Your Support Resources www.iriscaregroup.co.uk/wellbeing
Contents
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Bereavement Resources
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Resources for what you practically need to do when someone dies Recognising that you’re struggling to cope and how to help Resources for bereavement support Supporting someone who is bereaved Claiming bereavement support payments
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Domestic Abuse
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Recognising abuse Get help and support Financial support Supporting someone you know or suspect is a victim of abuse
Financial Wellbeing
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Support to manage your finances Organisations that can help you Gambling Recognising if you might have a problem Getting support Supporting someone who gambles or support yourself as friends or family
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Healthy Living & Physical Wellbeing
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Food and nutrition Keeping active Alcohol use Chronic illness Stopping smoking
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Healthy relationships
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Building and maintaining healthy relationships How to manage loneliness
LGBTQIA+
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Exploring gender and identity Mental health resources Housing support
Men’s Health
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Mental health resources Physical health resources
Mental Health
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Where to get help if you’re in a crisis Mental health resources When you need someone to talk to Mindfulness How to help someone struggling with mental health
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Multicultural
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Integrating into your local community Culture shock Sponsorship support
Sleep
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Getting better sleep Meditation
Stress
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Understanding stress Tips for managing stress
Women’s Health
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Where to get help if you’re in a crisis Mental health resources When you need someone to talk to Mindfulness How to help someone struggling with mental health
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Bereavement Resources A bereavement is the experience of losing someone important. Some of the emotions experienced can be grief, loss and sadness. But during a bereavement there are likely a wide range of emotions to process. The following resources aim to provide you with a wide range of information and where to seek help.
Resources for what you practically need to do when someone dies Government guidance of what you need to do after someone dies MacMillan Cancer Support also provides good step by step advice on the practical things that need to be done after someone dies.
Recognising that you’re struggling to cope and how to help Samaritans help to identify signs that you may be struggling to cope and ways to help yourself. The National Bereavement Service can provide additional support and resources on the experience of grief.
Resources for bereavement support Cruse Bereavement Support. Grief Chat to talk online to a Bereavement Counsellor At a Loss. Online bereavement support at Sue Ryder. Child Bereavement UK helps a child grieve or families grieve a child. Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide is an organisation offering Peer-Led support to adults impacted by suicide loss. StrongMen offers peer support for men grieving a loved one. The Lullaby Trust supports with the sudden expected death of baby or young child.
Supporting someone who is bereaved Marie Curie has a great resource here on how to support a grieving family member or friend.
Claiming bereavement support payments Funeral payment support from the government can be accessed here if eligible. The Child Funeral Charity provides financial support in paying for a child’s funeral. Bereavements are difficult, but it’s important to know that you are not alone and support is available.
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Domestic Abuse The National Domestic Abuse Helpline defines abuse as “a pattern of behaviour on the part of the abuser designed to control his partner. It can happen at any point in a relationship, including after you have split up.”
Recognising abuse Domestic abuse can be verbal, psychological, economic, sexual, coercive, physical and technological. Recognising if you’re being abused and knowing where to get help can be challenging. That’s why we’ve put together the below resources as a starting place for you to get help, or knowing how to support someone you know or suspect of being abused. Women’s Aid and Victim Support both provide good resources on how to recognise domestic abuse. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline also provides more information on what is abuse.
Get help and support UK Government provides guidance on how to get help. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline provides information on your options and rights and offers support. They also have a free 24 hours helpline. Resources for women specifically at Women’s Aid The Men’s Advice Line offers support for male victims of domestic abuse. Galop provides information for LGBT+ people experiencing abuse. They also provides emergency housing for LGBT+ people experiencing domestic abuse.
Financial support Financial Support Line for Victims of Domestic Abuse to provide a space for victims to discuss their financial situation. Citizens Advice offers a list of grants and benefits to help cover your bills in emergency situations. See here for England and here for Wales. The Surviving Economic Abuse organisation helps provide financial support tools and information on financial abuse.
Supporting someone you know or suspect is a victim of abuse: Funeral payment support from the government can be accessed here if eligible. The Child Funeral Charity provides financial support in paying for a child’s funeral.
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Financial Wellbeing Financial pressure can be really stressful. It can affect our day to day lives, both in and out of work. Below are some helpful resources that can support you when you are experiencing financial hardship or need financial advice.
Resources The Employee Assistance Programme that you have access to offers financial assessments. The Money Helper website has fantastic resources to help you manage money and take control of your finances, or call 0800 011 3797 Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm National Debtline, or call 0808 808 4000 Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm and Saturday 9.30am to 1pm Citizen’s Advice can provide support for a range of financial needs You can check if you’re eligible for benefits or financial support from the UK Government. Here you can see if you’re eligible to additional financial help and benefits if you have children. When your finances are in order it can feel like one less stress, even if your money is in order, it is always good to plan, budget and save as you never know when unexpected costs may arise.
