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Do Employees with Mental Illness Benefit from a Supportive Workplace Environment?

Published Date
Author Rania Nasrallah

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The impact of workplace climate on employee health

Employee mental health is a central determinant of overall health. Regardless of age, gender, or social standing, it affects employee productivity, with immeasurable costs to organizations. Until recently, the contribution of employee mental illness to negative workplace outcomes like poor performance, illness, absenteeism, and high staff turnover has been unappreciated.

Most employees are not aware of the mental health support and resources available to them in the workplace, and most employers undervalue the need to provide mental health services to their employees. A greater awareness of the benefits employee mental health and a more supportive workplace environment can offer will improve the overall work experience for everyone. A tool to measure an employee’s perception of the mental health climate (workplace awareness and value of mental health and support available for employees) can help the employer determine whether there is a need for more mental health awareness in the workplace and improve resources to support employees.

What is this research about?

Professors Jennifer Dimoff and Laurent Lapierre received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grant  to develop a tool to measure how employees perceive their workplace mental health climate and study the extent to which a supportive mental health climate influences employee work and mental health outcomes.

Project title: Mental illness in the workplace: Understanding the impact of mental health climate on employees

Who will benefit from this research?

This work will offer academic and practical perspectives, providing researchers with the tools needed to study workplace mental health and helping employers evaluate the mental health climate, thus improving work and health outcomes for their employees. Everyone will benefit from a workplace that values mental health and offers support to those with mental illness, resulting in a positive personal and professional experience.

About the Author

Rania Nasrallah a rejoint le bureau de recherche Telfer en 2019. Elle a obtenu son doctorat en médecine à l'Université d'Ottawa et apporte à ce rôle plus de deux décennies d'expérience en recherche. Rania participe à tous les aspects du mandat du Bureau de la recherche et est responsable de fournir un large éventail de services aux membres du corps professoral et aux étudiants de recherche de deuxième et troisième cycle. Elle gère les subventions internes et les bourses d'études, et participe à la stratégie de communication de la recherche. Elle fournit également un soutien aux chercheurs avant l'attribution des subventions afin de maximiser le succès du financement au niveau national et international. En outre, elle travaille en étroite collaboration avec le Vice-doyen à la recherche pour élaborer et mettre en œuvre des stratégies visant à améliorer le financement et la vélocité de la recherche à Telfer, conformément à notre vision pour créer un meilleur Canada et un meilleur monde pour tous.<br/><br/>Rania Nasrallah joined the Telfer Research Office in 2019. She completed her PhD in Medicine at the University of Ottawa and brings over two decades of research experience to this role. Rania is involved in all aspects of the mandate of the Research Office and is responsible for providing a wide range of services to faculty members and research based graduate students. She manages internal grants, student awards, and participates in the research communication strategy. She also provides pre-award support to researchers to optimize funding success nationally and internationally. In addition she works closely with the Vice Dean Research to develop and implement strategies to enhance research funding and intensity at Telfer following our vision to create a better Canada and a better world for all.

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