NHS - Strike For Pay? The 5 Ways To Un-Well-Beings Report

Single Quote from Part 1 - NHS/Care Sector

5 Ways To Wellbeing Connect Survey

The No.1 Way To Wellbeing Q4 2022

“NHS work has got to an all-time low. The last 12 years of conservative government have managed to push all employees further and further towards breakdowns.

I have lost many colleagues including 2 suicides.

I along with many of my colleagues have discussed leaving the NHS and will likely do so early in our consultant careers.”

CONTENTS

Strike For Pay? Levelling With You Section 1 - The Research Report. The 5 Ways To Wellbeing – Connect Survey – Workplace + Personal + Financial Wellbeing Executive Summary of Findings & Recommendations

5/ Before We Start - A background Info Page

The 5 Ways Of Wellbeing Working The Policy, Process, Plan, Programmes

6/ Leaders Council Press Release - NHS Strikes for Pay? dispute only the tip of the iCEBERG, says ‘un-wellbeing’ report titled ‘Strike For Pay?’ 9/ Executive Summary - The Big Picture - The iCEBERGS of Un-Well-Beings 10/ The NHS/Care Sector iCEBERG of Un-Well-Beings 11/ The UK/Workplace iCEBERG of Un-Well-Beings 12/ What’s New? The iCEBERG Implications with NoPS – Non-Promoter-Scores – A Deep Analysis Across The Triumvirate of Wellbeing 13/14 What Now? The 5 Way to Wellbeing are well established - We just need to turn the pictures into practice NHS Confederation Recommendations 2011 Implemented 15/ What Next? The 5 Way to Wellbeing are out there. We just need to turn the policy into programmes NHS Confederation Recommendations Report 2011.

Section 2 - Levelling Up & Levelling Down – The Way Forward

With You

Section 3 – Summary Findings

“

Some of my colleagues are not supportive, in particular, my line manager who is dismissive, uninterested in my wellbeing and failed to provide me with any training or support for my role.”

28/ NHS/CARE Sector The Big Un-Well-Being Picture – An Overview With Sample Survey Quotes 29/ UK Omnibus/Workplace The Big Un-Well-Being Picture 30/ All Tied Up In NOT’S – Overall Conclusions 31 -38/ Summary of Qualitative Survey Quotes Appendix 39 -43/ Background Methodology

NHS/Care Sector 44/ Workplace Wellbeing – Segmented Quotes 57/ Personal Wellbeing – Segmented Quotes 66/ Financial Wellbeing – Segmented Quotes

UK Omnibus/Workplace

76/ Workplace Wellbeing – Segmented Quotes 88/Personal Wellbeing – Segmented Quotes 98/ Financial Wellbeing – Segmented Quotes

Addendum 112/ Article A New Way Of Wellbeing Working Levelling Up & Levelling Down From Reactive To Proactive Healthcare

Before We Start - A Background Info Page

- The 5 Ways Of Wellbeing Working

- The Policy, Process, Plan, Programmes

CONNECT – 5 Way Benchmarks & WellCheck-Ins: Focussed Targeted Solutions: Key Issues Group Discussions; NPS Net Promoter Scores

To Connect – Is not about the NUMBER of ConnectionS we have but the QUALITY of your ConnectioN, with all your relationships – be they Colleagues, Customers, Clients, Community as well as those you Care For. To Connect is THE No. 1 Way of Work & Wellbeing. What topic we Connect with starts the discussion using the Triumvirate of our ‘Iceberg of Wellbeing’ – Workplace, Personal and Financial Wellbeing.

BE Active – 5 WoWWays Programmes – Branded & Bespoke, Moments Employer Dashboard, Employee App

To Be Active – Is great advice – but in what way? To Be Active against the Framework of The 5 Ways Of Work & Wellbeing is to consciously build on the 5 Ways of Globally Evidenced Research identifying what creates Well-Beings. From Culture Change Programmes that build Visions, Missions, Values and Goals – for the organisation through its employees - to a Climate Change Programme, Practices and Measures that build organisations through its Well-Beings

Take Notice – Personal ‘Moments’ App with Activities, Gratitude’s,

Pie Charts – Moments Employer Benchmark WellCheck-Ins, Employee WellCheck-Ins Anon/Open

To Take Notice – Is more than an employee engagement survey. To Take Notice is to truly Take Notice of ‘what lies beneath’! To Take Notice of The 5 Ways and the impact of each on the ‘Iceberg Triumvirate’ is to Track and Trend the 5 Benchmarks on an ongoing basis and to Talk, Listen and Respond daily

Keep Learning – Keep Learning Wayfinder Programmes,

KIST! Principle Training = Knowledge Inspiration Skills Tools for Well-Beings – The Way Forward For HR & Employee Communication, Wayfarer KIST!

To Keep Learning – Is not just about brain building, or knowledge sharing, or job skills – it is about building Well-Beings. Of course, to Keep Learning about the way to become Well-Beings is to build individuals and entire work-forces. For now, for the future, for Employees, their Community and those all those they Connect with, and Care For.

Give – 5 Praise & Reward, Help & Advice, Feedback & Fellowship

To Give – is not just about Giving to others or giving Money or even Time. To Give is to Give YOURSELF to benefit your own Well-Being as well as those you Give to.

To Give – a Smile, a Wave, a Hand, a piece of Advice – is to give all the Small things that enhances the Well-Being of the Giver and those who receive the gift of Giving. And that brings us right back to Connect – as we create relationships – however fleeting.

NHS strikes: Pay dispute only the tip of the iCEBERG, says ‘un-wellbeing’ report titled ‘Strike For Pay?’

Published by Scott Challinor - Leaders Council

In fact, the report says that the strikes are indicative of ‘un-wellbeing’ that is rife throughout the health service, and indeed in the whole care sector.

‘Strike For Pay?’ argues that while low wages do not help the ‘financial health’ of nursing staff, poor personal wellbeing and what Kevin M Thomson refers to as ‘organisational wellbeing’ are also part of the equation. An equation where ‘financial wellbeing’ is comprised of much more than money worries (financial health).

Kevin told The Leaders Council: “If you are in the NHS, then you will know the strike is not about pay. We heard this clearly at the Leaders Council’s care sector policy roundtable meeting.”

The following quotes from the ‘Strike For Pay?’ report sum up much of the sentiments from those within the industry:

“In all my roles in healthcare, I have found the culture is extremely judgemental towards staff sickness, in particular, mental health. Given the emotional and stress burden of the job, this has always shocked me.”

“I’ve spent a lot of money on professional help for this and had many periods of sick leave where I’ve felt pressured and even guilty about being absent. There is a culture of overprofessionalism and hierarchy in the NHS which makes personal conversations difficult, no matter how often they're encouraged. This is all ties into what we call ‘organisational wellbeing’ or ‘wellbeing at work’.

“While wellbeing is superficially something that is supported in the NHS, in reality, the feedback we’ve had from healthcare staff paints a picture of a culture that is all about how much they can get out of you for the cheapest price. Everyone is left in the same situation: low morale, poor staffing levels, poor pay, unsafe working conditions, and lots of people wanting to leave meaning churn is high and recruitment is a challenge.”

Kevin said that understaffing and mental ill-health among staff were two of the main reasons why nurses were backing strike action along with low pay, and that this had been corroborated by those in support of the strikes.

The report quotes some of the feedback from YouGov’s ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing Connect survey’. This was commissioned by The WoWW! Business – and sponsored by Jeanette Phillips’ Centre for Practical Innovation in Care [CPIC]. ‘Strike For Pay?’ looked into staff wellbeing in the NHS and the care sector with the YouGov Health & Care Professionals [HCP] panel.

The survey’s responses painted a bleak picture of staff financial wellbeing, with some reporting that they were concerned for their financial security and the future of themselves and their family. Some responded to say they were struggling with debt, others finding it difficult to make ends meet and several respondents suggested that they were unable to receive a pay rise from their NHS Trusts due to their job description, even though they were taking on responsibilities beyond what was stipulated in their contracts. Any requests for their job description to be changed to enable a pay rise were rebuffed.

A lack of organisational and financial wellbeing, Kevin highlighted, creates a vicious circle that renders one’s personal wellbeing even worse off.

Kevin said: “We hear so many responses like ‘I don’t want to burden others’ or ‘I don’t want to be dramatic’, yet some of these people have contemplated suicide because life working in the NHS has become so intolerable.

“Working life for these health workers is affecting every other aspect of their life. They are depressed, yet don’t want to discuss it openly. With most NHS staff struggling, it’s difficult to find support and positivity from colleagues.

“All of this has resulted in a first for the NHS: a strike across the UK that this report says is not just for pay but understaffing and critically over poor mental health and wellbeing.”

The situation, the report argues, has put two NHS core values (and brand names) of ‘care’ and ‘trust’ at risk.

Kevin said: “The key messages from ‘Strike For Pay?’ can be summed up as ‘don’t care’ and very definitely ‘don’t trust’.

“Health staff feel that there’s no point discussing their wellbeing when nobody in the NHS seems like they care. For them it is all a pretence to tick boxes.

“There’s also a lack of trust in that staff don’t trust other people to not pass information around their wellbeing and mental state around. They fear that if their real state of mind becomes known, they’ll be judged and treated differently as a result.”

If this toxic triumvirate of ‘un-wellbeing’ – comprised of ‘workplace, personal and financial un-wellbeing’ - is not addressed by NHS leaders and by government, Kevin believes that the strikes will continue and lead to adverse effects on patient outcomes and the UK economy.

“We believe it is vital to make NHS leaders, care leaders and government aware of these findings so that they can truly understand the impact on staff mental health and wellbeing that the current situation is having.

“Personal wellbeing, financial wellbeing and organisation wellbeing are the three core drivers of positive mental health and an overall sense of general wellbeing. We need to start realising this, taking it more seriously and take tangible action.

“What we are able to point to with the Five Ways To Wellbeing as a globally evidenced framework of wellbeing is that organisational wellbeing is not something to be done in isolation of the issues below what we call the ‘Wellbeing ICEBERG of Personal and Financial Wellbeing’

“It is as important to understand that financial health such money related issues is not the same as ‘Financial Wellbeing’, which includes the 'Number One Way to Wellbeing': how well you connect through work, at home and during play with others on the issues that impact most on your life.”

The NHS/Care Sector iCEBERG of Un-Well-Beings

The UK/Workplace iCEBERG of Un-Well-Beings

What’s New?

The iCEBERG Implications with NoPS Deep Analysis Across The Triumvirate of Wellbeing

Kevin Says…Let me introduce you to the unique concept of NoPS for Well-Beings Deep Analysis NoPS was created as a concept for analysing the Qualitative Wellbeing Research Quotes in the Report for the NHS ‘Strikes For Pay? Levelling With You’ It is a unique solution to help in an era of deep un-Wellbeing alongside national strikes, war, cost of living, pandemics – any more?

Background A typical Quantitative analysis can be done two ways – % Scores of -5 to +5 Ratings and the NPS Net Promoter Scores of ‘Detractors’ minus ‘Promoters’ Given that it is important to understand the extent and nature of the problem any research is trying to uncover – and that the NPS Scores are based on the Promoters % minus the Detractors % it was important to understand what the Detractors (or simply the negative) quotes were all about.

Climate or Culture Change Given also that in The Company Culture Cookbook I state that it is the ‘Climate’ of what people ‘Say + Do + Look Like’ that affects the ‘Culture’ of what people ‘Think + Feel + Believe’ I needed to know what was driving any ‘negative’ language. As I analysed the Qualitative Research Quotes it became clear that the ‘language of wellbeing’ used was not mere ‘word’ based, therefore creating ‘Word Clouds’ it was more sentence/syntax based creating ‘Theme Clouds’ unique to Wellbeing – especially in the context of the Triple Whammy issues of Wellbeing being a ‘Triumvirate’ of Workplace + Personal + Financial Wellbeing. Ito soon became clear that the grouping of ‘Theme Clouds’ created a set of issues- that could then be put into a hierarchy.

The hierarchy for each of the Triumvirate of Un-Well-Beings could then be compared and contrasted between UK/Workplace & NHS/Care SectorThe resulting differences in ‘Theme Clouds’ can then be used to highlight both the Cultural and Climate Changes that need to be tackled.The power of NoPS is that a hierarchy of negative Issues creates a hierarchy of actions i.e. priorities.

We simply need to turn the Pictures and Pages – from across the world …. into Policy & best Practice!

2008 – The 5 Ways To Wellbeing The Five Ways to Wellbeing are a set of evidence-based public mental health messages aimed at improving the mental health and wellbeing of the whole population. They were developed by NEF as the result of a commission by Foresight, the UK government’s futures think-tank, as part of the Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing.

The 5 Ways To Wellbeing - nef/NHS Confederation Review 2011

This report was commissioned jointly by the National Mental Health Development Unit (NMHDU) and the NHS Confederation in 2010. It states…. In early 2011, the Department of Health launched the Coalition Government’s mental health outcomes strategy, No Health without Mental Health. The strategy identifies two overarching goals, namely to:

See next…

What Now? The 5 Ways to Wellbeing are well established

1. Improve the mental health and wellbeing of the population and keep people well; and 2. Improve outcomes for people with mental health problems through high quality services

NHS Confederation Conclusion on the Way Forward for The 5 Ways To Wellbeing:

There is considerable scope for using the Five Ways to Wellbeing to improve collective wellbeing in a more strategic and indirect way, both in terms of affecting the wider circumstances in which people live to promote wellbeing and by informing processes and ways of working more generally.

