RedArc is supporting the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) with its new campaign to help increase wellbeing in small businesses across the UK. The FSB wellbeing campaign, which runs over a fortnight from 18 to 29 September, aims to give small businesses a range of tips to improve wellbeing.
RedArc provides the medical care and advice service – FSB Care – to FSB members. FSB Care offers support and advice about a range of issues including the management of both physical and mental health conditions both reactively when an FSB member is seriously ill, through to more proactive support in wellbeing and in preventing stress and depression. FSB will be raising awareness of this throughout the wellbeing campaign.
Christine Husbands, managing director of RedArc, the service provider of FSB Care, said: “FSB should be saluted for raising the wellbeing issue alongside providing ongoing support to its members. More of this sort of thinking is required if we are to tackle the UK’s mental health problem – especially as SMEs are such a large proportion of the UK’s employers.
Mental health-related cases now account for around 20% of all cases FSB Care deals with but the majority of those for physical symptoms also have significant mental health aspects too. The long-term support from a dedicated Personal Nurse Adviser can be invaluable when someone is suffering from any form of mental health condition, and having a trusted ‘expert friend’ at the end of the phone can be a lifeline. A specialist mental health nurse can assess whatever type of therapy or counselling is most appropriate.”
Dave Stallon, FSB’s commercial and operations director, said: “As more people than ever are becoming self-employed or running a small business, offering tips and services to help them manage their wellbeing is becoming an important part of what we offer. FSB’s focus is both on successfully engaging with Government and opposition parties on policy decisions, whilst offering tools, advice and benefits that have a positive impact on the day-to-day lives of small business owners and the self-employed.”
Christine Husbands concluded: “As the saying goes, prevention is often better than the cure, so we also support business owners to help avert early signs of mental issues in order to stop them developing in to more serious conditions.”
It’s tough at the top: small business owner managers can feel quite isolated and therefore it is vital that mental health support should no longer be the preserve of just larger companies.
RedArc is also supplying a series of guest blogs on a number of areas encouraging better mental health for the campaign.
Join the conversation at #FSBwellbeing