While the coronavirus threat is still present, workplaces are called to be proactive not only in facilitating a COVID-19 safe environment but importantly also taking steps to ensure the well-being of their staff.

After all, the benefits for organisations investing in the mental health of their employees is well documented, with a recent PWC analysis suggesting that every dollar an organisation spends on mental health has a return of $2.30, taking into account cost-savings from WorkCover claims, lost productivity and absenteeism among others.

For many nursing homes in particular, the pandemic period so far has been a lesson for resilience.

According to Fronditha Care’s consultant psychologist, Phillip Lambrou, the mental whiplash was evident.

The not-for profit aged care provider saw over 50 corporate staff start working from home at the onset of the crisis.

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“We had to act fairly quickly because of the situation. You’re learning as you go,” Mr Lambrou says.

A People and Culture Mental Health Committee was established early in support of an action plan to address staff needs.

A support line was offered to managers to enable better support provision for their teams, while Fronditha also consulted an employee assistance organisation to ensure services available to staff were appropriate.

A popular offering across the organisation’s workforce were the tailored ‘Mental Health In a Pandemic’ Zoom Sessions.

“I think it was very topical and very pertinent, so people had a lot of questions and were interested,” Mr Lambou said.

“I think people really wanted to look after themselves.”

The consultant psychologist says they are now following an “R U OK?” model in giving people the time and ‘space’ to settle in the changing conditions, in light of recently relaxed restrictions, providing a way forward based on insights gained.

“What shows us at our best is sitting down and discussing how we feel, what we learned from it and how we would do it better,” Mr Lambrou says.

“It builds resilience, because we know we’ve gotten through it, we know we can tackle it again and there’s a high chance we can tackle it better without as much stress.”