Our Assessment: The need is to move from ‘Promotion and Web Pages of Advice’ to Strategic Programmes of Change and Priority based on Nationally Benchmark Scoring of The 5 Ways

Section 2

Levelling Up & Levelling Down

The Way Forward for Implementing The 5 Ways To Wellbeing

Way Forward - Dr. Shabari Hosur MBBS, MRCGP, FRCP

Strike For Pay? Levelling With You – The Problems

Prevention + Cure. The move to a new ICWS

An Integrated Care + Wellbeing Service – The Solution

The way toward any solution such as the one we have now of multiple sector strikes – including our own NHS is to define the problem. This Report – Strike For Pay! Levelling With You seeks to address that issue. An issue brought up in the UK Governments own Levelling Up Report and addressed with this Report covering the critical factor of Wellbeing as the defining issue of discontent on so many levels.

Wellbeing is recognised as a vital area of our UK economy’s health in the Levelling Up White Paperimpacting the Economy by itself of £10Bn’s. So, for the team at FlexicareUK and the fledgling startup of Flexiwell and for myself, meeting the Brief of the 2022 UK Government White Paper with the ‘innovation and action’ it calls for, is critical to the UK Wellbeing & our Economy; not just here in Gloucestershire. Where? By us all in our healthcare sector delivering a “moral, social and economic programme” that the White Paper calls for.

Here are 5 Core Reasons why we (all) need to ‘Meet The Brief’ in the White Paper and create, not just an ICS Integrated Care Service but a new ICWS – with Wellbeing + Care at the heart on integration, collaboration, drive and determination – to deliver a society of ‘well-beings’.

1. Economic Wellbeing The Flexiwell team, as do I, believe the saving of £10’s of Billions, stated in the White paper, will come from ‘Levelling Up Ability’ for all Well-Beings and critically those Un-Well-Beings too. How? By Upskilling all levels in our Society. Going from a ‘REACTIVE’ Care & Cure National Strategy to a ‘PROACTIVE’ Care + Wellbeing Working Together. A Strategy from the Individual to Local Agencies to the National Health and Care Sector. Levelling Up – Bottom up!

2. Social Wellbeing This will come from Levelling Up Ability – with what Flexiwell call the KIST! Principle: Giving EVERYONE a KIST! i.e. Knowledge Inspiration Skills & Tools; to all sectors of EVERY Community – its Companies, Charities, Care Homes, Care at Home, Children and County Authorities. We can all aim to be ‘Well-Beings’.

3. Company Wellbeing This will come from Employers having the Levelling Up Wellbeing Technology (WellTech) Platform to Manage, Motivate & Monitor Wellbeing: And by their Employees having the WellTech Tools i.e. Apps to do the same for themselves. Not a disparate jumble of Social Media + Fitbits + Calm type apps all vying for attention – but being pulled together under the 5 Ways Framework. This is what the team call Levelling Down of Personal Responsibility for Wellbeing

4. NHS Colleagues, Care Staff & All In-Care I believe an ICWS solution can and must come from Carers themselves having the Wellbeing Knowledge, Inspiration, Skills and Tools. Even better – an accreditation. In short having the Goal of a ‘Care + Wellbeing’. Then and only then can Carers inspire their Clients and those in their care to applying the core practices of wellbeing to themselves as a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and LIFETIME PRACTICE.

5. Personal & Family Wellbeing The Flexiwell team believe comes from Levelling Down of Personal Responsibility– so everyone – of all Ages – Abilities – Aspirations has the Knowledge + Inspiration + Skills + Tools to apply to their own CARE + WELLBEING. And then act as Mentors to all around them.

Way Forward A Passionate Plea – From Jeanette Phillips

CEO FlexiCareUK & Co-Founder FlexiWellUK

Putting Wellbeing & Care At The Heart of Our National Health & Wellbeing

A 10 Point Plan For Sustainable Wellbeing & Care Sector – Prevention + Cure

1. Sustainable salaries need to underpin a new system of Health Safety and Well Being at Home.

2. A minimum starting salary of £30K could be linked to completion of expected national standards (the Care Certificate) which incorporates the PAs “Duty of Care” with an integrated ICWS Care+ Wellbeing Sector Accreditation.

3. A proper National Framework needs to be set up, which enables Personal Assistants to progress and take on further professional responsibilities. These duties (currently undertaken by RGNs) should be linked to further salary increase, recognition and value of the Personal Assistant.

4. Flexicare UK Ltd are currently trialling out these new roles called “Fast” and “First” Responders.

5. This enables hospitals to become “short stay” units thus saving the NHS a significant amount.

6. Well Being should be at the “Heart” of all future Personal Assistant practice. (This is built into the Care Certificate virtual training).

7. ‘Going Local’ a Campaign to help ensure this transition to the new era flows smoothly

8. Examples of great practice and Care & Wellbeing working together made virtual and real

9. Focusing on what works, positive practice and collaboration will serve to speed up the transition to health and well being @ home @ work @ play.

10. Collaborating with colleagues in Health Creation and other Wellbeing initiatives will assist the transition.

Way Forward - Policy Statement by

Thomson, Criminal Barrister Former

UK Policy Advisor Meeting The Brief + Responding To The Need

From my years in formulating National CPS policy, I know that the best policy is drawn from extensive research. However, policy is Impotent if it just sits on the shelf – it has to be put into practice. One third of my job entailed drafting policy, one third was creating training, but by far the hardest part was touring our operational branches around the UK delivering that training and winning hearts and minds.

Having an HQ ‘Policy Wonk’ take up your hard pressed working time, to tell you about something new you have to do, on top of all the other tasks you don't have time for, makes for a hard sell.

That's why Levelling Down Responsibility is so important – coupled with power and ownership, enabling individuals to work together to achieve positive change from the ground up – in ways that work in their community, for their community.

Once you have provided empowerment by Levelling Down Responsibility, people need Levelling Up Ability - we see this as Upskilling; giving each individual what we call the KIST! Principle – everyone having the Knowledge, Inspiration, Skills and Tools to reach their objectives, whatever they are.

In my current practice as a criminal defence barrister, I am aware not only of the poor Wellbeing of most of our clients, but also the high stress levels all my colleagues in the Legal Sector are under, be it Court Service, CPS or defence. Arguably the Public Sector has yet to recover from the last period of Austerity in the UK – now we must brace ourselves for another. Burn out will become more common as work levels increase and resources diminish.

I know I need to look after my Wellbeing so that I can serve others. Whatever our field of practice or responsibility, we can't serve others unless we are firing on all cylinders. That is why I am excited to be a part of the WoWWellbeing initiative, enabling everyone to become a Well-Being.

Sally

Crown Prosecution Service

Way Forward - A Word About Financial Wellbeing & WellBeings

From Chris Masters FPFS – CEO The WoWW! Business

Poor mental health + physical Wellbeing costs the UK economy £10Bn’s

Poor mental health costs the UK economy £10Bn’s in lost productivity.

Burnout is described by the World Health Organisation as an occupational phenomenon and something that finance departments can no longer ignore.

But how relatable are these numbers on a more local level?

My advice on Financial Wellbeing (mental health) not just Financial Health (money health) is to start from a position of ‘What's in it for me?’ - if we are to make the cognitive leap to holistic Wellbeing programmes, which drive improved personal financial health; which will drive workplace Wellbeing which in turn can only help drive corporate profits.

The costs of poor mental health are rising fast, a 16% increase from 2016 to January 2020 according to research from Deloitte - that was prior to the pandemic. In the UK alone the annual cost to the economy is estimated at £45billion.

The same research also reviewed the effectiveness of Wellbeing initiatives in providing cost savings and on average found that for every £1 ‘spent’ there is a £5 ‘return’ = a 500% Return on Wellbeing Investment (ROWI).

This is Wellenomics.

Is the time to measure ROWI right now? In a world of stress through Pandemic, Recession, War?

With these staggering returns, surely the road to profitability is to invest as much as possible into Wellbeing programmes – no Finance Director can argue with the 5x ROWI, but the conversation rarely goes that way and when some budget is ‘released’ how should it be spent to achieve the biggest impact?

At WoWW! we believe that we need to demonstrate a return on Wellbeing investment at the most local of levels before applying it to the wider group i.e. for us as individuals –the what’s in it for me test.

If I can see how Wellbeing improves my personal finances, seeing how that might benefit the organisation I work in should be an easy next step.

Way Forward Ian Briggs – Chair Acivico Ltd

Co-Founder CPIC Centre for Practical Innovation in Care

Levelling Down The Responsibility For Wellbeing

Our colleagues in the Healthcare Community have a ‘duty of care’ for all their clients and those in need of care – be it at home or in care homes – or indeed in hospital. The ‘How’s Your Day?

NHS/CARE + UK Benchmark tells us we all have more: A duty of care and responsibility for the Wellbeing for all in our Community, our Counties, our Companies, and our Country. Not just a ‘woolly’ concept of ‘wellbeing’ with diets, mindfulness, exercise or even mental stress or illness – for employers much can be (and is) out-sourced with EAP type help lines. The key for me is to tackle the ‘source’ of Wellbeing – before we get to the need for Cure and Care. Prevention is the biggest need we face in a world of endemic obesity, stress at work and home all made worse with financial unWellbeing – at all levels – with loved ones keeping secrets whatever the salary levels.

Our duty of care and responsibility as employers and as community leaders must cover the wellbeing issues which our colleagues in employment hide under the surface - but they bring to work; issue that affects their work, their productivity and the UK Economy by £10Bn’s. The How’s Your Day? NHS/CARE Survey gives us in the Care Sector as well as UK at Home & Work a clear vision of each of the 5 Ways To Wellbeing, and then it separates them out into the ‘Triumvirate of Wellbeing Drivers –Personal Wellbeing + Financial Wellbeing + Workplace Wellbeing.

Here’s What We Get With The 2022 - 5 WAYS ‘CONNECT’ SURVEY -Creating a Common Wellbeing Language

1. For NHS/CARE Professionals – The 5 Ways To Wellbeing UK Healthcare Sector System of Evaluating all the 5 Ways To Wellbeing providing the % Percentage Scores of -5 to +5. Together with the NPS Net Promoter Scores of Wellbeing. Together with the Quantitative Perceptions that allow direct targeted response

2. UK Omnibus Working / Non Working UK Population – for Benchmarking individual organisations – with their own ‘How’s Your Day?’ Surveys and for Sector / Geographic / Age and other Segmented data for analysis

3. -5 To +5 Percentage YouGov % Scores To Segment and more importantly create visual ‘Wheels of Change’ graphics that allow Marketing & Communication Programmes to centre on discussion, feedback and comparative conversations and stories to populate the dbate and delivery of Wellbeing via Well-Beings.

4. Perceptions “I’m a private person” To Analyse & Act. Through the often distressing quotes from the NPS Detractors, as well as the Passive quotes of those we see as ‘susceptible’ to go either way, to the much fewer quotes of the NPS Promoters from ‘worst practice’ to ‘best practice’ gathering and action planning it is the perceptions that drive change

5. NPS Net Promoter Scores – The universally used system of ‘satisfaction’ applied to WellBeings to analyse and act on any campaign change needed.

Way Forward – My Big Wellbeing ‘Aha!’

Kevin Thomson – Author Co-Founder The WoWW! Business Former International Board IABC

Global Wellness Institute UK Ambassador

A quote first – one of many to put this Report into context – for you to WANT to read it – whether you are in the NHS or Care Sector or not.

If you are in the NHS then you will know the strike is not about pay. If you rely on our Health and Care Service for the cure and care of you and yours – then THEIR wellbeing will be a Number One priority for you too. I could have picked any one!

Research Quote “In all of my roles in healthcare, I have found the culture is extremely judgemental towards staff sickness, in particular, mental health. Given the emotional and stress burden of the job, it has always shocked me. I’ve spent a lot of money on professional help for this and had many periods of sick leave where I’ve felt pressured / guilty about being absent.”

Now For My Big Aha! - It’s one of those moments that can change your life and change how you saw your life. It happened when I came across the ‘5 Ways To Wellbeing’ and the No.1 of those 5 Ways – TO CONNECT. I had always said in my life’s early profession of Marketing, then soon what I came to call ‘Internal Marketing’ (as my version of ‘Employee Communication) that ‘marketing’ is about getting ‘buy-in’ while communication is about creating ‘understanding’.

I would say that good or even great communication creates a level of understanding about the subject or object while good or great marketing makes me want to buy it, or buy in to the concept, proposition, or goal. NEVER did I see good communication – between people was so much more than that.

Good or great communication creates something really special – the way we do (or don’t) CONNECT and relationships and the quantity of our ‘connectionS’ - and the quality of ‘connectioN’ predicts the most important part of our Wellbeing; how we become Well-Beings.

A decade later - after the Big Aha! and a decade of working with two amazing people who share the passion and dedication to improving our Wellbeing we are ready to launch on an unsuspecting world a 5 Ways ‘Platform’ for managing and motivating Employers to build a Culture and Climate of Wellbeing & Well-Beings; an App we’re calling ‘Moments’ i.e. Moments to Wellbeing to engage and excite Employees We’ve dedicated the last decade to building training and mentoring method through creating a Policy & Process of Wellbeing we call The KIST! Principle. For us it’s all about Levelling Up Ability and Levelling Down Responsibility. How? Through being KIST! With the Knowledge Inspiration Skills & Tools of Wellbeing.

