Almost two-thirds of parents report concerns about their children’s mental health. It’s a big worry for parents that can affect their work life. But there is a lot employers can do to support working parents and caregivers through this, says Bupa’s Richard Norris.
The mental health of children and young people is a major issue with nearly 20 percent reporting a mental health issue and 1.2 million referrals for support in 2022.
What employers may be less aware of is how much this can impact the people in their teams, with 8 percent of parents having considered leaving their role due to their children’s mental health needs.
Richard Norris, general manager of business and specialist products at Bupa, says that there is a lot employers can do to support parents of children with mental health needs, from helping them get expert care to providing support and flexibility in the workplace.
Why is it so important to address young people’s mental health?
It’s a big issue, particularly post Covid. Statistics for children aged seven to 16 years show that 18 percent have a probable mental health disorder. That’s a bit scary. And you’ve got more than a quarter of a million children on the waiting list.
I’ve got children myself and I’m a chair of governors in our local primary school. At governor’s meetings we spend a lot of time talking about the children’s mental health, how we can support them, and, very sadly, about a number of children who can’t attend school for periods of time because of their mental health.
If you think about it from the parents’ perspective, it can cause them a lot of worry. There’s not a lot worse than your child being unwell for whatever reason.
Then you can make the connection to the impact on that person being present to work, or perhaps even a business owners’ ability to effectively lead and support their team to the best of their ability. You can see the knock-on effect from end to end.
Why is support for young people important for working caregivers?
If I go back to the statistics, six in 10 parents report having a concern about their children’s mental health.
Growing up with ‘digital childhoods’, young people today are surrounded by social media, mobile phones, and online content. While this modern era gives many benefits and opportunities, it also leads to increased bullying and unrealistic life expectations.
Additionally, they face pressures from school, relationships at home, exams, and the broader uncertainties in the world, with climate change being a significant concern for many.
It is really important to support families and young people with their mental health, to help them find their way, whether it be the parent or the child, through what is quite a difficult growing up experience for children now.
What is the impact on caregivers?
The impact on caregivers can be seen in workplace absenteeism and presenteeism. For example, people might simply not be able to attend work or have to leave early.
Presenteeism is probably more hidden. If line managers and their direct reports haven’t got a good relationship, managers are not going to know what is going on at home. Even when people are at their desk, an employee might be worried about their children and not being very effective in your business.
In reality, taking some time to go and deal with the challenges at home so you can come back and be present is probably better in the longer term.
If the child has a more progressed mental health challenge, then the parent needs to support them through going to the doctor or going for a therapy session or whatever it might be and navigating all of that.
So, not only finding out who the best person is, but getting on a waiting list, waiting to see them, and taking time out of the business to be an effective support.
As a caregiver that is really important. All of that not only affects the family and all of the individuals in it, but it also affects your business.
How can an employer manage employee demands?
If your workplace cannot offer flexibility to amend hours or changes shifts, it will be very difficult for caregivers.
Experience tells us that those parents consider reducing their hours to support their child(ren) and have even considered quitting their jobs altogether.
A flexible working policy can be a really important tool. This can be challenging for a small business but allowing people the time to be able to run their lives in a modern world is important.
The relationships between managers or leaders and their people are also key.
By creating a safe and diverse culture, psychologically safe people feel like they can show up, they can be themselves. They can tell their manager about the challenges that they’re going through at work and ask them for support in dealing with that.
What can employers put in place to support caregivers?
It’s not always the easiest environment to create without the conversation, without the openness to start with. If you create the right environment for your people, it’s going to pay you back in spades in the future.
You’re going to get people who are much more present, much more often and delivering over and above what they might have delivered if you didn’t create that environment and we have options available to help with this.
There are free options available where an employer doesn’t need to be a member of an EAP or Private Medical Insurance.
For example, JAAQ (Just Ask A Question), is a mental health platform where you can select questions to ask. You could ask ‘what is depression?’ and you’ll have the world’s leading expert on depression explaining the signs and symptoms of depression as if they are sat in a chair in front of you. You can also explore people’s lived experiences, JAAQ asks questions from people who have experienced a huge range of issues from anxiety to addiction.
We’re also supporting JAAQ Junior, which features a new series of podcasts designed to help children discuss their lives, struggles, and mental health. Launching in late September, we aim to make a meaningful difference in young people’s mental health.
At the other end of the spectrum, of course, you can buy health insurance or a health trust for your employees that will support them. Bupa offers comprehensive support for the child, their parent and family. We have our Family Mental Health Line where our customers can speak to nurses to get advice should they be worried about their child. If a child has been referred for mental health support, we have that available via our health cover with specialist support that is fast and convenient.
The idea is that this is the starting point rather than Googling for answers. Call us up and we’ll help you do the rest.
And we can help employers too. With resources and guides including our Bupa Academy for Health and Wellbeing to help you be there for parents and their children.
