How is the new national Roundtable for Workplace Mental Health different than earlier roundtables that addressed issues like depression in the workplace?
The Global Business And Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health (2002-2008) and the BC Business and Economic Roundtable on Mental Health (2003-2009) had as their primary mission educating employers and the public about the need to treat depression and other mental illnesses as a business problem that business could and should address. Both organizations did important work to put the issue of workplace mental health on the public agenda. The new Roundtable for Workplace Mental Health proposals urge employers across Canada to take concrete, tangible steps to put into effect policies and programs that will reduce the stigma of mental health, and provide practical assistance to employees to become mentally resilient, to seek help for psychiatric illnesses, and to return to productive work. These steps are defined in our Code Of Best Practices For Workplace Mental Health.