But where to start and with whom? Working with the very passionate Jeanette Phillips CEO of FlexicareUK and co-founder with Ian Briggs of CPIC- the Centre for Practical Innovation in Care we pledged to beta test our own innovations in the NHS & CARE Sector. Starting with a Survey we piloted with YouGov in 2015 on the UK/Work Omnibus; followed by 2020; then an update in September 2022. This was with my co-Founder of The WoWW! Business, Chris Masters FPFS. Jeanette was easily persuaded to run a parallel survey with the YouGov panel they call HCP – Health & Care Professionals.

As they say on Strictly Come Dancing – The Results (of both) are IN!

What you have here with this survey is not something to gaze (glaze) over and expect and Executive Summary it’s a document of people’s lives; their Personal Wellbeing & their un-Wellbeing; their Workplace Wellbeing and working with Health + Care + Cure and too often without a Wellbeing element; and their Financial Wellbeing = Mental as well as their Financial Health = Money.

And if you would like to join us as one of our WoWWayfinders on our Wellbeing journey and/or contribute to Wellenomics At Work then Over to you - I'd be delighted to CONNECT – me@kevinmthomson.uk

Section 3 - Summary Findings NHS/CARE Sector

The Big Un-Well-Being Picture – An Overview With Quick Sample Survey Quotes

Sample Survey Quotes on Organisational Wellbeing NPS -39%

There is a culture of over-professionalism and hierarchy in the NHS which makes personal conversations difficult, no matter how often they're encouraged.

Whilst wellbeing is superficially something that is supported in the NHS, in reality the culture is all about how much they can get out of you for the cheapest price.

Everyone is in the same situation - low morale, poor staffing levels, poor pay, unsafe working conditions, lots of people wanting to leave

Sample Survey Quotes Personal Wellbeing NPS -68%

I don't want to burden others; I don't want to be dramatic. The reality is I have often contemplated suicide as a 'get out' working in the NHS has become intolerable. Life outside of work is great, would be great if I earned more to cover cost of living but working life impacts every aspect of life.

I feel depressed a lot of the time, no-one wants to discuss this openly

I think *most* people are struggling at the moment, so it's hard to find support /positivity from people who already feel similarly to you. I think people around me have far less capacity than normal for taking care of themselves and others. It’s my personality

Newly disabled. Still awaiting full diagnosis. Husband has PTSD from years of frontline ambulance work and my illness is making his worse.

Sample Survey Quotes Financial Wellbeing NPS -76%

My own personal situation is complicated and since my divorce I am concerned about my financial future and lack of security

I am in debt and seek advice through step change org. My financial situation is awful and getting worse, it stresses me out.

Working in the NHS, the government set your wages, yet I'm struggling to make ends meet. My job role title and description is not really the role I am carrying out but the Hospital can’t change it and give me a pay rise.

I am struggling to feed my family and maybe forced to look for a new job because I can’t afford to work in the job I love

The

UK/Workplace

Big Un-Well-Being Picture – An Overview With Quick Sample Survey Quotes

Sample Survey Quotes on Organisational Wellbeing NPS -54%

Because I don’t talk to anyone about my wellbeing, not even those closest to me or outside help, I keep things hidden. Because I find it hard to communicate Don’t really want to go on about it Don’t see the need in telling everyone my problems and well-being Don’t talk I am a private person and do not feel comfortable discussing my feels with people I do not know well. There’s still too much stigma when it comes to mental health and wellbeing. Everyone jumps on the bandwagon during Mental Awareness Day / Week / Month but that’s all it is!! They’re aware of it but they don’t really want to know because they don’t understand Isn’t it about time people stopped being simply “aware” and learnt how to listen / help / respond / care?

Sample Survey Quotes Personal Wellbeing NPS -73%

Becasue I don't talk to anyone at all about my health and/ or physical and mental wellbeing, not even those closest to me; I keep things hidden. Because its nobody elses business I am a master of disguising my pain and fatigue in order to appear “normal”. Why would I ruin that?

Sample Survey Quotes Financial Wellbeing NPS -74%

My own Because I don’t talk to anyone about my money, not even those closest to me; I keep things hidden. Because my finances are my concern, no one else. It makes no difference talking about it. Friends and families and strangers are in it to find out how much you have in your bank it is private you should not tell anyone It’s my business and there is nobody I would ask for help if I needed it

ALL TIED UP IN NOT’S

NHS STRIKE NOT PAY? SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS

1. WELLBEING & WELL-BEINGS – PREVENTION & CURE

– A UK Strategy NOT Tactics – NHS Confederation Recommendations on nef 2011

1. Support delivered through the new public health infrastructure 2. Improving measurement and evaluation 3. Focus on assessing the frequency and nature of Five-Ways-type activities rather than people’s feelings per se. 4. General support material on how to measure the effectiveness of interventions that make use of the Five Ways to Wellbeing 5. Set-up sufficiently rigorous project evaluations

2. LEVELLING UP ABILITY + LEVELLING DOWN RESPONSIBILITY UK + LOCAL

– A Policy + Programmes NOT Posters + Pages

1. Levelling Down Responsibility - Putting Prevention + Cure at the Heart of a New Strategy & Campaign to Help Change the Crisis Facing the Healthcare Sector – Too Few People, Low Pay & Poor Perception of Care Workers. Applying the New 4P’s of Wellbeing Marketing & Communication.

2 Levelling Up Ability - Putting a Wellbeing Brand of ‘Promoters’ at the Core of a Wellbeing Training & Accreditation Programme called The ‘KIST! Principle’ to build the Knowledge Inspiration Skills & Tools of a new Generation & Respected Brand of Wellbeing + WellTech Wayfinders for Care Professionals & Staff.

3. WORKPLACE WELLBEING – Climate Change NOT Culture Change

1. Un-Caring @ 41% & Trust @14% in a CARE/ NHS Sector – Un-Caring would be an indictment in any sector but in a sector dedicated to the ‘care’ of others what is it saying? And what about ‘trust’ when it is in the organisation’s name/brand. Traditionally, issues like this would be viewed as a ‘cultural’ issue requiring ‘culture change’. Yet the NHS & Care Sectors don’t need to define their Culture requiring ‘care’ as a core value. When I define ‘culture’ (in the Company Culture Cookbook) as what we 'Think + Feel + Believe’ then ‘caring’ would sit at the top of anyone’s list –probably the reason they joined the sector. Yet the comments don’t refer to ‘feelings’ they refer to what people ‘Say + Do + Look like’: This is the ‘Climate’ that people work in.

2. It is NOT about a Culture Change it IS about a Climate Change – and NOT just about Pay.

4. PERSONAL WELLBEING CommunicatioN + ConnectioN NOT CommunicationS + ConnectionS

1. The NUMBER 1 Way To Wellbeing – as also evidenced by the Harvard ‘Happiness’ Study is all about ‘relationships’ – as the Harvard Study revealed NOT about money or fame – as most people believe. If you do a Google Search of The 5 Ways To Wellbeing under ‘All’ you will get a plethora of Pages – to do’s / lists of advice and actions to take. If you look under Images you will get a plethora of Posters of the 5 Ways. The myth prevails that a mass of CommunicationS material and copy create a CAMPAIGN – is a myth. True CommunicatioN creates understanding NOT CommunicationS creates ‘noise’.

The ‘How’s Your Day?’ Survey reveals the failure of CommunicationS. See NHS Confederation recommendations = rigorous project -NOT Poster or Page views - evaluations

2. In a world of Social Media – we have myth number two – the NUMBER of ConnectionS you have on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc show how ‘well’ you are doing with relationships. The 5 Ways To Wellbeing say that to CONNECT i.e your ConnectioN with other is vital. The ‘How’s Your Day?’ Survey reveals the failure of the number or lack of ConnectionS.

5. FINANCIAL WELLBEING

Financial Wellbeing & Health NOT Financial Health + Wealth

1. The Finance Sector would have you believe that there are innumerable ‘campaigns’ aimed at just about everybody title ‘Financial Wellbeing’ – How many of these Just campaigns talk of the way people ‘CONNECT’ over money @home @work or even @play with friends. How many talk of the other 5 Ways in a way that ensures you BE ACTIVE and not hide: TAKE NOTICE and not ignore what’s happening: KEEP LEARNING how to deal with money, pensions, investments and not keep in the dark, gamble, worry: GIVE your time as well as money as a key to your Wellbeing?

2. 24% = Only ¼ of the CONNECT Passive/Detractor feedback is on our ‘Financial HEALTH’ = MONETARY impact on our WEALTH Massive 76% = Just over ¾ is about how we feel inside and our ‘Emotional Capital’ or our ‘Financial WELLBEING’ = the MENTAL impact on our HEALTH.

BOTTOM LINE - Financial WELLBEING is NOT Financial HEALTH

Summary NHS/Care Sector

NHS STRIKE – FIRST IN ITS HISTORY

Understaffing, low pay and the impact on staff mental health are the main reasons why nurses are backing strike action, those in support of walkouts have told the i. Here’s the NHS/Care Quotes to prove it…

Quotes NHS work has got to an all-time low. The last 12 years of conservative government have managed to push all employees further and further towards breakdowns. I have lost many colleagues including 2 suicides. I along with many of my colleagues have discussed leaving the NHS and will likely do so early in our consultant careers.

Negative perception of well-being, the 'suck it up and get on with it' attitude now endemic within the organisation. Experienced burn out recently, managed it on my own, there is no leadership awareness or support, lip service is paid, and well-being has become a tick box exercise and a word associated with the 'snowflake generation' words used repeatedly in meetings by senior members of staff. Gaslighting and toxic positivity ensues if you raise concerns regarding team well-being, staffing challenges and attrition rates. I took a different role at the same grade but less pay in another hospital within the same trust so reduce the pressure, stress and challenges being in a specific hospital and leading a team with such shocking staffing challenges, high attrition rates, inexperienced leaders and a strong blame culture.

Don't feel I can talk to anyone, as the job makes me anxious and totally stressed, I don't sleep for more than a few hours a night, no one can help me, only me and that's to find a new job

Everyone is in the same situation - low morale, poor staffing levels, poor pay, unsafe working conditions, lots of people wanting to leave

I am a Speech and Language Therapy manager and currently there is a national shortage of therapists. Staffing challenges and funding issues are having a huge impact on staff wellbeing and causing stress, burnout and long-term sickness. Staff feel that the organisation does not care about their wellbeing and therefore there are initiatives in place to focus on this.

The health board is obliged to say they are trying to improve things for staff but little evidence of actual help is seen. We can raise concerns with our managers but we’re told there is nothing they can do despite 3 people quitting through work related stress in the last 18 months. Talking to each other to vent is our stress relief valve.

Some of my colleagues are not supportive, in particular, my line manager who is dismissive, uninterested in my wellbeing and failed to provide me with any training or support for my role which was a promotion from another team within the organisation. I will be leaving the organisation and moving to another NHS role next month. My next role is only a 12 month fixed contract so I will need to look for another role in about 9 months.

Supervisions have for the last 1+ years become a managerial process and tick box exercise. No meaningful interest into staffs wellbeing hence the above statement is correct and familiar throughout the NHS

Talking about well-being at work would not be supported, the senior nursing hierarchy is extremely toxic and it would be seen as weakness and exploited

The ambulance service talks a good game about supporting their employees, but it’s all a front. The true counselling happens between close work mates who understand the actual stress and strain of the job. Anyone above 1st level management is clueless and doesn’t care…and they show it regularly

Summary Quotes NHS/Care Workplace Wellbeing

NPS – 39%

Un-Caring @ 41%

Some of my colleagues are not supportive, in particular, my line manager who is dismissive, uninterested in my wellbeing and failed to provide me with any training or support for my role

There are two aspects that many organisation only list as one ie. Company Culture. This leads to calling programmes ‘Culture Change’. Chages of ‘Visions, Missions and Values’. Theses are key issues centred around making people Think, Feel and Believe something new or different. Yet in ‘The Company Culture Cookbook’ the real things that needs to change is ‘Clmate Change’.

1. Un-Willing @ 23%

I would not talk about my wellbeing to anyone in work only friends and family but not to overburden them.

This is all about being ‘a private person’. So no matter how you feel – and it may be bad – you are unwilling to ‘open up’ to others. It may be in your nature e.g. introvert or from experience e.g. been exposed in the past but the word ‘private’ would also we a big word cloud like ‘trust’. In a Sector dedicated to Health and Care (not wellbeing) it is surely an indictment that people don’t both trust and see the need to stay silent.

2. Un-Trusting @ 14%

I don't trust work colleagues to use knowledge about my wellbeing in a way beneficial to me

Trust, trust, trust. Any ‘word cloud’ of this survey will be a big black cloud of the number of times the word ‘trust’ is mentioned. Trusting – colleagues, managers, the system, others around you @work @home @ play –is a big issue of un-Well-Beings. Why? For fear of exposing yourself, job security, gossip and more.

4.Un-Connected @ 13%

Because my mental health is my own problem. I do not want to be open, that’s my choice, no one else’s.