Gambling Gambling at harmful levels can be really difficult to recognise and address. It can be disruptive and damaging to your personal life and those around you if reaching harmful levels. Here are some resources surrounding recognising if it’s a problem for you, where to get support and how to support someone who gambles.
Recognising if you might have a problem See the NHS resource for a quick quiz on if you’re unsure if gambling is causing problems for you and how to get help. You can also access a self assessment through Gordon Moody. Gamcare explains how gambling can affect your life.
Getting support Below is a list of organisation where you can seek help and get support. Be Gamble Aware GamCare Gamblers Anonymous Mental Health Foundation
Supporting someone who gambles or supporting yourself as friends or family Understanding someone who gambles Information for friends and family from Gordon Moody.
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Healthy Living & Physical Wellbeing Healthy living supports your wellbeing. Below are tools and advice to help you look after yourself and support healthy habits.
Food and nutrition Knowing how to eat well can be challenging. The below resources help you understand calories, how to read packaging on food, the redefined balanced eating and healthy meals on a budget. Information on understanding calories from the NHS. A guide on how to read food packaging. - How to read food packaging Balanced eating and redefining the food pyramid. Budget recipes from Tesco.
Keeping active Staying active has numerous benefits both physically and mentally. It’s important to find a form of exercise that you enjoy, if so you’re more likely to then stick with it. Not everyone is the same, some people may love the gym, some running, some taking a stroll a few times a week. You need to find what works for you. Bupa has a great article here on the benefits of walking. The British Heart Foundation has a great 10 minute work out you can do in your living room and tips for staying active. Age UK has some great resources on keeping active as you get older. Mind explains how physical activity and mental health are connected. It also has great other resources on overcoming barriers to physical activity and tips for getting active. Joining a local sporting club is a great way to stay active. This can also help you develop healthy relationships. A lot of sporting clubs welcome all abilities and ages. Below is just some of the social sports clubs in some local areas:
Cardiff
Pontypridd & Caerphilly
Bristol
Barry, Sully & Penarth
Les Croupiers Running Club
Treforest Football Club
Climbing Academy
Sea Swim Club Penarth
South Wales Paddleboarding Club
Pontypridd Cricket Club
Bristol Jets Rugby Club
Dinas Powys Football Club
Caerphilly Cycling Club
Avon Outdoor Activities Club
Vale Runners
Cardiff Social Cycling Club
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Newport
Gloucestershire
Swindon
Cheltenham
Newport Swimming Club
Archery Club
Badminton Club
Cheltenham Civil Cricket Club
Newport Outdoor Club
Gloucester Walking Rugby Club
Swindon Hockey Club
Caerleon Running Club Gloucester City Cycling Club
Cheltenham Cycling Club Swindon Striders Running Club
Cheltenham Striders Running Club
Alcohol use Alcohol use at harmful levels can have a drastic impact on your life. Assessing your alcohol consumption and knowing if you need to cut down can be really key. The following resources can help with this. Drinkaware’s self assessment is a good place to start. Understanding the way that alcohol can impact your mental health through Drinkaware. They also offer advice and support. The NHS offers tips for cutting down on alcohol. The Mental Health Foundation explains the link between alcohol and your mental health. It also provides a list of resources and information where you can get help.
Chronic illness Living with a chronic illness can be difficult and upsetting. It affects day to day life and can be really hard. CISFAUK offers support for people living with Chronic Illness. It helps simply access to support and is dedicated to trying to boost emotional wellbeing while people experience a Chronic Illness. Living Life to the Full offers a free course on living with Chronic Pain and how to reclaim your life. Fibrofighters offers support for people caring for others with fibromyalgia and those suffering from fibromyalgia. They have groups in Cardiff and the Vale. Fibromyalgia Action UK offers support all over the UK and provides information to people with fibromyalgia.
Stopping smoking Smoking can have significant health impacts but can be extremely challenging to stop. Below are some resources to help you quit smoking. The company Employee Assistance Programme offers advice and support for quitting smoking. In conjunction with NHS Wales Help Me Quit offers support for quitting smoking, including a free phone line for support. NHS England links you with local Stop Smoking Services to get the right support and professional help. The Quit Tracker: Stop Smoking app helps boost motivation during your quitting journey by showing how much money you’ve saved and progress while offering rewards.
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Healthy Relationships Strong connections with others in a healthy and positive way lead has numerous health and wellbeing benefits. Maintaining healthy relationships can help improve mental health, reduce loneliness and stress.
