Occupational Therapy News OTnews February 2019_Joomag | Page 42

FEATURE HEALTH PROMOTION
An emerging role as staff
health and wellbeing adviser
Late last year, occupational therapist Jo Wren took up an opportunity to
develop her practice in the area of health promotion, with an emerging role as
an employee health and wellbeing adviser for her trust. Here she looks at the
rationale for the role and how her skills fit within its remit
A
s an occupational therapist specialising in mental health, Jo Wren
has been offered ‘an exciting new opportunity’ within Greater
Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust’s
human resources department, to develop her practice
in the area of health promotion.
‘I successfully applied for the post of employee health and
wellbeing adviser, funded to meet Commissioning and Quality
Innovation (CQUIN) targets around initiatives to improve
staff health and wellbeing in the areas of work stress,
musculoskeletal issues, nutrition and flu vaccine uptake,’
she explains (NHS England 2017).
‘NHS England highlights that focusing on staff health
and wellbeing will benefit the NHS by improving patient
safety and experience, improving staff retention and
experience, reducing costs, setting an example for
other industries to follow, and reinforcing public health
promotion and prevention initiatives.
‘Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation
Trust is also assessing its success in this area, with the
Health and Wellbeing Assessment Framework (www.
pace-coach.com/about-us/hwbinspiration/)
developed as part of a system-wide project
across health and care organisations in
Manchester in 2017, which covers the service
domains of managing long-term conditions, “Good
Health for All” and culture and leadership, and part of
my role is to support this.’
There is already an established steering committee, which
meets regularly to discuss the action plan at local and trust wide level, and in
addition there exists a small bids fund, for which the trust considers applications
to fund initiatives aimed at improving staff health and wellbeing, ‘A fund that I
successfully applied for in my former role to run a taster session on mindful
photography walks’, says Jo.
She adds: ‘I feel that occupational therapy can play a key role in developing
holistic and evidence based strategies and initiatives around health promotion
in organisations by raising awareness about the role of meaningful activity
in promoting health and wellbeing, valuing and supporting those staff who
are managing disabilities in the workforce, [promoting] the importance of
goal setting in personal development, and promoting a healthy lifestyle and
practices that improve the work-life balance.’
42 OTnews February 2019
©GettyImages/puhhha