This is a 5 Ways to Wellbeing way of looking at how people relate to and with others – or not. The No.1 Way of Wellbeing is to CONNECT i.e. it’s all about our RELATIONSHIPS. This is further evidenced by the world’s longest study on ‘Happiness’ the Harvard Study that says it’s not wealth or fame but our relationships that define our happiness.

5 Under Pressure @ 9%

I was really unwell at the end of 2 21, both physically and mentally. Completely burnt out This would b assumed to be the BIG one regarding the subject of ‘Wellbeing @ Work’ – the stress, the pressure, the time constraints, the low pay for long hours etc. No.

Summary Quotes NHS/Care Personal Wellbeing

NPS – 68%

There is little support for employees with mental or physical health conditions. No attempts to understand, only judgement if it affects your role or patient safety. Where it does affect patient safety, it’s me stating this, and nothing is done to prevent this, leading me to taking sick leave even when I could manage it reasonable adjustments were made.

Sometimes there is a lack of understanding. I can feel that I go on about it too much at times

Talking about health / wellbeing is not acceptable to some people who may find it stressful

The NHS is overwhelmed so its often difficult to access wellbeing or healthcare in the area. The GP practices in my locality are poor in comparison to adjacent areas.

The NHS is so underfunded that there is no point doing anything except in emergencies. when you work full time and everything is phone consultations which I can't do at work.

I don't want to burden my family.

I don't want to burden others, I don't want to be dramatic. The reality is I have often contemplated suicide as a 'get out' working in the NHS has become intolerable. Life outside of work is great, would be great if I earned more to cover cost of living but working life impacts every aspect of life. I dont like to discuss it because I know I need to change it but have no motivation to do so

I don’t like talking about my health as it’s private and I feel people would see me as weak

I don’t like to bother others, they have their own problems

I think *most* people are struggling at the moment, so it's hard to find support / positivity from people who already feel similarly to you. Anecdotally I think people around me have far less capacity than normal for taking care of themselves and others.

I think daily about my mental health, I've had support from outside but found it no good and in the end realised if I was going to get better I'd have to do it myself. My husband doesn't understand depression and is not good to talk to, I don't talk to other family members but keep it to myself trying to figure it out.

I think people would judge me if they knew some of the more frightening thoughts and feelings that I have.

I don't want to burden others, I don't want to be dramatic. The reality is I have often contemplated suicide as a 'get out' working in the NHS has become intolerable. Life outside of work is great, would be great if I earned more to cover cost of living but working life impacts every aspect of life

Summary Quotes NHS/Care Financial Wellbeing

NPS – 76%

I’ve learnt to not talk about money with other people as it can cause rifts between relationships Just with my husband

Like my privacy

Like to keep things private

Money is a very personal matter especially in todays society people are quick to judge

Money is my business and certainly not the business of anyone outside my home

My business, not others

My family: I have a lot more money than them and I don’t want them to ask for it.

My finances are My business and don't feel it necessary to discuss with people outside my family

It's a dull subject

It's a tough one because I'm qualified in business & finance as well as accounting & auditing. I have knowledge & experience of finance. However the current economic situation is quite dire for a lot of people, me included, so it's very tough to talk about especially when there's not a lot of options available to improve the situation.

It's hard to talk about the money when you are working as hard as you can and you can't do anymore as at the end of the day family comes first. But then again if you won't take extra work you won’t have enough money. Specially when everything now is tripled

It's only money

I’ve always seen advertised services for healthcare workers, by the nursing union and NHS organisations, offering financial support during times of difficulty. I recently faced this myself and tried to access the services but found them extremely unhelpful and restricting.

I say I don't earn enough for my outgoings.

Have financial worries but people assume we are well off because I have a good job Having lots of financial difficulties and have had to ask family for help Everyone at home earns different amounts of money so it causes tension I am in debt and seek advice through step change. My financial situation is awful and getting worse, it stresses me out.

I am in debt. My outgoings exceed my income

Summary Findings UK Omnibus/Workplace

The key similarity between the two surveys of Connect in the Workplace is that two issues create 75% of the ‘un-Wellbeings’ responses.

In the NHS the Employer who doesn’t ‘CARE’ in a sector where ‘care’ is the focus is the No. issue whilst the No.2 issue is of being ‘un-willing’ to speak up about wellbeing – often due to fear of reprisal is the second biggest issue.

Because I find it hard to communicate

In the UK/Workplace sector the word ‘care’ rarely comes up – what does come up as the No. issue @48% of all ‘detractor’ quotes is how people are simply not connected – ironically the No. Way To Wellbeing - with their employer or others around them over their own or generally about wellbeing. Given the significant focus on ‘employee communicationS’ (ie messaging) as a strategic imperative and added to that the (recent due to Pandemic) on wellbeing it has had little impact on the ‘communicatioN’ (i.e. the internal market) wanted, desired or undertaken by employees.

As work like to push the word wellbeing about but do nothing about it that’s of any real impact. If you state you are stressed they say they will support you but most people seem to be put on formal plans leading to dismissal.

The No. 2 Issue is the reverse of the NHS/Care Sector and this time it is the lack of ‘engagement’ at work, with management and with other colleagues – this does tie in with issues of ‘trust’ and also ‘gossip’ and fear of being seen as ‘weak' if showing any workplace, mental or emotional ill-health.

Given that al the media focus – aided by the striking workers with placards saying ‘strike’ or ‘pay’, it is clear from BOTH surveys that lack of pay is not the key issue (mentioned) that is causing people to quote issues around their wellbeing on the single simple issue of ‘pay’. Whilst money may be a factor of un-wellbeing and the ability to talk i.e Connect with others it is the deeper issue of relationships ie Connecting = the No. Way to Wellbeing that is the critical issue to address.

NHS Strike and Other Sectors – Rail Teachers etc

Summary Quotes

UK Workplace Wellbeing

NPS – 54%

1 Dis-Connected @ 49%

Because I don’t talk to anyone about my wellbeing, not even those closest to me or outside help, I keep things hidden.

Because you obviously don't want everybody to know everything about you & I'm sure they don't want everyone to know their business either

Due to working from home it is harder to talk to work colleagues Everyone else has their own problems without mine I tend only to speak when frustration boils up I want to appear to be able to be coping better than I am

2 Dis-Engaged UK/Workplace @ 30%

As work like to push the word wellbeing about but do nothing about it that’s of any real impact. If you state you are stressed they say they will support you but most people seem to be put on formal plans leading to dismissal.

It takes me a long time to make take action to make changes that increase my own well being. As a woman I find misogyny, sexism, bullying alive and kicking and even when I seek help to stop the perpetrators they are usually men and support this behaviour.

There’s still too much stigma when it comes to mental health and wellbeing. Everyone jumps on the bandwagon during Mental Awareness Day / Week / Month but that’s all it is!! They’re aware of it but they don’t really want to know because they don’t understand . Isn’t it about time people stopped being simply “aware” and learnt how to listen / help / respond / care?

3. Dis-Trusting UK/Workplace @ 12%

Because in my work place no secret's are safe, so if there is a personal issue eveyone will know it in a day or so I’ve previously shared with colleagues and it’s reflected negatively on my work Managers would be angry and other colleagues would report you. Just vent to like - minded colleagues you trust I wouldn’t want to be the subject of “office gossip” and feel there could / would be judgment on certain things I may say or feel.

4 Dis-Quiet UK/Workplace @ 5%

Because I don`t want to bother people by talking about my personal wellbeing and I am not sure that they would be interested anyway. Don't find it appropriate at work, privacy It's just something that I rarely talk about. Most people have concerns about their own wellbeing and aren't bothered by anyone else's wellbeing.

5 Distressed UK/Workplace @4%

People have got too much shit going on to worry about anyone else My workload is too high and there is no real mitigation in place People don't want dragging down. People aren't as good as listening as they once were. I feel I will put my depression on others who are busy enough. I'm the sole earner in the household and I'm super fucking stressed and depressed and have been for years. Technically I count as suicidal but I can't do anything about it because my husband would likely follow me, and I'm probably too exhausted to plan anyway. I don't have the time or energy to get through the NHS queues for support or counseling. There is no end in sight. I'm not exactly scared of mentioning it to colleagues but they wouldn't cope with knowing all that kinda stuff.

Summary Quotes UK Personal

NPS -73%

Intravert – Keep things private or bottled up

Becasue I don't talk to anyone at all about my health and/ or physical and mental wellbeing, not even those closest to me; I keep things hidden.

Because its nobody elses business

I am a master of disguising my pain and fatigue in order to appear “normal”. Why would I ruin that?

I am a private person regarding these matters.

I grew up as a product of society of that time, learning to cope, internalise and rationalise a range of wellbeing issues. It was a case of when the going gets tough the tough get going or you go under. No individual can never understand how painful it was, as you have to live it to truly understand the depth of despair and misery.

Judging – What others might say, think, do – or not do

Because many mental health ‘experts’ are actually pretty incompetent and patronising. I know more than they do. Most people understand less about mental and physical health matters than me because I do lots of research. The professional NHS services are pitiful and disconnected. Referrals don’t seem to happen or take weeks. Their assessment methods are wrong - they assess ‘risk’ in order to dismiss people. They are not assessing true risk and people will die as a result

As a disabled man. Nobody wants to know or the professional response is "but it's because of your disability so nothing can be done!"

Bad experiences with many health professionals... Awful mental symptoms that would probably get me sectioned again if I talk about them. Physical difficulties are hard, but lost all trust in my GP due to his behaviour, and no trust in any doctor or other staff anymore. No more trauma, I can't take it anymore.

Sensing - The Facts of The Situation / Not appropriate to talk at work

Because i don't know my colleagues well enough to trust them Because no one is interested Because some people can’t see anything except that I am fat and assume that is the source of every other problem

Depression

Discussing these things at work is not beneficial

I don’t like to speak to people about it for fear of judgement or making people feel uncomfortable. A lot of people do not know what to say and cannot just listen and behave as they did before when you tell them you are feeling or have had depression In the past Health of sometimes personal and makes me feel worse when talking about it Husband not interested

Thinking – Logical way of going about things @ 11%

Being a long term carer and experiencing bereavements have seriously affected my mental and physical health. I don't want to burden my family with my problems weh they have their own lives to lead. Being disabled sucks!

Because they won't help me in anyways

I don’t have many understanding people around me, but some are, but very busy and I don’t want to make them uncomfortable, or seem like I’m placing my problems on them. Also, people just don’t need to hear another person banging on about depression and Asperger’s when there’s nothing thing they can do to help. Which can only make them feel worse, which will make me feel worse.

I don’t like being vulnerable

I don’t like talking about health. It has a habit of making one paranoid.

Summary Quotes

UK Financial Wellbeing

NPS – 74%

It’s Private– And not your business @ 35%

Because I don’t talk to anyone about my money, not even those closest to me; I keep things hidden. Friends and families and strangers are in it to find out how much you have in your bank it is private you should not tell anyone

It’s my business and there is nobody I would ask for help if I needed it The current financial situation is a massive source of stress and mental problems. I am not feeling hopeful and it is taking a toll on my everyday life.

Cos it’s overwhelming and I’m really stressed about it but don’t know what to do I am worried about my financial situation but do not want

It’s Relationships – And conflict @ 16%

Because I am not the main earner in our household, so there is a big imbalance in whose financial decisions are considered most valid. Despite my partner saying we have equal input into financial decisions (as I stayed home to look after the children and worked part time, whilst he worked full time and earned more), in practice that is not true. Any financial output led by me comes with strings attached and expectations of it being repaid in some way in the future.

It's just something people are not willing nor happy to talk about and it can cause friction or problems especially within families if there is a struggle of any kind.

It’s Finances – And difficulties with them @ 14%

Over the past 6 months I have seen a huge change in my financial outgoings - negatively - and this concerns me / I discuss the impact of this and the similar situations people I know are in. I have had a big change in my income since covid following redundancy during the pandemic and taking a job that was much less pay. This was not an issue until recently with the impact of the increased costs which are having a huge change on my financial well-being

Because I am in a difficult situation regarding my finances and feel frustrated by my disabilities which impede on my ability in getting jobs and then also having my social security benefits taken away from me if I were to find a job. I'm unsure of where to go.

I don't want anyone knowing my personal financial business as it can change how people view you as there's a lot of snobbery surrounding financial status

It’s Money – And lack of it @10%

I feel that my money worries has to be dealt by me, unless the money worries have gone too far by xxx power company cancelling my direct debits, and putting me into the red so deep, that they are piling on £20 per month, that I feel that it’s cheaper to die, than carry on trying to pay my debts. Which is a desperate statement to make down the phone to xxxpower company. Because everyone I know is struggling. None of us are comfortably off, we are all terrified about the energy bills. Our rent, cost of living in general. And lots of us live ruraly and also need heating oil and coal etc - no one wants to talk about the crippling cost of that too. I have friends in their 50s working 3 jobs just to stay afloatthat is not OK. My daughter is working 2 jobs, one full time and another part time, just to pay her rent. We are sinking like a stone - and all the while the big business and shareholders get fatter and richer off our pain. I would burn the whole shit show to the ground and start again. I am disabled and am unable to work - there's no help, just a palty £50 - and I am stuck at home all day whilst my husband works. I am sat with as much electric turned off as possible, and spent january - march this year, almost in the dark, with no heating while hubby was at work, so I could keep the bills down - its a miserable existence

Appendix

Background To Methodology

For the 2011 Changes Required to the nef 2008 Report By nef for the NHS Confederation 2011 NHS Confederation Report Five Ways to Wellbeing - new applications, new ways of thinking

The Five Ways to Wellbeing is a set of evidence-based public mental health messages aimed at improving the mental health and wellbeing of the whole population.