The Mental Health Foundations recommends the following top tips to build and maintain healthy relationships with further details found here: 1. Get to know yourself 2. Put in the work 3. Set and respect boundaries 4. Talk and Listen 5. Let go of control 6. Reflect and learn Below are some additional resources about the importance of healthy relationships and how to build and maintain them. The NHS Every Mind Matters service explains about building healthy relationships and the importance of this. The Red Cross also helps with building and maintaining connections. Joining a local sporting club can be a great way to make new friends and build more healthy relationships with others. It can break up the work week which is great for your mental wellbeing as well. See the Keeping Active section of Healthy Living & Habits. Understanding what is and isn’t a healthy relationship is really important. The Domestic Abuse section provides some additional information on how to identify if you are being abused.
Loneliness Sometimes loneliness is the feeling of when social connections and relationship needs aren’t being met. You can be surrounded by people and still be lonely. Mind offers a good resource on how to identify loneliness.
How to manage loneliness Headspace and how to deal with loneliness. Marmalade Trust is a loneliness charity with a wide range of resources to help. The Mental Health Foundation suggests 15 things to do if you’re feeling lonely. If you need someone to talk to Samaritans is available at 116 123 for free, day or night.
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LGBTQIA+ Below are some resources for people who are LBGTQIA+. There are links to housing support, mental health support and resources on exploring gender and identity.
Resources The Be You Project has compiled a useful resources on a range of topics from coming out to online safety and more. Brook offers great help and guidance on sexuality and gender. This resource by Stone Wall provides a great start as a beginners guide to pronouns in the workplace. The Proud Trust provides great guidance on exploring identity and helps answer questions that may crop up during this process. Health screening for transgender people can be a really daunting and intimidating but is also important for a wide range of health reasons. The NHS helps provide guidance on what screening may be needed.
Mental Health Resources MindOut is a LGBTQIA+ mental health service offering support services where Online Support can be accessed from anywhere. Mind has a comprehensive list of useful LGBTQIA+ mental health contacts here. Switchboard offers listening services via phone, email and instant messaging as a LGBT+ specific helpline.
Housing support Stone Wall also offers guidance and support in finding housing. Shelter Cymru offers housing advise Microrainbow offers safe, temporary housing for LGBTQI+ asylum seekers and refugees in the UK.
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Men’s Health Here are some links relating to resources for those identifying as male or who’s birth-assigned sex is male. It includes some key information on physical health, as well as mental health resources.
Mental Health Resources Shout provides a texting option for men to talk about their problems and get help. They also provide resources and guidance on how to have conversations with your male friends and family about their wellbeing. Men’s Sheds offers community spaces for men where they can go and make friends while learning new skills. CALM is a movement to try to combat and raise awareness around men’s suicide rates. It provides a huge number of resource guides on a wide range of topics to offer help and support. Movember while being an annual month long fundraiser, aims to increase awareness around men’s health issues. These include mental health and suicide, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. It’s a great place to go to learn more. Sands offers support for men around the difficult occurrence of baby loss.
Physical Health Resources Prostate Cancer UK provides information and support for you and your loved ones who are concerned about prostate problems. Nuts & Bolts provides a great guide on how to check your testicles and what to look out for as well as further information on testicular cancer and fertility. Testicular Cancer UK provides additional resources and information. The Fertility Network provides information specific to male fertility. Men account for around half of infertility problems and it can be really hard to talk about. HIMfertility offers information and support through The Fertility Network.
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Mental Health Just like we all have physical health we all also have mental health. Maintaining good mental health can help you cope with stress, have healthy relationships, work well and be productive in our daily lives.
Where to get help if you’re in a crisis Call 999 for an ambulance Go straight to A&E if you can Call your local crisis team If you need urgent advice and can keep yourself safe Contact NHS 111 Wales if you live in Wales (select option 2 to access urgent mental health support) Mind offers crisis coping tools.
Mental Health Resources It can be really hard to recognise if you’re struggling to cope. Samaritans has a great article on how you can recognise if you are struggling and ways to help yourself cope. The Mental Health Foundation has a podcast that discusses all things mental health. My Possible Self is an app which helps you self track how you’re feeling and offers practical help and resources on a wide range of topics that can impact your mental health. It allows you to journal, track your mood, log exercise and water intake. It also has a crisis section which connects to organisations that offer support. The NHS has a Mind Plan quiz which provides you with a personalised mental health action plan and also links to further support resources Mind is a great place to go to obtain further information and support. Keeping Healthy Relationships are key as well to supporting our mental health and wellbeing.
Need someone to talk to Being an Iris Care Group employee means you have access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). They offer a 24/7 confidential helpline at 0800 030 5182. You can also call this number to access up to 6 free counselling sessions through the EAP. If you aren’t comfortable contacting them yourselves get in touch with your manager or HR who can do the referral for you. The Wellbeing Line is available in Gloucestershire. It offers confidential mental health and wellbeing support to anyone working in health and social care in Gloucestershire. Shout is a 24/7 texting service free on all major mobile networks. It can be hard to talk and sometimes easier to message. If you’re struggling to cope and need immediate help you can text: 85258. Samaritans is available 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. You can talk to someone about anything upsetting you on 116 123. Mind has a good guide on how to access therapy or counselling and exploring your options.
