider?
Mental health champion and mental health first aider are terms used interchangeably depending on your organisation's preference and training received.
Both play a vital role in reducing stigma around mental health and promoting positive mental health in the workplace. They also provide specific individual support to colleagues experiencing mental health crises.
The role of mental health champion has a range of core values which may include:
- supporting colleagues by helping to identify their options and signposting individuals to appropriate professional services
- helping to facilitate open conversation surrounding mental health and wellbeing within the workplace
- raising awareness of mental health and challenging stigma surrounding poor mental health
- role modelling positive mental health and wellbeing behaviours offering help and support to colleagues during emotionally challenging situations
- promoting preventative measures within an organisation to build a mentally healthy workplace.
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What is the role of a British Red Cross Mental Health Champion?
British Red Cross Mental Health Champions are employees or teams trained to offer help and support to colleagues and to promote mental health awareness.
When you complete any of our Mental health at work courses, you become a British Red Cross Mental Health Champion. That is to be proactive in supporting the mental health of yourself, your team and wider organisation.
Our Mental health at work courses equip learners with the skills to recognise stress and mental ill health symptoms, work to identify causes and take action to manage these and provide support. The training encourages a holistic and preventative approach to help reduce the presence and worsening of mental health problems.
A Mental Health Champion is not only available during a crisis to support people in mental health distress, but they are also always supporting as a preventative measure and a promotor of positive mental health. By advocating mental health awareness, they can help to reduce stigma and encourage others to share feelings and emotions, enabling people to find solutions and access resources for support.
How to become a Mental Health Champion
We don’t believe that the responsibility of mental health in the workplace should sit with a single individual. Mental health is everyone’s business. This is why we encourage all our learners to be Mental Health Champions and to work with their colleagues to build a resilient and supportive culture.
Our Mental health at work courses are now available online, virtually or face to face for employees, managers and teams to become British Red Cross Mental Health Champions and best support themselves and their colleagues. Explore our range of training and book a course today.
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