Suffolk sees big increases in worker wellbeing, figures show

New data from The Mental Health Toolkit, released to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, showed full-time workers saw an improvement in all of their Physical and Emotional Needs from April 1 2024 to March 31 this year.

More than 2,050 people across Suffolk have taken part in the Emotional Needs Audit in the past year, which sees them measure the way they meet their needs from 3 (well met) to -3 (not at all). A score of 1 is considered ‘met’.

People in full time work have reported significant improvements in the average scores across their emotional needs, including the need for Status (+0.90 points), Value (+0.99 points) and Meaning and Purpose (+1.12 points), and Community (+0.99 points), which had previously been the second least met need of all, after Sleep.

A similar picture was seen among part-time and self-employed workers – who meet their needs on average better than others

Relationship Manager Wendy Sheppard said: “it’s fantastic to see so many improvements across the Emotional Needs this year.

“Community especially is a need that many of us across the county have felt unable to meet in recent years, with everything from the coronavirus pandemic to cuts to local community organisations leading to people feeling more isolated.

“Continuing on this upward trend could have a big positive impact on the lives of thousands of workers across our county.”

Just five needs were actually considered met however – to Give Attention, Privacy, Close Relationships, Emotional Connection and Achievement.

The least met need continues to be Sleep, followed by Movement and Food and Drink

Wendy added: “While seeing such great improvements across the board is a cause for optimism, there is still concern in how few needs are actually being met.

“We know that meeting our  Emotional Needs keeps us in a state of mental wellbeing – something not just crucial for the workplace, but our daily lives.

“It’s therefore so important that people look into the ways they can better meet their needs, and a great way to do that is through The Mental Health Toolkit.”

The Mental Health Toolkit is Suffolk Mind’s training arm, delivering in-person and online sessions for businesses and their employees across the country

Gabriella Dalling, Business Development Manager at AAI Freight Services, who has received The Mental Health Toolkit training, said: “I found the Mental Health Toolkit to be an excellent resource for learning and self-reflection.

“It can be used beyond work and applied to our personal lives, after all, burnout helps no one.

“This course is an eye-opener with excellent content and perfect delivery by the team.”

With Mental Health Awareness Week highlighting the importance of mental health education, there’s no better time to book an Introduction to the Mental Health Toolkit talk.