Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental Health Awareness Week – NHS Appropriate Actions

With the theme for this year's Mental Health Awareness Week | Mental Health Foundation being Action- we’ve put the following points together which focus on small, achievable steps that support mental wellbeing without adding pressure to already busy roles.

Action for Yourself

Small steps individuals can take to support their own mental health:

• Take one protected pause during a shift, even if brief
  • Check in with your own stress levels and identify one source of support
  • Use an existing wellbeing resource, such as a staff wellbeing hub
  • Set one manageable boundary, such as leaving on time where possible
  • Take a moment to reflect on what helped you cope that day

Looking after yourself is not selfish – it supports safe, compassionate patient care.

Action for Others

Simple actions that support colleagues and build connection:

• Ask a genuine check-in question such as ‘How are you really doing today?’
  • Acknowledge effort as well as outcomes
  • Share learning from experience, not just formal training
  • Support colleagues to take breaks where possible
  • Challenge stigma gently when mental health is dismissed

Action at Team Level

Low-pressure actions that teams or managers can take:

• Include a brief wellbeing check-in at the start of meetings
  • Share clear and consistent information about support routes
  • Normalise conversations about workload and pressure
  • Build learning and reflection into routine work
  • Recognise learning, improvement, and effort, not just performance

Action Linked to Learning

Learning can support mental health when it builds confidence and reduces uncertainty:

• Agree one small, achievable learning goal
  • Encourage learning that makes work feel safer or more manageable
  • Recognise learning effort in appraisal or supervision
  • Support development that reduces stress and increases confidence
  • Reinforce that learning is about feeling more capable, not being perfect

Action does not mean doing more. It means doing one small thing – for yourself, for someone else, or for your team – that supports mental health in a practical and meaningful way.