Introduction

Taking care of your mental health and wellbeing is an important part of providing effective support. This guide will help you to do this by exploring the following:

• Workplace factors that could affect your mental health
• Tips for optimal wellbeing
• How and where to reach out for support if you need it

 

Your work and your mental health

Before getting into the details, it's important to understand that mental health, like a lot of things to do with health, has a very broad spectrum. At one end of the spectrum we experience positive and fulfilling emotions, while at the other end, we could experience a diagnosable mental health condition, like depression or anxiety. This doesn’t mean we can’t live fulfilling and productive lives - far from it - but it might mean we need to access support from time to time to help us get there.

Things that can impact your mental health while working include:

 

Fatigue and Exhaustion

You might find yourself providing support to a variety of people and families on Hireup. We understand that passionate and committed employees are driven to work hard, but this shouldn’t come at the expense of your own mental health and wellbeing. It’s important to know what your personal limits are when it comes to the hours you commit to working, as overcommitment can lead to fatigue and exhaustion. This can, in turn, have a negative impact on the level of job satisfaction, as well as compromising the quality and safety of the support being provided. Personal limits will look different for everyone based on factors like your experience and physical health, so we encourage you to find a balance that works for you and your lifestyle. Remember, it’s work on your terms.

When organising your shifts on Hireup it is essential that your roster meets the following:

• Shifts of no greater than 12 hours (excluding sleepover shifts)
• At least 10 hours break between shifts
• At least 2 full days off a fortnight 

Life isn’t always predictable and things can be going on in your personal life that can take a toll on your mental health and wellbeing. We encourage you to reach out for support when you’re experiencing challenging periods, whether this means chatting to a friend, family member or a professional; we’ll provide some helpful information on this later in this guide.

 

Challenging work relationships

If something is bothering you about a working relationship, we encourage you to have an open and honest conversation about it with the people you work with. We’ve developed a guide on Having Difficult Conversations but please don’t hesitate to reach out if you require further assistance be calling us on (02) 9113 5933, emailing hello@hireup.com.au or completing an Incident Report or Concern form.

 

Lived experience

You may be living with a mental health condition, disability, health condition or be a carer. We value lived or living experience and in these examples it’s even more important to understand your limits, self management and professional boundaries. Reaching out as needed and asking for support if things start to get challenging helps Hireup support you. 

 

Professional Boundaries

There are many ways to be a fantastic support worker; everyone brings their own strengths to the role. The role of a support worker is to build, support

and strengthen the existing social, family and community network of Clients. As a support worker you are there to assist your Client in building friendships, not to be the friendship. As such it is important to maintain healthy professional boundaries with your Client to ensure safety for both of you.

 

Risks of forgetting Professional Boundaries

• Support Worker burnout
• Increasing expectations of the Support Worker outside of their job description
• Client grief and distress when a support connection ends
• Over-reliance on one Support Worker
• Inability to provide objective and professional support
• May prevent a person from engaging appropriate support services or health professionals

 

How to Maintain Professional Boundaries

• Communicate honestly
• Don’t say you can if you can’t; clear communication is essential for an effective support relationship
• Don’t make promises you may not be able to keep, eg. I won’t leave / end support relationship, You can tell me I won’t tell anyone (This is not the case when you are a mandatory reporter)
• Only agree to provide support you are comfortable with and have the relevant experience / knowledge of
• If a Client indicates they need assistance buying items/ groceries, assist them with accessing support services. Do not buy the objects yourself. If you hold concerns for your Client’s wellbeing, report this to Hireup. 
• Be yourself but retain a professional relationship with the person / people you are supporting
• Only attend bookings booked through the Hireup system. Only provide support in line with Hireup’s Support Worker job description. 
• Do not disclose personal information to your Client or discuss your own personal problems with them
• Do not visit your Client outside of bookings
• Do not bring friends or family members to bookings with your Client
• Do not bring your Client to your home
• Provide 1:1 support with the client you are booked to support 
• Follow Hireup’s Statement on giving and receiving gifts
• If you are unsure of a Client’s request check with Hireup before agreeing
• Ask for help from Hireup if you need it; as a Support Worker your role includes high levels of independence and responsibility. We are here to support you.
• If a romantic relationship develops after a Support Workers and Client meeting on Hireup, or between a Support Worker and a family member of a current Client, this will change the support dynamic. This support relationship is now defined as informal support and is not permitted without explicit NDIS approval. Please contact Hireup immediately for support if this occurs.
• Not proposing or accepting Client suggestions of an Offline Arrangement
  • As a Hireup support worker, you are a casual employee, meaning that we cover your pay, insurance, superannuation and tax. As such, all shifts must be booked through the Hireup platform. Connecting and working with clients without a Hireup booking is considered an Offline Arrangement, which breaches your employment agreement. Additionally, Offline Arrangements are not covered by Hireup’s insurance or payroll processes. You can read more about this here.

Stress

Some factors that can lead to unhelpful and unhealthy levels of stress could be overcommitting yourself at work, putting yourself in situations where you’re uncomfortable while working and engaging in working relationships that aren’t a suitable or safe match for you.

Although some stressful situations can be unavoidable, knowing what tools to access when you find that stress arises in your life can be really helpful. We’ll provide some practical tips on this later in this guide.

 

Incidents

If you experience an incident while working as a Support Worker, Hireup’s 24/7 team are here to support you through it. An incident can be defined as any event that resulted in, or had the potential to result in human injury or property damage. Incidents also include any event that was troubling or traumatic in nature. 