They were developed by nef (the new economics foundation) as the result of a commission by Foresight, the UK government’s futures think-tank, as part of the Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing.

In early 2011, the Department of Health launched the Coalition Government’s mental health outcomes strategy, No Health without Mental Health. The strategy identifies two overarching goals, namely to:

1. Improve the mental health and wellbeing of the population and keep people well; and

2. Improve outcomes for people with mental health problems through highquality services that are equally accessible to all.

“The Government recognises that our mental health is central to our quality of life, central to our economic success and interdependent with our success in improving education, training and employment outcomes and tackling some of the persistent problems that scar our society, from homelessness, violence and abuse to drug use and crime.”

The direction of travel, then, is moving away from an understanding of mental health that focuses solely on the provision of targeted help for vulnerable groups, towards an approach that balances promotion and prevention of mental health and wellbeing at a population level together with care and treatment.

At a macro-level, strategic decisions about economic, social, and environmental policy influence the background context within which people go about their daily lives. In principle, it would be possible to enact policies affecting the whole population (or significant groups within it) with the explicit intention of promoting wellbeing, perhaps by restricting or mandating certain kinds of activity, or by incentivising and/or lifting barriers to Five-Ways-type behaviours.

Discussion and conclusions Diag. NHS

This report presents the results of a scoping exercise looking at how the Five Ways to Wellbeing have been used across the UK since their launch as part of the Foresight report in October 2008.The Five Ways to Wellbeing was developed based on evidence relating to individuals‟ behaviour. If individuals change their behaviour so as to incorporate more Five-Ways-type activities into their day-to-day lives, the empirical evidence suggests that their subjective wellbeing should improve. However, this does not mean that the focus of interventions need always be the individual.

As the examples in the survey responses show, there is considerable scope for using the Five Ways to Wellbeing to improve collective wellbeing in a more strategic and indirect way, both in terms of affecting the wider circumstances in which people live to promote wellbeing and by informing processes and ways of working more generally.

The following are three key observations.

• Taking a wellbeing approach: The Principal Purpose dimension…. from using the Five Ways to Wellbeing as the basis for explicit mental health promotion interventions towards using them to integrate an understanding of wellbeing into existing activities.

Achieving this shift means thinking about how wellbeing gains can flow indirectly from existing activities and initiatives. In turn, this means thinking about wellbeing as an approach to doing things, rather than – necessarily – the main goal or outcome.

There are a number of ways that this might be achieved. For instance, Local Authorities could incorporate outcomes based on the Five Ways to Wellbeing into the commissioning specifications for all kinds of services, not just the obvious areas of mental health and adult social care.

• Beyond the individual: the Point of Intervention dimension As noted, the evidence underpinning the Five Ways to Wellbeing is at the level of the individual.

Some of the initiatives reviewed described themselves as promoting community flourishing. However, there was a relative paucity of examples where the actual point of intervention was demonstrably at a group level.

• The concept of community wellbeing is, at present, somewhat underdeveloped and underevidenced in the academic literature.

It would be interesting for further research and development to explore whether the Five Ways to Wellbeing is a useful way to think about flourishing communities.

Is there, for instance, evidence that improvements in individuals‟ wellbeing within a certain community result in improvements in community-level outcomes?

Such evidence, if it existed, would support the intuition of many local policy-makers that the wellbeing agenda is more likely to have a positive impact if focused at the community level rather than at individuals.

Related to this, although the Five Ways to Wellbeing has been adapted on an ad hoc basis for use with a range of different stakeholders, to date there has been no systematic work to test its acceptability with different groups. For instance, it may be that the messaging needs to be adapted for use with certain BME groups, or people with health needs. Measuring outcomes and effectiveness

It is clear that many of the projects considered in this report would benefit from a more integrated and thorough approach to measurement.

Whilst the Five Ways to Wellbeing themselves are evidence-based, in future there will be a need for robust evaluations of their implementation and application. To put it plainly, whilst the survey described earlier tells us something about the ways in which the Five Ways to Wellbeing can be used, it tells us nothing about which uses are more or less effective in improving wellbeing.

1. Ultimately, it may be that this is best achieved through the provision of “best practice” advice and support delivered through the new public health infrastructure (i.e. Public Health England and/or the health and wellbeing boards).

2. Improving measurement and evaluation could also be helped, in part, by the development of a specific Five Ways to Wellbeing measurement tool.

3. Such a tool would support but not replace existing instruments designed to measure population subjective wellbeing (such as the WEMWBS), since it would likely focus on assessing the frequency and nature of Five-Waystype activities rather than people’s feelings per se.

4. In addition it would be useful to develop some general support material on how to measure the effectiveness of interventions that make use of the Five Ways to Wellbeing, in terms of outcomes/distance travelled.

5. Many of the organisations currently using the Five Ways to Wellbeing are more action focused rather than research-focused and may need support in order to set-up sufficiently rigorous project evaluations

Background On Our 5 Ways To Wellbeing Survey Methodology

All Models Are Neither Right – Nor Wrong – It’s What They Reveal & How Well You Can Connect With Them, To Yourself And Then To Others, That’s What’s Critical.

The ICEBERG of Un-Well-Beings Is For YOU To Open Up Conversations & Build Relationships It’s The No 1 Way To Wellbeing – To CONNECT

Welcome To The ICEBERG - And All It Reveals

Then More Importantly –– BE ACTIVE – TAKE NOTICE – KEEP LEARNING –GIVE; Advice, Time, Support, Care, Trust.

The CONNECT survey is the first of our in-going surveys of the 5 Ways To Wellbeing – CONNECT – BE ACTIVE – TAKE NOTICE – KEEP LEARNING – GIVE

By measuring each of these and comparing the scores of each against the Triumvirate of Well-Beings we can not only Track & Trend the levels of Wellbeing but also of un-Wellbeing. That’s the beginning of looking to reasons, solutions, interventions, training, mentoring and campaigns.

There are 3 key ways of measuring people’s reactions in our 5 Ways To Wellbeing – The ‘Connect’ Survey – The No.1 of the 5 Ways To Wellbeing. Connect with Wellbeing with the ‘Triumvirate of Well-Beings – Financial Wellbeing, Personal Wellbeing and Organisational Wellbeing i.e. at Work

1. Quantitative Results - The % of people at each level of (in this case) a measure of -5 to + 5. This gives us the ‘pie-chart’ which we can take overall % figures or segment by age, job role, geography, ethnicity etc. We can then compare and contrast the results across the Wellbeing Triumvirate. Financial, Personal, Work. And we can do the same with our separate UK/WORK OMNIBUS Survey where we can see a direct comparison with all those people the care sector interacts with @ work and @home and @play.

2. The NPS – Net Promoter Score where the (simple) method of taking the % of ‘Detractors’ away form the % of Promoters gives a ‘net score’ of the ‘Promoters’ of any issue. The measure based on the concept that only those scoring at +9 & +1 are really true advocates or ‘promoters’ of your organisation; and those scoring to +6 are those who will ‘Detract’ from your reputation, quality of product or service etc. Those at +7 & +8 are simply ‘Passive’ and so have no impact either way. In this way we have three NPS Scores for the Way that NHS/Care Sector Professionals are ready, willing and able – or not – to ‘Connect’ with others about 1/ their Financial Wellbeing 2/ Personal Wellbeing 3/ Wellebeing in the Workplace Again, we can also directly compare to the UK in general.

3. Qualitative Results – What people think, feel and believe (which we class as ‘cultural issues) and what people say, do and look like (which we class as ‘climate issue’ as they go about their lives @work @home @play. It is here that we have segmented the qualitative results into sections that portray different and revealing facts. Also, by comparing the numbers in each section we can compare and contrast the % splits of differing reactions to the survey questions and discover the order of magnitude of reactions.

Un-Caring

@ 41% - of all Passive/Detractor Comments & Un-Supported to Talk & Act On Wellbeing

1. Because everyone is so busy and CAMHS are under a great deal of stress, this makes it difficult to openly discuss your own well-being 2. Because the NHS don’t care 3. Because the business has shown time and time again that they are not really interested in doing more than paying lip service to on the job wellbeing 4. Can be a toxic environment to work in, well-being is talked about and policies are made but it’s not good non practice 5. Culture is to put up and shut up. Tick the boxes that say you've discussed your wellbeing and get on with the job. 6. Do not have supervisions or appraisals My friends understand me more 7. Don't feel I can talk to anyone, as the job makes me anxious and totally stressed, I don't sleep for more than a few hours a night ,no one can help me, only me and that's to find a new job 8. Don't feel I have anyone to talk to. Prefer to keep it separate from work. 9. Don't feel comfortable enough to discuss this with others

10. Don't feel that the management are supportive and would listen and take on how people feel

11. Don't have good management to talk to.

12. Don't like to talk about it as if I admit it makes it more real. Easier to pretend everything is ok

13. Don’t feel my employers are approachable to discuss health & wellbeing. Especially if it’s their practice that could be causing issues.

14. Don’t want to be burden or look weak

15. Even if discuss wellbeing with manger at work nothing is done to ease stress or workload so just know I have to get on with it as have no choice

16. Everyone is in the same situation - low morale, poor staffing levels, poor pay, unsafe working conditions, lots of people wanting to leave

17. Fear I would lose my job

18. Fear of being judged and labelled, along with a general reluctance to 'open up' means I am only comfortable with a few close long term colleagues.

19. Feel work colleagues and managers are all too busy / stressed to be able to listen

20. Feel well-being is private and not part of work

21. Had post traumatic anxiety disorder that led to depression. Nobody really cared about me and nobody, even close to me, could understand me nor support me

22. Have to show ability to cope with the job and don't trust colleagues to keep privacy or to not use information against you

23. I HAVE ALWAYS FELT LIKE THIS BECAUSE I DONT WANT MY WORK COLLEAGUES OR FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO THINK OF ME AS A FAILURE

24. I WORK IN A TOXIC ENVIRONMENT WHERE I AM NOT COMFORTABLE TO SHARE THESE THINGS

25. I am a Speech and Language Therapy manager and currently there is a national shortage of therapists. Staffing challenges and funding issues are having a huge impact on staff wellbeing and causing stress, burnout and long term sickness. Staff feel that the organisation does not care about their wellbeing and therefore there are initiatives in place to focus on this. This forms the majority of my week currently and is discussed at least 2-3 times a week.

26. I am a private person and talking about health issues prevents career progression

27. The health board is obliged to say they are trying to improve things for staff but little evidence of actual help is seen. We can raise concerns with our managers but we’re told there is nothing they can do despite 3 people quitting through work related stress in the last 18 months. Talking to each other to vent is our stress relief valve.

28. We can talk fo friends and family also but expressing these feelings on social media is forbidden. I and two colleagues were disciplined several years ago for expressing on facebook negative feelings and opinions about how we feel we are treated in work. The pages weren’t set to ‘public’ so only people we knew could see what we had written.

29. I am expected to maintain a professional persona, and discussing personal problems and wellbeing is not part of that

30. I am happy to speak to my manager who is also a good friend about my own well being and I may mention to her concerns about others. I don't do gossip so I wouldn't discuss other colleagues with coworkers of the same band in the same team. it's unprofessional. if however a colleague wanted to speak to me about their well-being id happily accommodate them. is not discuss my own wellbeing with colleagues who are not my management team. it's none of their business and tbat they are gossips

31. I am self employed I wouldn’t be happy to speak to my boss about my well being as I know he wouldn’t help with it and I would be worried he would think of replacing me

32. I am the link person for 25 post graduate trainees and active support well being conversations within that group. My OWN well-being is less well supported.

33. I can't stand the job I am currently in

34. I cannot say how I feel at work, everyone knows each other

35. I cannot talk to colleagues at work as there is no condentiality

36. I do not feel any need for professional help or discussions on this subject

37. I do not feel comfortable speaking to my supervisors or managers in work regarding how I am feeling, as a common response is "everyone has things going on, you just have to get on with it".

38. I do not feel comfortable talking to colleagues about this

39. I do not mix with my colleagues

40. I do not want to break other people's confidentiality. My workplace is not, in mine and others opinions always supportive in listening to employees wellbeing situations. I do not want to be the subject of gossip, nor do I wish to be involved with gossip. I have spoken in the past in confidence about a colleague who I was very concerned for. It did not remain confidential. As part of an employment benefit we do have a counselling service on line and by phone. I don't know how confidential it would be to use. But if a colleague did express a wellbeing concern in the future that was concerning I would have to use this service or speak to my manager again because I could not bear to be responsible if that colleague didn't get help in someway, came to harm or suffered. I would have to be prepared to accept that it may not remain confidential.

41. I don't generally feel comfortable discussing personal matters with people. The managers generally pay only lip service to our mental and emotional wellbeing. Only people who know how to play the system or cry prejudice get treated well.

42. I don't like and therefore don't make use of formal structured support as it often seems facile and I can't easily talk to people

43. We sometimes have stressful interactions with professionals from other organisations, the same applies.

44. I don't think the management are very interested in my individual wellbeing.

45. I don't want everyone to know my business. Management don't really care about our wellbeing, nor bother to take any action about it. Usually it's just a tick box exercise, making it look like they care. Nothing much ever changes so I don't see the point in discussing my / others wellbeing.

