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Mental Health

Our work on mental and physical health was prompted by a piece of research we conducted with PRWeek in 2015, which revealed that 33% of PR and communications practitioners had suffered from or been diagnosed with mental ill health. Around 44% of respondents said they felt more stressed than they did 12 months ago. 

You can find out more information about the survey here, and you can read the PRWeek article here

On World Mental Health Day 2016, we announced our support for Nikki Da Costa's mental health initiative for young public affairs professionals.

Here are the key points of the initiative: 

  • 10% of Nikki da Costa's profits will cover the cost of psychoanalytic consultations for 10 young public affairs practitioners in need. 
  • Usually costing £120 and £80, the initial consultation sessions arranged by the Clinic will instead be offered at a reduced rate of £30 and £20.
  • The consultations offer a chance to talk about what has brought the individual to consider seeking support and to get an idea of what analytic treatment is like. At the end of the sessions, the individual and the consulting analyst will discuss next steps, bearing in mind the nature of the difficulties discussed, the practicalities of having treatment, and what is affordable.

To find out more information, please click here.

In February 2017, #FuturePRoof released a report on behalf of the PRCA, which revealed that "mental health in public relations is frequently ignored or managed as a performance issue". This report also published recommendations for the PR and communications industry. You can read the report here

During Mental Health Awareness Week 2017, we released the results of our Mental Health in PR and communications survey, conducted alongside PRWeek. We made changes to our previous survey and had separate sections for employees and employers, introduced questions on whether they were comfortable discussing their mental health with colleagues and their line managers, and whether they had spoken to their colleagues and managers. 

The survey revealed that 59% of respondents said they had suffered from or been diagnosed with mental ill health. Around 55% of respondents said they would not feel comfortable talking to their line manager about their mental health but 52% of respondents said they would feel comfortable talking to their peer/colleagues. Likewise, 61% of respondents said they had never spoken to their manager about their mental health but 54% said they had spoken to a colleague/peer. 

You can find out more information about the survey here, and you can the read the PRweek article here

During this week, we published blogs, case studies, and hosted a #PRCAChat, during which we encouraged the industry to ask our Director General, Francis Ingham questions on mental health. 

Following this research, we committed to launching a mental health toolkit to raise awareness about the issue and to give PR and communications practitioners the tools to manage their mental health. The PR and Communications Council identified mental health as one of the key campaigning objectives for the PRCA. The Mental Health Toolkit responds to the calls that the Council made to give the industry a greater understanding of mental health issues and to work towards removing the stigma surrounding mental ill health.

On World Mental Health Day 2017 we launched the toolkit, which features resources from leading mental health charities such as MHFA England, Mind, and Business in the Community. It also features industry specific research, case studies, blogs, and guidelines. 

To access the toolkit, please click here. 

We also announced a partnership with Mental Health First Aid England (MHFA England), offering 16 places for PR professionals to train as Mental Health First Aiders.

To get involved in our campaign, please contact Neha.Khatwani@prca.org.uk