Please notify us of an incident using the online Incident Report. We’ll not just support you through resolving the incident but can also connect you with our Employee Assistance Program which includes free and confidential counselling or psychological services, financial coaching, dietician support or legal referral. 

 

What is burnout?

Support Workers can experience stress when the demands of their work exceed your ability or resources to cope. Support Workers can experience physical, mental and emotional burnout that can impact their work and personal lives. 

Burnout can look like: 

• Physiological symptoms (e.g., exhaustion, lack of sleep, high heart rate, panic attacks, headaches). This can include feeling anxious or stressed about going to work. 
• Frequently cancelling shifts or calling in sick to work
• A lack of focus at work or forgetting things. This can lead to more frequent mistakes and potential risk of harm to yourself and others. 
• Withdrawal from friends or family or having no energy for activities outside of work 

Some of the most common causes of burnout include:  

• unclear or unreasonable job expectations 
• Feeling unfulfilled at work 
• unreasonable workloads or taking on too many hours 
• work-life imbalance  

Ways to manage burnout: 

• Identify the stressors. Is the workload too high? Are you feeling unsafe at work? Do you need a break? And identify any actions you can take to manage those stressors. 
• Reach out to Hireup. As your employer we are here to support you, you can always reach out to us if you need support at work. We also have a Health, Safety and Wellbeing team who are here to support all workers. 
• Make an appointment with Hireup’s Employee Assistance Program. EAP includes a free counselling service for all Support Workers. See details below. 
• Take breaks and make time for yourself. Ensuring you have time away from work is important for work-life balance and ensuring your wellbeing. 
• Maintaining professional boundaries. Maintaining professional boundaries at work is an important part of avoiding burnout. A lack of professional boundaries can lead to feelings over being overworked, under appreciated and unable to remove yourself from the situation. 

 

Common experiences

Sometimes we may experience our own decline in mental health, the following conditions are more common in life experience.

 

What is depression?

While we all feel sad, moody or low from time to time, some people experience these feelings intensely, for long periods of time (weeks, months or even years) and sometimes without any apparent reason. Depression is more than just a low mood, it's a serious condition that affects your physical and mental health.

Depression affects how you feel about yourself and makes life more difficult to manage from day to day. The encouraging news is that there is a range of treatments, health professionals and services available to help with depression, as well as information on what you can do to help yourself.

For more information on depression, please visit beyondblue

For more information on the treatment of depression, please visit beyondblue

 

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is more than just feeling stressed or worried. While stress and anxious feelings are a common response to a situation where we feel under pressure, they usually pass once the stressful situation is over, or when the ‘stressor’ is removed.

Anxiety is when these anxious feelings don't go away – when they're ongoing and happen without any particular reason or cause. It’s a serious condition that makes it hard to cope with daily life. Everyone feels anxious from time to time, but for someone experiencing anxiety, these feelings aren't easily controlled.

A range of health professionals and services offer information, treatment and support for anxiety conditions, as well as a number of things you can do to help yourself.

For more information on anxiety, please visit beyondblue

For more information on the treatment of anxiety, please visit beyondblue

 

Reaching out

If you find yourself in a position where you feel comfortable reaching out for support, it’s important to know who you can turn to, no matter what is going on in your life.

The Better Access initiative provides better access to mental health practitioners through Medicare. If you’re eligible, you’ll receive Medicare benefits for up to 10 individual consultations with a mental health professional in a calendar year.

For more details head to beyondblue or the Better Access Initiative

We understand that exploring professional help in person might not be the best option for you, so below we’ve listed some alternatives:

• Have a conversation with friends or family members
• Call Lifeline if you require crisis support - 13 11 14
• If you’re under 25 you can use eheadspace for online and telephone supports - 1800 650 890
• Call the Beyondblue support service - 1300 22 4636
• Visit Head to Health to explore a range of digital mental health resources

 

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Hireup knows that the important work done by Support Workers can sometimes be challenging, both physically and mentally. That is why we have an Employee Assistance Program to provide free and confidential counselling and psychological support, financial coaching, dietician support or legal referral when it is needed. If you are interested in utilising this service, please reach out to us at hello@hireup.com.au or (02) 9113 5933.

 

Recommendations - some of the things we like to use

Our list of recommended stress-busting wellbeing apps and resources:

General health

Healthdirect is a provider of trusted, free health information and advice and is supported by the governments of Australia.

Calming the mind

Smiling Mind - A web and app-based meditation program developed by psychologists and educators to help bring mindfulness into your life.

Headspace - A web and app-based mindfulness app.

Stop Breathe & Think - An app that allows you to check in with your emotions, and recommends short guided meditations, yoga and acupressure videos, tuned to how you feel.

Calm - An app for mindfulness and meditation to bring more clarity, joy and peace to your daily life.

Colorfy - Colouring therapy for adults on your mobile.

Breathe app by ReachOut - Designed to reduce the physical symptoms of stress and anxiety by slowing down your breathing and your heart rate.

Pacifica - Daily tools for stress, anxiety, and depression alongside a supportive community.

Music for the soul

‘Unwind’ playlist on Spotify - A great playlist for relaxing and unwinding.

Relax Melodies - Relax Melodies offers relaxing sounds and sleep meditations that you can custom mix and fall blissfully asleep to.

TED Talks

Why we all need to practice emotional first aid - Guy Winch.

There's no shame in taking care of your mental health - Sangu Delle.

The power of vulnerability - Brene Brown.

Need someone to chat to?

7 Cups of Tea - Find someone to talk to: 7 Cups of Tea provides online therapy and free counselling.