46. I don’t think NHS managers really want to understand what I actually feel.

47. I doubt the ability of management to be able to deal with wellbing issues

48. I feel I can talk to my colleagues regarding well being but do not have regular meetings in work regarding this. All my colleagues are close personally and we feel it helps talking to each other about our struggles as we all encounter the same things. Talking to people outside work may not be able to fully comprehend the pressures we are regularly under

49. I feel I do not want to moan at work and need to just get on with the job

50. I feel my job would be in jeopardy if I discussed my mental health problems with anyone at work

51. I feel that my colleagues would not be supportive, given past experiences.

52. I feel that there is a lot if tittle tattle where I work and I don’t feel comfortable

53. I feel the more people who are involved, the more things are blown out of context and you can be made to feel that you are one with problems.

54. I feel unable to discuss my own or others wellbeing with some colleagues I work with as they do not want to listen.

55. I find it hard to ask for help due to previous bad experiences with employers.

56. I go to friends and family to vent and for advice. At work I feel as though my managers won't be able to truly help with my wellbeing, and I have yet to contact occupational health for fear that it will be too onerous.

57. I had rather not discuss my private matters with my employer, unless it's directly affects my work.

58. I have experienced workplace stress, which was not addressed in my line management. I feel able to talk to my colleagues when I need support with my wellbeing.

59. I have no confidence management would act on my concerns

60. I have recently changed roles within my organisation. In my previous role, wellbeing was not generally discussed, and on the rare occasion it was, it was always in a negative light. Management paid lip service to wellbeing and what wellbeing services were available, they were either inappropriate, hard to access or actually not available to people working in my organisation. In my new role I simply do not feel comfortable discussing my wellbeing with my very small team.

61. I tend to unload my work related frustrations on to my husband when I get home. Airing issues at work is a recipe to bring trouble.

62. I think it is unprofessional to talk about your well-being at work

63. I think the only circumstances in which I discuss my work life are those matters where problems and frustrations occur. The better parts of work are easy to overlook.

64. I work alone at home so I don't have the opportunity to talk to anyone

65. I work from home and don’t have any close working relationships.

66. I work in a team where, often, if you express stress or feeling the emotional burden of the job from upper management and colleagues, you get told 'Then you're not cut out to work in Children's intensive care'. I talk to my friends outside of work about the good and the bad of the job, but unfortunately it tends to swing much more towards the issues

67. If there is issues at work, it is probably not ideal to discuss within work due to stigma of reporting issues or expressing whether you are happy or not.

68. In all of my roles in healthcare, I have found the culture is extremely judgemental towards staff sickness, in particular, mental health. Given the emotional and stress burden of the job, it has always shocked me. I’ve spent a lot of money on professional help for this and had many periods of sick leave where I’ve felt pressured / guilty about being absent.

69. I would talk to line manager or very close colleague. To discuss with anyone else could be considered gossip. There are issues of privacy and confidentiality involved.

70. In my workplace my colleagues and I regularly talk about how we are feeling in the workplace- these are at the moment always negative feelings which significantly affect everyone’s mental and physical well-being.

71. It could be detrimental to vent frustrations to colleagues

72. I wouldn’t want to talk to just anyone about my well-being

73. It may be more like five or six colleagues (including my direct manager) that I'm comfortable discussing wellbeing topics for myself with; for others, showing "weakness" to seniors will result in being sidelined with shit tasks and be "career limiting".

74. It wont make a difference

75. It would be seen as a capability issue by my Trust

76. It's a personal thing so you have to trust the other person not to gossip and to empathise. We are all stressed most of the time, so talking about wellbeing sounds repetitive and insincere sometimes. Wellbeing can be used as a weapon by some staff while others genuinely suffer in silence

77. It’s hard to share the frustrations in the workplace where lots of people think the nhs is a religion 78. It’s nobody’s business, and nobody listens anyway 79. Lack of empathy

80. Management at my work do not listen to frustrations with doing my job well. 81. Management don't actually care about well-being other than as a metric to be satisfied. Only other people doing actual comparable jobs understand the issues 82. Management don't want to hear what I have to say and it negatively affects my work when I do 83. Management rarely make changes / appear to listen and some colleagues arent interested 84. Mental health is still stigmatized within the service 85. Morale at work is abysmally low, I don't want to depress anyone further. 86. More comfortable talking to family and friends than with people at work 87. There is NO chance to discuss well being at work 88. My GP practice is going through difficult times. The Partners don't talk to me much, although there is no animosity. There is apathy and disinterest. 89. My occupational health department dismiss these problems as non existent 90. My work is very unsportive 91. My workplace is not sociable

92. NHS work has got to an all time low. The last 12 years of conservative government have managed to push all employees further and further towards breakdowns. I have lost many colleagues including 2 suicides. I along with many of my colleagues have discussed leaving the NHS and will likely do so early in our consultant careers. 93. Negative perception of well being, the 'suck it up and get on with it'attitude now endemic within the organisation. Experienced burn out recently, managed it on my own, there is no leadership awareness or support, lip service is paid and well being has become a tick box exercise and a word associated with the 'snowflake generation' words used repeatedly in meetings by senior members of staff. Gaslighting and toxic positivity ensues if you raise concerns regarding team well-being, staffing challenges and attrition rates. I took a different role at the same grade but less pay in another

hospital within the same trust so reduce the pressure, stress and challenges being in a specific hospital and leading a team with such shocking staffing challenges, high attrition rates, inexperienced leaders and a strong blame culture.

94. No formal debrief as part of job 95. No incentive to do anything else 96. No mechanism at work to talk to anyone meaningfully 97. No one else would be interested 98. No one wants to be judged 99. No point. 100. Nobody else would be interested 101. None of their business 102. Not all midwives are fully supportive 103. Not an open topic

104. Not work related so there is no interest in personal wellbeing.

105. Only people in the same job would understand the health problems associated with my job. We don't talk about it a lot, probably only a couple of people.

106. Only talk to my wife about these things 107. Others do not have the time, inclination nor understanding 108. Our department doesn't have any regular communication on this 109. People are not interested and difficult to get the right help 110. People are often burdened with their own issues

111. People gossip these are my friends at work

112. People would judge you, talk about you behind your back. I've seen it happen to a colleague who has now left.

113. Some of my colleagues are not supportive, in particular, my line manager who is dismissive, uninterested in my wellbeing and failed to provide me with any training or support for my role which was a promotion from another team within the organisation. He told me he didn't want to line manage anyone or go into any of the offices, preferring to work solely from home. It was so bad that I had to take sick leave with stress and look for another job. I will be leaving the organisation and moving to another NHS role next month. My next role is only a 12 month fixed contract so I will need to look for another role in about 9 months.

114. Some of my colleagues have dismissive attitudes to well-being. Others feel doing extra work and doing unpaid overtime is part of our duty to the NHS. I don’t agree with either of those viewpoints.

115. Talking about well-being at work would not be supported, the senior nursing hierarchy is extremely toxic and it would be seen as weakness and exploited

116. Supervisions have for the last 1+ years become a managerial process and tick box exercise. No meaningful interest into staffs wellbeing hence the above statement is correct and familiar throughout the NHS

117. Talking about well-being at work would not be supported, the senior nursing hierarchy is extremely toxic and it would be seen as weakness and exploited

118. The ambulance service talks a good game about supporting their employees, but it’s all a front. The true counselling happens between close work mates who understand the actual stress and strain of the job. Anyone above 1st level management is clueless and doesn’t care…and they show it regularly

119. The NHS is very much a culture of get on with the job regardless of personal issues you may be having, whether they be related to work or not

120. The team is not welcoming and people don't want to be bothered

121. The work is stressful

122. There are never discussions about well-being within my working team. I can chat to my family and friends if I need to. Mostly my husband but I rarely feel the need.

123. There are people worse off than me.

124. There is a culture of over-professionalism and heirarchy in the NHS which makes personal conversations difficult, no matter how often they're encouraged

125. There is enough low morale in the NHS without me adding to it when talking with colleagues

126. There is little to no support within the department. I was told by a manager that I was lucky that she is not make me make up my hours when I took time off for for my cancer treatment. I was told by another manager that I needed to understand that my cancer did not affect only me (my energy was towards my family as my sister in law had died only 3 years before of cancer) this is not to say that colleagues were not concerned but rather that I should be sending more detailed responses to my manager.

127. There is no culture of this at my work and I am private about this anyway in regards of myself.

128. There is no formal support, and discussing struggles may lead to punitive measures

129. There is no where or one to talk to a work about such issues

130. This is so very true for me as I only work part time. Colleagues are not on the same level of qualification, but they give insight to other levels. I mostly get frustrated as I am not able to perform my duties in a higher capacity, for which I am qualified.

131. Unable to talk to any body in work- no one listens and is a sign of weaknesses

132. Unsupportive management

133. We have about 15 people working in my department / office. I have 2 close colleagues who I class as friends and am happy to talk to but everyone is I don't speak to much other than superficial conversation and I wouldnt be comfortable taliing to them about more personal stuff

134. We are not given the opportunity to discuss our well in the work place

135. We are not given the opportunity to talk about it in organised environments, very little attention is given to our wellbeing.

136. We do occasionally have time to talk with colleagues about well-being, but for the most part, it’s me venting to people around me outside work because of how normalised some of the issues are within the service

137. We don't have a support network where I work and the company has more of a just get on with it attitude. Talking to family helps to relieve the stress and frustration but doesn't help solve the issues

138. We don’t discuss well-being, our manager isn’t interested

139. We have regular team meetings where we are free to discuss our concerns, but we aren't always asked to do it as a prompt.

140. We pay a lot of lip-service to well-being at work and the structured services offer little value, but within the team we talk to each other comfortably about such matters.

141. Well-being is not something that is openly discussed in my workplace

142. Whilst emails come through with links to so called support, it seems to be a case of publishing policies but my line manager is not supportive just wants more, and does not actually support, finding excuses

143. With a society that now does everything online and the focus on employment based on academic achievement this has resulted in people that can do the job but can’t deal with people.

144. You can't talk to anyone without being judged and others gossiping maliciously 145. You get judged 146. Little contact with my line manager or colleagues 147. Managers not really interested in your wellbeing - just want you in work and job done 148. My work is not interested 149. No one in work cares, there’s a culture of targets with no support or being listened to, abuse from patients or relatives is ignored

Un-Willing @ 23% - Private – Difficult to talk

1. Always considered my feelings personal

2. Ambulance service grape vine is very efficient- I have a couple of people I know I can talk to who won’t gossip. Don’t want everyone knowing my business

3. Because I do not believe that it is any of their business.

4. Because I don't feel comfortable discussing my work frustrations with people at work, only with my closest family and friends.

5. Because I don't talk to anyone

6. Because I don't talk to anyone about my wellbeing 7. Because I don't want to discuss it with everyone 8. Because I don’t like to bother others 9. Because I prefer to keep things private from everyone as much as possible 10. Because I prefer it like that and deal with my own problem 11. Because it is not always appropriate to do so also you need to respect colleagues wishes 12. Because it’s my business not anybody elses 13. Because there are only a couple of colleagues I discuss my wellbeing with 14. Don’t like to put my problems upfront 15. Difficulty discussing issues, not wanting to over burden others 16. Don't like to trouble other people 17. Don't want to worry other people 18. Don't want work people to know how I feel 19. I would not talk about my wellbeing to anyone in work only friends and family but not to overburden them.

20. Don’t like people at work knowing too much about my personal life to avoid gossip 21. Don’t like people knowing my business

22. I am a private person with a small circle of trusted friends 23. I am a very private individual wanting to talk about my day 24. I am a very private person and only speak to my manager about anything personal or about my well being.

25. I don’t like the idea or others knowing my situation

26. I am able to talk to my manager and a few colleagues who are friends. I have been having a lot of issues regarding my well being and I would rather that everyone doesn’t know. I think most people would be supportive if I chose to talk to them.

27. I am just a very private person 28. I am quite private so would only discuss with those I feel closer to. I am able to discuss well being with my line manager.

29. I don't know any of my workmates particularly well and don't tend to talk about personal things with them. 30. I don't like being the centre of attention and I don't like conflict 31. I don't need all my colleagues to know all of my business. 32. I don't really want anyone to know my business 33. I don't want to bother anyone 34. I don’t feel able to discuss well-being with colleagues that I am not close to 35. I don’t feel comfortable expressing serious feelings with others 36. I don’t feel comfortable sharing how I’m feeling 37. I don’t feel comfortable talking to anyone in my team 38. I don’t like sharing private matters with Others 39. I don’t like talking to a lot of people or strangers about myself 40. I don’t really want to tell the rest of the team my personal business 41. I feel we are all dealing with difficulties in our lives and don’t want to burden others with mine. Talking about my well-being highlights how poor it is and makes me more stressed. I’d rather not think or talk about it. 42. I find it hard talking to people I don’t know 43. I like to keep my work life personal. 44. I like to keep things private 45. I mind my own business 46. I try not to burden people but sometimes I moan to my friends 47. I'm a guarded person and dont want to be seen to be failing 48. I'm a private person 49. I'm a private person and selective about who I share with 50. I'm a private person. 51. I'm a private person. Don't admit weaknesses, personal feelings or ask for help.

