Looking after your wellbeing
With the ongoing pressures we are all facing to deliver critical services, it’s good to know that help and support is available for health and social care staff in BSW.
The BSW Wellbeing Matters team, which has been set up and is run by Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust can provide direct access to psychologists and registered mental health clinicians who will use their expertise to help you access support.
Clinicians will be able to signpost to resources and interventions for a range of difficulties, including:
- Feeling down, depressed or that things are ‘hopeless’
- Feeling anxious or worried about things
- Having trouble relaxing or getting to sleep
- Feeling tired or that you’ve got no energy
- Losing interest in things you normally enjoy doing
- Not feeling like eating as much, or eating more than normal
- Finding it hard to concentrate on what you’re doing
- Feeling angry or frustrated, even about small things
- Feeling frightened of doing things that you used to be fine with, like going outside
The BSW Wellbeing Matters Team provides consultation, advice and support to individuals and teams and can help services think about the wellbeing of their staff and offer advice and support as appropriate.
To contact the team to request support, please call 0800 953 9003 and leave a message on the answer phone or alternatively by email – awp.bswwellbeinghub@nhs.net
The team is hosting a series of webinars, which will all be delivered twice, over the coming months:
Grief and loss Tuesday 15th March, 3.45pm – 5pm
This session is for all health care professionals working in community, hospital or care home settings and will explore grief reactions, including those involving complex situations and how to support both others and ourselves in coping with bereavement.
Coping with low mood Thursday 24th March 11am -12.30pm
This session will help you understand why we can experience low mood and depression and provide ideas for how we can cope and manage.
Making sense of trauma at work Tuesday 26th April 9.30am – 10.30am
As a health or social care worker you may be exposed to situations that are highly distressing and traumatic. This webinar will help to understand how these events affect us, why they can continue to trouble us and provide you with information and tips about how to recover.
Coping with worries and stress Tuesday 19th April 3.30pm – 5pm
Feeling anxious or worried is normal, but sometimes it can interfere in how we live our lives. This session will help you to understand why we get anxious, how it affects us, and give some practical advice and techniques to help you.
Breaking free of burnout – Thursday 3rd March 3.30pm – 5pm, and Thursday 28th April, 9.30am – 11am
Working in a health or social care role can be very demanding and the COVID-19 pandemic has put great strain on our staff. This session explores what burnout and secondary traumatic stress are, how they affect us and why they occur. We will go through some of the things that can help prevent burnout and give you ideas that you can take back to your workplace.
To find out more about the webinars and how to request a place, please email: awp.wellbeingmatterstraining@nhs.net
To find out more about the BSW Wellbeing Matters service visit: http://www.awp.nhs.uk/advice-support/bsw-wellbeing-matters/