{"id":24556,"date":"2021-02-09T10:27:01","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T10:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/?p=24556"},"modified":"2021-02-09T10:27:03","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T10:27:03","slug":"supporting-workplace-wellbeing-with-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/es\/supporting-workplace-wellbeing-with-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"How Technology Could Support Workplace Wellbeing"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div>

Technology to Support Workplace Wellbeing and Mental Health<\/span><\/h1>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Mental health\u00a0<\/span>and wellbeing\u00a0<\/span>constitute<\/span>\u00a0a major challenge<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for\u00a0<\/span>organisations<\/span>\u00a0across the globe.<\/span>\u00a0According to t<\/span>he\u00a0<\/span>World Health Organisation<\/span><\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>depression and anxiety cost the worldwide economy<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>US$ 1 trillion per year\u00a0<\/span><\/b>due to<\/span><\/b>\u00a0lost productivity.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>technology<\/span>–<\/span>enabled\u00a0<\/span>mental\u00a0<\/span>health solutions\u00a0<\/span>have been on the rise<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>society<\/span>\u00a0more widely<\/span>, and<\/span>\u00a0research suggests that this trend has reached the workplace.\u00a0<\/span>According<\/span>\u00a0to an\u00a0<\/span>Accenture study<\/span><\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>83% of employees want their organisation to provide mental health supporting technology<\/span><\/b>.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Organisations have a responsibility towards their workers to support and protect their mental health. Some of the ways they can do so include\u00a0<\/span>foster<\/span><\/b>ing<\/span><\/b>\u00a0a supportive mental health culture<\/span><\/b>, encourag<\/span>ing\u00a0<\/span>good mental health practices<\/span><\/b>, and\u00a0<\/span>reduc<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0workplace health risks as far as possible.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>But could technology\u00a0<\/span>assist<\/span>\u00a0companies\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>further the mental health agenda<\/span>?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First, technology may support<\/span>\u00a0wellbeing by providing information to people\u00a0<\/span>in need of support<\/span>. For example, web portals can provide\u00a0<\/span>useful<\/span>\u00a0information and\u00a0<\/span>chart pathways to helpful resources. <\/span><\/b>Additionally,\u00a0<\/span>teletherapy can<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>facilitate and\u00a0<\/span><\/b>expand<\/span><\/b>\u00a0access to mental health\u00a0<\/span><\/b>therapy\u00a0<\/span><\/b>services<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>People seeking talking therapies through conventional channels can often face long waiting times, whereas\u00a0<\/span>these platforms can enable<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>employees<\/span>\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span>get\u00a0<\/span><\/b>treatment<\/span><\/b>\u00a0from a\u00a0<\/span><\/b>counsellor or psychiatrist<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>more quickly.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Advances<\/span>\u00a0in<\/span>\u00a0A<\/span>rtificial Intelligence<\/span> ha<\/span>ve\u00a0<\/span>also\u00a0<\/span>presented\u00a0<\/span>options for\u00a0<\/span>digital mental health support at any hour of the day<\/span><\/b>, delivered<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>through chatbots.\u00a0<\/span>These can be useful in many ways, for instance, they<\/span>\u00a0can help\u00a0<\/span>consolidat<\/span>e<\/span>\u00a0therapy work\u00a0<\/span>by\u00a0<\/span>guiding people through strategies\u00a0<\/span><\/b>learned in<\/span><\/b>\u00a0therapy sessions<\/span><\/b>, like\u00a0<\/span>Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wellness<\/span>\u00a0app<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0can also be helpful\u00a0<\/span>by<\/span>\u00a0encouraging people\u00a0<\/span>to take care of<\/span>\u00a0their mental health\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>building a culture which\u00a0<\/span><\/b>promotes\u00a0<\/span><\/b>the importance of<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>employee wellbeing<\/span><\/b><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Such apps\u00a0<\/span>can also support a pre-emptive approach,\u00a0<\/span>in which<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>wellbeing and\u00a0<\/span>healthy mental health practices are<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>considered as a<\/span><\/b>\u00a0matter of routine<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>and <\/span>priority all of the time,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>rather than to be addressed <\/span>after an issue<\/span> has developed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking towards the future, o<\/span>ne potential\u00a0<\/span>high-<\/span>tech mental health solution is\u00a0<\/span>V<\/span>irtual Reality (VR)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>therapy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Researchers<\/span>\u00a0have identified\u00a0<\/span>VR as a possible treatment for\u00a0<\/span><\/b>various\u00a0<\/span><\/b>mental\u00a0<\/span><\/b>health\u00a0<\/span><\/b>disorders<\/span><\/b>, including Anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>One literature review<\/span><\/a>\u00a0notes that currently secondary effects like motion sickness<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>are holding it back from wider use,\u00a0<\/span>but that\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/b>i<\/span><\/b>n the future, VR systems may become an innovative clinical tool for patients with specific psychiatric symptoms.\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

References:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. How Tech Can Help Businesses Improve Staff Mental Wellbeing, January 2020,\u00a0<\/span>Forbes.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The importance of technology in improving workplace mental health, June 2020,\u00a0<\/span>EmployeeBenefits.co<\/span>.uk.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Using Technology To Support Employee Mental Health<\/span>, September 2020,\u00a0<\/span>Forbes.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Mental health\u00a0and wellbeing\u00a0constitute\u00a0a major challenge\u00a0for\u00a0organisations\u00a0across the globe.\u00a0According to the\u00a0World Health Organisation,\u00a0depression and anxiety cost the worldwide economy\u00a0US$ 1 trillion per year\u00a0due to\u00a0lost productivity.\u00a0\u00a0 In recent years,\u00a0technology–enabled\u00a0mental\u00a0health solutions\u00a0have been on the rise\u00a0in\u00a0society\u00a0more widely, and\u00a0research suggests that this trend has reached the workplace.\u00a0According\u00a0to an\u00a0Accenture study,\u00a083% of employees want their organisation to provide mental health supporting technology.\u00a0\u00a0 Organisations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":24558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","myguten_meta_block_field":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24556"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24571,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24556\/revisions\/24571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}