52. I'm just very private when it comes to personal wellbeing

53. It's a question of trust

54. It makes me feel uncomfortable and not appropriate

55. It's my own business and no one else needs to know 56. It's no one else's business 57. It's private.

58. Its personal, don't want people to gossip. 59. It’s a personal matter don’t like to discuss at work

60. I’m a private person

61. I’m not sure it’s appropriate to discuss other people’s well-being freely

62. I’ve never liked to discuss my own feelings, I prefer to resolve matters on my own. I’m comfortable with my colleagues discussing they’re feelings with me and supporting them

63. Just always keep things to myself 64. Just don't feel I have need to.

65. Just don't feel comfortable talking about something so personal with everyone. 66. Like my privacy

67. Like to keep things private 68. My wellbeing is personal

69. My well-being issues revolve mostly around work and I don't feel able to discuss them there

70. I can discuss with very close family but not just about negative experiences.

71. Not everybody understands the difficulties I face being disabled.

72. Not letting my guard down

73. Not someone who likes to discuss personal issues with many people unless necessary, but would if I was worried about a colleague and thought they could help or support.

74. There is nothing anyone else can do about my current situation so I need to deal with it on my own. I would only affect other people if I spoke to them so I keep it to myself.

75. Very private person

76. We have regular well-being meetings as a team. Some share more than others. I don’t , but I am happy to support my colleagues.

77. When I first entered the workplace 11 years ago, it wasn’t the done thing to speak about well being or mental health issues. It was frowned upon to be suffering from stress at work, almost a weakness. ( I have always worked in London based private hospitals.) Although the climate has changed now, I still don’t feel comfortable talking about my personal struggles with other people. They are private to me and I will ‘keep calm and carry on’ or find my own strengths to tackle any issues. I don’t feel the need to relay my inner thoughts and feelings to the world. I especially feel that these things need to be kept separate from the workplace to a certain extent. For example; if someone breaks up with their boyfriend, I don’t feel that is an acceptable reason to be making a scene in the office or take sick leave. If there is genuine need for help or time out, a quiet word with management is sufficient, who can work with the employee to help where is possible. Equally at home, I may discuss some things, but I do not feel comfortable discussing these things in great detail. It will only cause them worry. Also, they have their own stresses without me piling on by complaining about things are not that serious.

78. Don’t discuss with some off the staff as my business

79. I am pretty private and dont think my emotions and feelings need to be outside all the time

80. I am private person and need to get to know people before speaking about how I feel

81. I bottle things up

82. I feel more comfortable venting to close friends or family.

Un-Trusting @ 14%

1. Because not everyone is trustworthy or wants to listen to what you are saying

2. Because I’m in a new job I don’t know my colleagues well enough to discuss anything that might be personal to me. I trust my friends and family so would rather talk to them.

3. Because of not having trust for others

4. As new to the service that I work in... I don't know who I can trust

5. Because you wouldn't confide in just anybody, only someone you know well and could completely trust.

6. Confidentiality and trust are issues

7. Colleagues can sometimes be part of the problem.

8. Don't trust people

9. Hard time trusting

10. I don't trust others not to gossip about my situation

11. I don't trust some people I work with and don't feel confident or comfortable talking about feelings. I feel that the management team of the company are difficult to talk to as they don't listen properly and appear to dismiss concerns

12. I don't trust that many people in my work

13. I don't trust all my senior management.

14. I don't trust them

15. I don't trust them. Lots of backstabbing taught me that.

16. I don't trust work colleagues to use knowledge about my wellbeing in a way beneficial to me

17. I don't want to give anyone ammunition to gossip about me behind my back

18. I dont trust people in Uk

19. I don't think Any conversations remain private

20. I don’t like to talk to others about my own wellbeing and equally I don’t like to discuss others wellbeing with just anyone as it betrays their trust

21. I don’t trust anyone else outside people I know closely

22. I don’t trust other people to not pass my well-being and mental state around. others will judge my well-being and treat me differently

23. I don’t trust very much people in the workplace and my mental health issues may affect what people think of me if I speak to more people

24. I feel if I tell people about my mental wellbeing I will be judged. Also I don't trust enough people to keep my problems to themselves.

25. I have a couple of people I trust who I would talk to at work

26. I have a handful of colleagues I trust but would not be willing to telegraph this to absolutely everyone I work with.

27. I have limited trust in some of my professional peers' motives (with good reason) and believe that sharing information about my mental health may be used against me.

28. I need to fully trust those who I discuss my well-being with.

29. I only discuss my mental health with those whom I trust would not gossip about it or would act upon any concerns without discussion with me first

30. I only happy to talk about my own or others' wellbeing to one or two of my closet colleagues, because I feel more confident to talk to them about how I feel, they would keep whatever I say confidential, I can be open and honest, they're trusting, and I feel happy that I can talk to them.

31. I only talk to those colleagues closest to me about worries or issues as I know they are trustworthy and will not repeat what I confide

32. I only trust a couple of people to retain confidences

33. I prefer one to one or small groups rather than a free for all.

34. I prefer to keep things like that personal and private 35. I prefer to let only a very few people know about my personal wellbeing otherwise I keep it to myself

36. I prefer to talk to people I am most comfortable with 37. I struggle to trust sharing these issues with managers due to the idea of wellness, which seeks to pass the responsibility for my response to my work environment to me, even when many aspects of work and workload are beyond my control and are non-negotiable. I feel I will be blamed for cultural failings

38. I trust a few longstanding colleagues to discuss well being with. Younger colleagues I wouldn't discuss my well being with.

39. Only one or two of my colleagues I would feel I trust enough to regard them as friends and would discuss my well-being with them if needed and feel that they would do the same with me. 40. I will only let a few people know how I truly am 41. My we'll being is my concern. I do not feel comfortable discussing this with others and don't trust this will be kept confidential. 42. Private person ,trust no -one 43. Personal matters between individuals, not for whole team 44. Private person don’t like to complain 45. Private person, can’t always identify emotions in order to share feelings, prefer to do with small group of close people 46. Sorry. This is too personal 47. There is pressure to be resilient and cope well with stress. I only trust one person not to judge me. 48. Trust 49. Trust element - not all colleagues can be trusted 50. Trust, privacy, security 51. Nurses often cant be trusted with personal information regarding their colleagues

Un-Connected @ 13% - Relational /Compassion / Understanding

1. As not everyone understands what has happened and what I have dealt with 2. Because it’s hard to tell people I’m struggling when they don’t understand 3. Because my mental health is my own problem. I do not want to be open, that’s my choice, no one else’s. 4. Because no one in my organisation cares about wellbeing 5. Because no one really cares what someone is feeling only about themselves. 6. Because not everyone is nice 7. Because nothing changes when these feelings are expressed at work. Only judgement. 8. Because we all have problems and I don't wish to burden others with mine. Also, when with family and friends I prefer to keep things 'light' and try to have a good time with them. 9. Depression when my husband died 10. Don't want to be doubted or seem as incompetent if I have problems 11. I do t want them involved in my private life 12. I don't feel comfortable talking to people about my well-being. I act like I'm OK. 13. I don't feel comfortable to tell people about how I'm feeling. 14. I don't feel it is appropriate 15. I don't like to burden colleagues with it, don't want to seem unprofessional and always complaining, so save it for outside of work 16. I don't want to share with everyone 17. I dont really talk about how I feel other than to let off steam and in a jokey manner rather than seriously 18. I don’t talk to many people about the way I feel because I’m not sure I have a good perspective of everything 19. I don’t tell anyone 20. I don’t want it to become common knowledge within my workplace. 21. I don’t want other colleagues to know my personal business 22. I don’t want sympathy 23. I don’t want to expose how I feel and worry other people 24. I don’t want to worry people or have people talk about me 25. I have no need to talk to more people if I have problems I address them as a mental health and adult branch nurse I am capable of self care and approaching appropriate people when I need 26. I feel everyone has their own problems to deal with and therefore have no headspace to listen to me. Also people try and offer solutions but I just want to be heard. I prefer impartial 1:1 support rather

than everyone telling me their experiences.For example grief is not a cookie cutter and some people have competitive grief where before you've even finished your first sentence they start talking about their loss. It's unhelpful to me.

27. I have no wellbeing issues to discuss 28. I have not been in my current position very long so dont really know anyone that well at the moment 29. I have seen a psychiatrist previously and currently undergoing therapy 30. I just don’t talk to people at work about my health - my choice 31. I just get on with life 32. I just get on with things. 33. I just like to cope with problems on my own 34. I keep my worries to myself 35. I keep things hidden. I am not comfortable giving any detail. 36. I let out my frustrations it don’t expect other people to fix things for me 37. I often feel unwell and unable to cope with everyday task both at home and at work, but don’t want to share this at work as I feel my illness would not be understood or accommodated.

38. I work in a small team who are very supportive but in a larger department where I do not feel it appropriate or comfortable to discuss my health / wellbeing in greater detail except where someone has similar issues.

39. I work in a small team, 3 people. I feel able to voice concerns regarding my well-being life / work balance. My previous job / role didn’t allow me to do this, seen as weakness, inability to cope 40. I very rarely feel the need to regard my well being with colleagues and would feel that it wouldn’t be any of their business unless it was affecting my work.

41. I'm not that close to many of my colleagues so would only feel confident talking about well being to a few

42. I'm not very good at 'being ill' or letting people know I'm not well either physically or mentally.

43. I'm recovering from brain damage, collapsed lung and 11 bone fracture. Only feel a few people have any idea what this REALLY feels like to try to reduce no 'normal'

44. I work within a team of differing age groups. I am not very comfortable discussing this subject with colleagues young enough to be my children and with whom I have few similarities

45. My personal wellbeing is for me to deal with and I will only discuss it if I feel the need to, and that is very rare. If I do enter into a conversation about wellbeing it will be on a one to one basis and in the form of a personal conversation.

46. They haven’t had to deal with chronic conditions so don’t know what I’m going through 47. When my other colleagues annoy or upset me I tell my family

Under Pressure @ 9% --Hierarchy Revelation Opening Up - Looks Bad to Boss/Colleagues

1. As it looks bad to the boss

2. As a manager I feel I can only discuss my well-being with my boss. It would not be appropriate to show my stress to the members of my team

3. Because I largely work alone in my job role, so dont jave a team as such to chat to

4. Because people have enough of their own problems without me burdening them with more

5. Concerned regarding confidentiality, even with information that shouldn't legally be shared. In a previous job I've had (non relevant) medical information shared with others without my consent. I dont share with colleagues, my partner or friends as most of us are under significant stress.

6. Because there is such a heavy workload there is no time to discuss my wellbeing at work

7. I am working from home and going on home visits to families with new babies. I do not see any of my colleagues on my work days. This is because we are all working over a large geographical area . If I do drop into a work office no one seems to be around. Everyone is too busy to chat by Teams.

8. I don't have time to worry about my own wellbeing as I have too much to do holding down my job and supporting my family. If people really knew how I felt I would worry about what they thought about me.

9. I don't know people well enough and we are too busy with no down time nor breakd to facilitate any form of discussion or conversations

10. I don't work with many people (unsocial hours, a lot of lone working) but at handover we do discuss how others are and how we feel. In a unstructured way often to vent

11. I never have time to talk to my colleagues as we're so short staffed and so busy. We are responsible for more patients now, for example a couple of years ago used to have 6 to 12 patients, but now regularly have 18 to look for on a shift

12. I only feel confident with some colleagues , not all of my senior colleagues. There is support offered as online meetings , but often at times not suitable for work , such as lunchtime , when we're busy with patients

13. I was really unwell at the end of 221, both physically and mentally. Completely burnt out

14. I work as an individual but with many various types of nursing and medical people. Most do not understand the job and the stress that comes with it. I want to do a good job and to avoid being seen as unable to cope. I recently returned to work after a period of sickness due to work related stress and used counselling during that time. Mental health, stress and the pressure of work is not routinely discussed and the attitude from senior staff seems to be "we are all stressed get over it"

15. I'm tired, and stressed, but so is everyone.

16. It’s too busy at work to discuss well being.

17. Lack of support from the business I work for too much pressure to complete existing and take in extra work

18. My manager is not supportive when I need anything at work. It is not her fault, she is too busy , and manages a whole directorate. This was because of redundancies made 1 years ago when my line managers post was removed

19. I have had a period of burn out and months off sick as a result and the counselling and recovery has changed my attitudes. COVID has profoundly affected every one of my colleagues and continues to do so. We are under tremendous strain.

20. My well-being is affected by too large a work-load. Management answer to this is just don't book patients in for follow ups but this doesn't sit well with me If they need seeing I will see them even though my work load is too large. Not doing so would be to do my job badly which would adversely affect my well-being. However I work in a small hospital where I know lots of staff of every sort and the friendly environment is helpful for well-being.

21. Not everybody is understanding. There isn't the time to develop greater understanding because everyone is so busy all the time.

22. Staffing is overwhelmed and the supportive structures arent in place to manage this 23. Stress levels are very high and people are focusing on themselves 24. Time factor- everyone busy. Don’t trust some people

25. We are all so busy and under pressure Everyone is struggling just now with workload etc 26. We all face problems. Mostly I am fine dealing with mine 27. We work in a stressful environment and many of us also have home stresses and health worries. We work better if we're not bottling things up.

28. Work is work. We don’t have time to discuss personal issues

29. Work pressures from expected targets, poor quality nursing staff, staff from abroad with lesser standards, pressure to manage uninterested and non-uk nurses. Threats of capability management due to trust wide failings.

