Health staff to be trained on promoting and protecting personal health |15 January 2020

The Ministry of Health will be holding a training on the Workplace Wellbeing Programme for 30 staff from community health services this Friday at the Sheikh Khalifa Diagnostic Centre conference room at the Seychelles Hospital.

The training is aimed to guide the health staff in being health ambassadors within their workplaces.

Throughout this training, the health workers will be oriented on promoting the maintenance and improvement of the health and wellbeing of their colleagues, as well as themselves. This includes education on recommended exercise and diet, innovative and simple ways to support healthy staff lifestyles, stress management and improving mental health.

It is estimated that the average individual makes use of health services at least six times a year with health professionals giving daily support and assistance.

Therefore, it is important to prevent stress and burnout in manner that allows health professionals to also take on responsibility for their health.

“The Workplace Wellbeing Programme truly reflects the national health theme of ‘My Health, My Responsibility’ by building capacity of employees in different organisations to take care of themselves, their colleagues and even their families,” says Dr Sanjeev Pugazhendhi, one of the coordinators of the programme.

The Workplace Wellbeing Programme also provides regular health screening of all staff in community health services, with appropriate referrals for further interventions where necessary.

As the scope of the programme expands within the Ministry of Health, it will gradually be expanded to include the remainder of the public health system.

The Workplace Wellbeing Programme was launched in September 2018 at National level, under the canopy of the Health of our Nation (HOON) movement with multiple organisations implementing the programme.

Contributed by the Ministry of Health