An Cosantóir

30 Introduction For a long time now there has been a real understanding and awareness in the wider community of the importance of Mental Health and Wellbeing in the workplace. This awareness is centred not just in ensuring that employers get the best out of their personnel, but also to ensure that people get the most out of their experience of work, and that the workplace is as safe as it can be for them and for their families. In the Defence Forces we are lucky to have a strong team of people from many disciplines engaged in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our personnel and their families. The Medical Branch, the Personnel Support Service (PSS) and the Chaplaincy Service work together to provide effective support during all stages of the military career. The work of the schools of Physical Education and Catering, our Health and Safety team and our Gender Adviser all contribute to providing a work environment that is as safe as it can be, where personnel can develop to the best of their potential. So why do we need a Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy? The Defence Forces Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2020-2023 was launched in December 2020 by the Minister for Defence. The main aim of the Strategy is to provide a coordinated and effective mental health and wellbeing support system for personnel of the Defence Forces between 2020 and 2023. What this means is that all our work in mental health and wellbeing, from education and training, to supporting and providing clinical services, will be done in a way that is coordinated and cooperative. This will enhance our services and be of benefit to our personnel and their families, and to the Defence Forces as an organisation. What will the Strategy achieve? The Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy is a slim volume that will generate a lot of work and make significant progress. It has identified seven key areas of work that will need to be addressed over the lifetime of the strategy. Each of these areas deals with a specific area of mental health and wellbeing, all contributing towards the same goal of improving and enhancing the way that we support our people. Governance: This objective will help us to maintain effective direction and oversight of mental health and wellbeing measures in the Defence Forces through the establishment of effective structures and appropriate research planning. We will examine and assess what we do, and we will report annually on how we are getting on. Resilience: In this objective we hope to better equip our people to successfully experience and manage military life through awareness-raising, training and support through all phases of their careers. We will look at how best we can inform our serving personnel, their families and our veterans, so that they will have the tools they need, wherever they find themselves in their military experience. THE DEFENCE FORCES MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING STRATEGY 2020-2023 THE DEFENCE FORCES MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING STRATEGY 2020-2023 v A soldier bears the elements on a ground appreciation exercise By Lt Col John Martin, PSS Photos by Pte Derek Feehan & DF Flicker

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