The Minding Your Wellbeing programme is an evidenced based programme for the public focusing on the promotion of mental wellbeing. It has been adapted from a face-to-face programme into a series of free to view online videos to make it more accessible to the public at this time. Over 800 viewers tuned into the Webinar in November to launch the new programme, which was officially launched by, Ministers of State Frank Feighan TD and Mary Butler TD.
What does the Minding Your Wellbeing programme consist of?
The programme consists of 5 video sessions (20 mins) which are available via yourmentalhealth.ie. The content focuses on: practicing self-care, understanding our thoughts, exploring emotions, building positive relationships and improving resilience, all of which are important for mental health and wellbeing.
Session 1 Practicing Self-Care
To date over 5,500 viewers have watched the first video session which invites participants to develop and use their own ‘self-care toolkit’ which includes all the healthy habits we can adopt for our mental health and wellbeing. Focusing on our self-care is particularly important during these winter months.
Personal self-care:
- Refers to a range of everyday things we can do to look after ourselves to keep us resilient and strong.
- Is the belief that our ability to cope with everything life throws at us by embedding self-care practices into our lives.
- Talks about making this deliberately happen by making the effort to commit to it without guilt
Have a look at the self-care toolkit included and think about one habit you would like to work on over the next while.
Self-care at work
Without a doubt Covid-19 has changed a lot for many of us, whether we are working from home or in the office or on the front line. Maintaining social distancing has made it hard to ‘connect with others’ which is a key self-care strategy. Managing stress has been more difficult as staff are re-deployed and often working in highly stressful situations. However, if ever there was a time for managers to promote good self-care among teams it is now.
Two important ways to do this are:
- Be a good role model yourself by demonstrating good self-care
- Adding it as a standing agenda item at staff and individual supervision meetings. Ask staff how they’re doing with their self-care and genuinely listen to their response.
Dr Stephanie O’Keeffe, National Director, HSE Strategic Planning & Transformation said: “As people look for more support in relation to their mental health and wellbeing, it is important that they have access to practical evidenced based information. The Minding Your Wellbeing series of videos provides this and is part of our delivery on the Healthy Ireland Strategy and the Connecting for Life National Suicide Strategy.”
Anne Sheridan, HSE Programme Manager for Mental Health and Wellbeing said: “Never before have so many of us needed to reflect on and purposefully mind our mental wellbeing. These videos give steps we can all take and incorporate into our busy lives to protect our mental wellbeing. .”
Supports are also available for people seeking support from mental health services which can also be viewed at http://www.yourmentalhealth.ie