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Mindfulness Mindfulness can be a really useful tool to help reduce stress, anxiety and be more present in your day to day life. This can help you to cope with difficult situations, reduce intrusive thoughts and improve sleep. It can take practice but can be really valuable. Mind explains what mindfulness is and how it can impact mental wellbeing. Tips from the NHS on what mindfulness is and how to start practicing it. Oxford Mindfulness offers a free online sessions and courses to help you start mindfulness practices. The Samaritans Self Help app includes mindfulness techniques to help ground yourself, bring calm and release tension.
How to help someone struggling with mental health It can be hard to know the best way to help and support a loved one who is struggling with their mental health. Brook offers guidance on how to start conversations with friends or family members about their mental health. Mind provides a lot of information on different types of mental health problems and how you can support those around you. It also provides tips on supporting yourself while you’re supporting those around you.
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Multicultural Coming into a new culture and learning about a new way of life is challenging. It’s normal to feel somewhat lost and confused and day to day tasks can be harder than normal. For example navigating British slang, or even understanding a new public transport system can be overwhelming. Integrating into your local community is really important. Below are a few resources to help.
Resources LanguageDrops provides a dictionary for a wide range of languages including Yoruba, Hindi, Arabic and wide range of other languages. Their dictionary includes basic, words relating to work, family and wellness. In the dictionaries you can find words for lighter and heavier emotions, mental health, mindfulness and sports. Culture Shock is a normal part of moving countries. This help guide can aid you to navigate the complex emotions that come with Culture Shock. Being on a visa in the UK often means that you’re unable to access public funds. The NRPF Network offers support for people in this situation.
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Sleep Having a good night sleep is important for our overall wellness. Both mentally and physically. Sleeping helps the body heal and makes you feel recharged and ready for the day.
Resources The British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association offers support and resources. Sleep Apnoea can be really disruptive to your quality of sleep which can then impact on your day to day life. The NHS offers tips for how to fall asleep faster and sleep better. A good night sleep can have great benefits for your mental wellbeing too. Mind offers practical tips for helping you improve your sleep. Meditating can help sleep and help you switch off at the end of the day. The NHS here shows you how to meditate if you’re a beginner.
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Stress Stress can be detrimental both mentally and physically. Below are some resources to help understand stress and strategies to deal with stress. You can also always speak to your manager if you’re experiencing high levels of stress, both in your work life and personal life. They will do their best to support you.
Resources The Red Cross has a great resource for how to identify stress and how to manage stress. The Mental Health Foundation covers off stress that can be because of a variety of issues. Such as money or relationships. It also links to further resources for help. The NHS also has lots of tips for managing stress.
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Women’s Health Below are a range of resources on issues that people identifying as female or who’s birthassigned sex is female.
Fertility The Fertility Network offers support and information in relation to fertility. If you’re struggling to conceive or about to start trying it’s a great place to start. They also provide information on fertility funding in Wales and England. The NHS provides information on infertility as well. While this article is focused on supporting loved ones going through fertility struggles around Christmas, it’s applicable to all times of the year. Knowing how to support loved ones who are struggling to conceive can be hard, this article from Complete Fertility offers tips to help.
Menopause Menopause is a natural part of the aging process but it can be disruptive and symptoms can be difficult. Make sure you’re talking to your manager about what you’re experiencing so that they can do the best they can at supporting you in work. Women’s Health Concern offers information around menopause and treatment plans in their Menopause Wellness Hub. The NHS provides information about menopause. What it is, what to expect, treatment options and help and support. Menopause Support is another great place to seek support and information. Menopause Café’s bring people together around the UK to connect and get peer support from others going through menopause.
Pregnancy Finding out you’re pregnant can be an incredibly exciting time! It can also be overwhelming of knowing what to do and what to expect. On top of talking to your GP it’s important to talk to your manager so that we can ensure that we keep you safe and make any reasonable adjustments too. Below are some additional places to find information help and support. Iris Care Group’s Maternity Policy The NHS pregnancy resources are here. Tommy’s is a charity that offers a pregnancy hub full of help and support. SaferPregnancy is run by Sands and provides information on how to stay healthy during pregnancy.
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Miscarriage and baby loss The loss of a baby is an awful situation but there is support available to you. Alongside the resources below you can also talk to your manager and the Employee Assistance Programme. Sands supports bereaved families after baby loss and helps provide counselling. The Miscarriage Association offers information and support following a miscarriage. Baby Loss Awareness provides funeral support, talking to someone and supporting a friend or family member with pregnancy loss grief.
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