On this page you’ll find tips, advice, guidance and links to resources that we hope will support you.
There are also additional wellbeing resources to those below for staff in the following services:
This section contains various mental health and wellbeing related e-learning modules and very useful recorded webinars. You don't need to have access to Citrix to access Clacks Academy. For general information on Clacks Academy, please refer to Connect.
Cutting down on salt is one of the simplest ways to improve our health and reduce the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Eating too much salt and salty foods is a serious public health concern
The Government recommends that we eat no more than 6g of salt a day - that’s about a teaspoon. However, we still have some way to go before we achieve this target as, on average, people consume about 8.1g a day. Reducing salt intake to the recommended levels would save 2.5 million lives globally, each year.
Let's all raise awareness about the risks of eating too much salt and encourage everyone to make small lifestyle changes to reduce their salt intake.
This online hub contains videos, downloads and signposting links to help you manage your blood pressure and look after your heart.
Know Your Numbers Week takes place 5th - 11th September and is an annual campaign ran by Blood Pressure UK to raise awareness of high blood pressure and encourage all UK adults to get a blood pressure check.
Your work and cancer toolkit from Macmillan at Work is packed with guidance and practical tips for employees and carers.
For employees:
For carers:
Our Occupational Health provider, Optima Health, have clinicians who are trained on post Covid Syndrome, ie not recovering in excess of 12 weeks following the start of Covid symptoms.
If you feel you require this support please speak to your line manager and a referral will be made via the usual Occupational Health referral process.
Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland's Long Covid Support Service has trained health professionals on our Advice Line ready to help you.
If you have had Covid-19 and have recovered or are recovering but need some extra support, you can find advice and information on the websites below:
Step on Stress is a free stress management course for anyone living or working in Forth Valley over 16 years of age that helps you learn to manage your stress. The course is now available online.
Each session is pre-recorded with a question and answer facility. It is not group therapy or one-to-one support; therefore you do not talk about your problems in front of others.
Step on Stress comprises of 3 sessions and runs once a week for 3-weeks. Each session lasts for about an hour and covers a different aspect of stress management:
You can book your place online or contact the Health Promotion Service at fv.hpstress@nhs.scot.
NHS Fife Psychology Service YouTube channel also provides a modified version of the Step on Stress classes in four running sections. We recommend watching all four sections in running order (1-4).
The Charity for Civil Servants now have a Burnout Hub on their website, with a range of resources available to help practice self-care and avoid the risk of burnout.
If you are worried about money, especially if these worries are affecting your mental health, please watch the Money Helper Video. More information on Money Helper is available by following the link.
The information is provided by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), and available to everyone in the UK.
We are working in partnership with Shout, a text-based, crisis intervention support for anyone struggling with their mental health that is available for free, 24 hours a day. Just text 'Clacks' to 85258 to be put through to a trained volunteer.
A free mental health check-in tool, which allows users to assess their current state of mind whilst also providing suggestions for improvements. The tool is completely anonymous, and it has been purposely designed to be so in order for all users to feel comfortable in answering honestly and openly, with jargon free guidance and tips for improvement.
The full One Million Lives check-in takes 15 minutes. Try to do this monthly.
There are a number of places to access support in relation to Mental Health at work.
Mental Health at Work website
The https://www.mentalhealthatwork.org.uk/website also brings a lot of resources together.
It’s good to talk to family or friends but it’s important to recognise that there may be times when you might need a bit of extra support.
If you feel that things are starting to get on top of you, you feel isolated or you’ve noticed little things like changes to your mood, speak to your line manager or you can get support from our employee assistance programme, PAM Assist. It is available 24 hours and you can contact them on 0800 882 4102 or through their website via the link given. (user name: ClackmanEAP, Password: ClackmanEAP1).
Mental Health First Aiders
There are a number of staff members who are trained as Mental Health First Aiders and have volunteered to support any colleagues who need their help. They are:
If you would like to be considered for this training in the future, please email hands@clacks.gov.uk
However, if you don’t feel comfortable speaking to someone at work, there are plenty of other organisations who will be able to help and support you.
Silvercloud Self Help for Wellbeing is a digital platform launched by the Scottish Government. The platform provides open access (no referral required) to four Wellbeing modules – stress, Sleep, Resilience and Covid-19.
To access the Silvercloud Self Help platform, use PIN code: Scotland2020
This is a positive mindset App which aims to help you overcome stress, low mood and worry.
You can install the App for free on your device and Track 1 is pre-loaded.
You can unlock the remaining tracks using the following login details:
Working from home means that the usual support we access in the workplace may not be readily available to us. A homeworking wellness action plan can be helpful in such situation.
Daylight
Daylight is an app that will teach you ways to manage worry and anxiety in your life.
If you think that someone may be struggling, it’s important to stay connected with the person. A simple visit, phone call, email, text or Whats App message can make a big difference.
It’s the little things which mean a lot to someone feeling lonely and it can help them to understand their feelings or help ease their anxiety.
If you’re worried about a colleague, you should let your manager know. They can set up weekly one-to-ones and small team chats over the phone or create a virtual safe place for people to talk about how they are feeling.
It’s well documented that taking some form of exercise is not only good for your physical health but also you’re mental health, so staying active is really important.
Visit NHS Live Well to get a better understanding of how much and what type of exercise you should do. The page also has physical activity recommendations for early childhood, young people and older adults.