Prioritise wellbeing on World Mental Health Day 2022

Monday 10 October is World Mental Health Day and this year's theme is "making mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority."

The importance of good mental health, or the recognition that "it's OK to not be OK" has been one of the positives many of us have been able to gain from the COVID pandemic.

But recognition does not always mean action and although the pandemic has also meant people working from home if they feel under the weather, the same is not true for a low mental health day. 

We still soldier-on, we 'suck-it-up', we still hear the echoes of those people who say "well, we're all stressed." So, we sit at our desks, we try to get on when we know it is not a productive thing to do. It would be far better to recognise the parallels between physical and mental health and to say; "Today I am unwell."

Adjust working practices to boost mental health

As organisations, institutions, workplaces, we need to recognise the value of a workforce where good mental health is as important as good physical health - where individuals are empowered to recognise when things are building up and do something in time, as opposed to when things have become too much and long-term sickness and absence becomes the inevitable outcome. 

Ensure equal access to technology

Technology has helped an over-stretched mental health service reach more people, but this access is not universal; technology can help, but it can also be the biggest barrier to overcome.

Access to mental health services via an app or online booking form are not accessible to all with this digital divide arguably impacting the very people who need access to mental health support disproportionately.

At a particularly low period in my recent past, I was able to access mental health support via an app. I was able to speak to someone because I had a smartphone. 

I knew what app I needed to install, what I needed to do to access it securely, to check what details I was providing, to take time out from my day to make a call and ultimately to be able to find a private space, in the middle of our local park where I could make a call and not worry about being overheard by nosy neighbours, or children, or flatmates, or a partner. 

All of this relied on technology, not only my own knowledge and access, but also the reliability of a connection, an infrastructure to allow me to use my technology, the expectation that things would work seamlessly; and this is a very privileged position.

The services you provide

Technology as a source of support may help the overworked mental health services across the world, but we need to be mindful about those who it risks excluding further, we need to ensure equal access for all, not just the privileged few.

We need to ensure access to services is simple, frictionless, that sites, apps and forms are accessible to all. We need to make sure services are easy to understand, that are frictionless to access and don't leave individuals who need help, wondering what happens next, or whether they've done the right thing, ticked the right box, signed the right form.

These are all accessibility considerations that any well designed app or website should have. Universal accessibility, as its name suggests, is about everyone, it's about ensuring you reach your widest possible audience and you can be sure you have done everything possible to ensure that you never knowingly exclude anyone.

Related resources

Factsheet: Mental Health and Computing

Blog: Apps for wellbeing and mental health

Blog: The 7 principles of universal design

On demand training: Accessibility testing in mobile apps