Stress Awareness Month Listening Room

The Lancashire and South Cumbria Culture and Inclusion Team are running a series of themed listening rooms for all Lancashire and South Cumbria staff system-wide.

Stress Awareness Month – Wednesday 17^th April 11:00-11:45    Click here to join the meeting

A special listening room has been arranged to mark Stress Awareness Month.

This session will be for ICB and ICS system-wide staff members and provides a safe space for colleagues to share their experiences in the workplace, to learn and to ask questions in a safe environment.

What is Stress Awareness Month?

Stress Awareness Month has been held every April since 1992 to raise awareness of the causes of (and cures for) our modern-day stress epidemic. It is an opportunity to start conversations about stress within our organisations and communities, in order to begin to break down barriers and to reduce the stigma that surrounds stress and mental health.

Evidence shows that the act of talking about stress itself can significantly reduce its impact, so the campaign aims to encourage individuals to open up and discuss any problems and challenges that they may be experiencing, together with any coping mechanisms that they have found helpful, in the hope that they may be beneficial to others who are also experiencing symptoms of stress.

What is a listening room?

Listening rooms are one of the elements of wellbeing support offered to staff internally. Generic listening rooms held once a week are reactionary mental wellbeing spaces where health and wellbeing champions provide an informal safe space for staff to take a short break, discuss any issues or just chat with colleagues. Following listening rooms, champions have provided mental health first aid support, signposting/referral to specialised support and taken anonymous feedback to the leadership team to improve staff experience.  HWB champions are mental health first aid (REACT) trained and trained to have effective wellbeing conversations, therefore they are well equipped to provide support to staff and signpost where required.

Listening rooms are safe spaces for staff and sometimes sensitive issues are discussed in the listening rooms, therefore all colleagues attending are expected to respect one another and maintain confidentiality.  Anything heard in the listening room will not be shared outside the room by champions unless there is a risk of harm.  Listening rooms are not recorded.