30. Work related well being needs to be openly discussed so those that don't feel comfortable talking about their well being are given an open window opportunity to speak. We are all stressed and over worked!

31. The service is in meltdown

Judging – What others might say, think, do – or not do @35%

Sensing - The Facts of The Situation / Not appropriate to talk at work @5%

Judging – What others might say, think, do – or not do @ 25%

1. At work colleagues can be judgemental

2. Because it’s private and only a close friend should know about it. As a manager of people I have no one I trust to talk about my own health.

3. Because people judge 4. Fear off being judged

5. I am often scared to properly talk about it but will occasionally do so, usually to my partner, or to my manager (usually to justify any deterioration in my performance)

6. I am quite a closed person at times. I know I don't go to the gym or exercise as much as others, and I have a real sweet tooth so don't always eat the healthiest. I tend not to talk about diet and exercise with others much as I fear being judged, and it's also not a topic I would be interested in enough to have a conversation about my own wellbeing.

7. I cant be bothered as I wont change anything and I don’t want people to use it as ammunition against me in the future

8. I don't trust people who all think they know everything

9. I don't trust them

10. I don’t like to talk about it as when I have in the past I have been judged

11. I don’t like work to know too many personal details

12. I don't want to discuss at work

13. I dont seriously talk about my health as I don't want people to feel sorry for me or think I'm weak or incapable especially my mental health

14. I don’t feel I would get much understanding or support.

15. I don’t want people seeing I’m stressed or struggling

16. I don’t want people to know

17. I don’t want to

18. I don’t want to be judged

19. I don’t want to share the most intimate details

20. I feel there is judgement regarding things in my workplace

21. I feel we all struggle sometimes with problems , some of which are easier to deal with than others. Whilst I think it’s good to talk about areas of concern fairly regularly I also think that constantly highlighting problems can be a little corrosive and lead to the impression that there’s something wrong all the time

22. I find this to be a crucial topic to share with people who have a shared interest. I don’t think it’s that private and culturally prefer open discussion on it as I believe it improves health

23. I find this to be complaining. I believe that if I give perceived health concerns validity then my health will deteriorate. I aim to remain positive and don’t like to “lie down” to ailment’s. Very much part of the school of thought “keep it until it gets better” and that your health is private

24. I have ADHD which impacts on lots more f different domains but not many would understand

25. I regularly discuss health, nutrition and fitness with my sister, I do not discuss it at work. I feel that my work environment do not care about my physical and mental wellbeing. In fact, I feel my work place is often detrimental to my physical and mental health

26. I talk to family and friends about these topics but do not think they are the business of my colleagues.

27. I tend to keep deep feelings to myself for fear of judgement or crtisicm or being called silly. I only freely share superficial grumbles / issues most of the time. I only tend to share deep feelings when I feel very low and only with my best friend

28. I think *most* people are struggling at the moment, so it's hard to find support / positivity from people who already feel similarly to you. Anecdotally I think people around me have far less capacity than normal for taking care of themselves and others.

29. I think daily about my mental health, I've had support from outside but found it no good and in the end realised if I was going to get better I'd have to do it myself. My husband doesn't understand depression and is not good to talk to, I don't talk to other family members but keep it to myself trying to figure it out.

30. In the past my GP has flatly stated that I didn't suffer with poor mental health, even though I have been diagnosed in the past. It has scared me away from seeking help via my GP, to the point where I neglect my physical health, not contacting my GP with any worries or concerns. I'm actually scared that my GP will not take me seriously and that I won't be treated, because this is exactly how I have been treated in the past. If I could refer myself to a specialist directly, I would be much happier and more likely to seek out help. 31. I think people would judge me if they knew some of the more frightening thoughts and feelings that I have 32. I want to be more open but feel that others have more issues or problems 33. Keep issues private and keep work professional 34. Lack of understanding of the pressured work I do 35. Life is busy, partner and family have similar problems 36. Like to deal with things on my own 37. Like to think of my own strategies and only ask for input if needed 38. Live alone. No-one truly cares anyway 39. My family are not particularly sympathetic to health problems. We are a family where 'just get on with it' is the usual approach. 40. My family is not supportive so I choose to talk to others if applicable 41. My health is my own priority 42. My life is worthless 43. My mental health is my own business. 44. My privacy is important to me especially at work where people might try to access my medical history 45. My spouse doesn't take me seriously

46. My wife has enough health issues, she doesnt need to worry about mine too.

47. No support from hospital when it comes to my troubles at work.

48. Not always good to talk with colleagues about these things. Will talk about some things but not all. Plenty of people wanting to talk about own problems all the time which then takes away your time to gain support

49. Not essential to discuss widely at work.

50. Not something to discuss at work

51. People don’t seem to understand

52. People gossip

53. People tend to give advice which is unhelpful, or start telling me their problems. Hence, it's more hassle than help to say anything.

54. People who talk a lot about their health are usually not very popular, and are considered boring or attention-seeking.

55. People wouldn’t be interested

56. Scared of being ridiculed

57. There is little support for employees with mental or physical health conditions. No attempts to understand, only judgement if it affects your role or patient safety. Where it does affect patient safety, it’s me stating this, and nothing is done to prevent this, leading me to taking sick leave even when I could manage it reasonable adjustments were made.

58. Sometimes there is a lack of understanding. I can feel that I go on about it too much at times

59. Talking about health / wellbeing is not acceptable to some people who may find it stressful

60. The NHS is overwhelmed so its often difficult to access wellbeing or healthcare in the area. The GP practices in my locality are poor in comparison to adjacent areas.

61. The NHS is so underfunded that there is no point doing anything except in emergencies.

62. What is the point discussing when working in the NHS no one actually cares, it's all absolute pretence to tick boxes!

63. You don't want show any weakness at work as this will affect pay raises and promotions

64. No one listens

65. We do not bring up the topic of physical wellbeing at work 66. Why would anyone at work need to know or care? 67. Work is to busy to have conversations of this nature 68. Private and I don't trust 69. They wouldnt understand 70. Trust 71. Work is for work, I might occasionally discuss with close friends at work, but rarely

Feeling – Emotional Issues brought out @22%

1. Because I don't want to be talking about going to the gym without having the body to reflect it 2. Because I have things to say and don’t say them 3. Better to get things off my chest to friends 4. Don’t like talking about it and feel these thoughts are insignificant compared to others issues 5. Don’t want to worry my husband 6. Everyone has enough on their plates. I tend to worry about everyone else. 7. Feeling like a failure especially with social media 8. Find it easier to talk to friends to sit my thoughts 9. I am not comfortable doing so 10. I am uncomfortable sharing my concerns about my health mental and physical I prefer to keep it to myself to avoid worrying people 11. I do not want to burden people. They have their own troubles 12. I do not want to worry anyone 13. I don't feel comfortable talking to people about these issues. 14. I don't want people to know how badly I feel. I have considered talking to my GP but its difficult when you work full time and everything is phone consultations which I can't do at work. 15. I don't want to burden my family.

16. I don't want to burden others, I don't want to be dramatic. The reality is I have often contemplated suicide as a 'get out' working in the NHS has become intolerable. Life outside of work is great, would be great if I earned more to cover cost of living but working life impacts every aspect of life.

17. I don't want to burden people

18. I dont like to discuss it because I know I need to change it but have no motivation to do so

19. I don’t like talking about my health as it’s private and I feel people would see me as weak

20. I don’t like to bother others, they have their own problems

21. I don’t like to burden people with how I am feeling. I don’t want to worry people with how I am

22. I don’t like to discuss until it becomes too late and then just vent

23. I don’t like to stress people out

24. I don’t want my family to think of me as a burden

25. I don’t want my friends and family to worry

26. I don’t want to burden others that have their own problems

27. I don’t want to upset others

28. I don’t want to worry others close to me, so I keep health concerns to myself.

29. I don’t want to worry them

30. I feel I can discuss anything with my wife but it's not always appropriate to talk about some things at work

31. I feel depressed a lot of the time, no-one wants to discuss this openly.

32. I feel like I want to keep boundaries

33. I feel more comfortable discussing this with my family. Very little time at work for such a tricky subject

34. I feel my relatives are the only ones who have my best interests at heart

35. I feel my work and home are separated

36. I feel some aspects of my health are personal and private

37. I feel that health is private so am happy to discuss at home but not with random colleagues

38. I hate worrying people.

39. I have a chronic pain condition and don’t like to bother people with my issues

40. I have a loving and supportive family. I can’t imagine not talking to them about how I am feeling but I do put myself last on the list and make sacrifices for others.

41. I have health issues and don’t like worrying my family

42. I will happily talk to my partner and closer friends about all aspects of my physical health and mental well-being, but I am less comfortable doing this with others in the absence of structured events.

43. I worry but I don’t have anyone to talk to about it 44. I wouldn't want to burden anybody 45. I'm scared about my cancer coming out of remission

46. I'm more comfortable sharing information about my health with family and very close friends rather than colleagues. I openly discuss my physical and mental health with them, to get advice, off load or discuss progress.

47. In case my fears come true

48. It's just the way I am. I can help others but find it hard to let others help me.

49. My personal health has taken a backseat while I deal with all the other drama in my life.

50. Not great at sharing. Others have their own issues, don’t want to add to them

51. Often talk about mental and physical well-being with partner and our wider family. Wouldn’t want to discuss at work unless I needed support.

52. Not wishing to worry family by mentioning any health issues and the difficulty of discussing mental health.

53. Over the past three years we have had to deal with our son taking his own life, my wife finds this difficult and therefore I cannot burden her with my own mental health issues. 54. Scared 55. Scared is the wrong word to use I just think my problems are nothing compared to some my family have

56. Scared to 57. So much happens outside of our personal control, all we can do is have a moan about it to our friends 58. Sometimes I feel embarrassed to ask for help regarding health and mental problems 59. Sometimes just being able to get things off your chest is of help, other times people may offer good advice. 60. Sometimes other people's problems seem greater than mine and I don't want to burden them with my issues 61. Worried about what would happen because of it 62. Wouldn't feel comfortable at work 63. Would not want to discuss health or wellbeing with many colleagues 64. Lack of self confidence, embarrassment about my own health situation 65. My partner is too wrapped up in her own concerns

Intravert – Keep things private or bottled up @22%

1. At work, it's none of their business. 2. Because I don't discuss my wellbeing with anyone 3. Because I don't talk to anyone about my health or wellbeing 4. Consider this personal to me 5. Don't talk about health at home or work 6. Don't want to 7. Don’t want them to know 8. Generally I'm a little more private so would be selective as to who I would speak too at work 9. Happy to talk about it at home. But not so much at work tend to keep that side of things private unless I think it will impact my work then I will speak to my manager

10. I am a 'closed' person. I only talk to others (outside of family') if absolutely necessary. 11. I am a private person

12. I am a private person, my health is my business, as is my money.

13. I am a very private person

14. I am closed to this and don’t see its benefit to me.

15. I am happy to show positive health roles, but I am not keen on sharing much with others and certainly work is not the right place for me to share anything personal. I tend to keep all health matters upbeat and not very personal. I don't share much.

16. I am married with no children of my own. I do talk to my wife about some aspects of my mental and physical health, but keep a lot of this to myself. There is no-one else I can share these concerns with.

17. I don't like to discuss personal health. But I do understand that I should be more open on this

18. I don't like to share my health problems with people, too personal for me

19. I find it hard to talk

20. I find this more of a personal matter and don't like to discuss at work

21. I like to keep it private

22. I like to keep things private.

23. I tend not to discuss my mental health with family, unless I'm feeling particularly overwhelmed and need time out.

24. I tend to be a fairly private person but am open with my family.

25. I want to be healthier and I do try but it's not always easy. Having been a smoker for 2 years and having had a few health issues it's quite scary thinking of how things might go so it's not something I like to talk about.

26. I'm a Private Person

27. It's a private matter

28. It's just the way I am, preferring to keep my problems to myself.

29. It's no one else's business

30. It's none of anyone else's business

31. It's not somt I feel comfortable doing. 32. It's personal 33. It's private 34. It’s a private matter 35. It’s just what I’m comfortable with 36. It’s my personality 37. It’s nothing to do with anyone else 38. It’s quite a personal thing and not something I talk about in work. Sometimes we discuss diets in work but personal health issues tend to be kept private. 39. I’d rather deal with any issues myself 40. I’m a private person 41. I’m a private person and feel uncomfortable discussing mental health issues with other people 42. Lots of low level ill health recently and it has got annoying 43. My health is my business 44. My health is my own concern only except for my Doctor 45. My health is private so unless impacts on work it is not discussed. 46. My husband keeps things inside. He is uncomfortable with talking about health 47. No one else’s business 48. No one needs to know 49. Not very extroverted 50. Personal and private 51. Personal details should be discussed at home 52. Personal health not great at the moment 53. Personal. 54. Physical heath and well-being has always been a struggle for me. 55. Privacy is important to me 56. Private 57. Rare for me to disclose 58. That's just how I am, private. 59. That’s just me 60. That’s where I am most comfortable 61. I am private 62. It's private 63. Its the way I am

Thinking – Logical way of going about things @6%

1. As a manager I try not to discuss my personal issues with my team. 2. As in the work environment we are more focused on patients health, our own health is often not discussed 3. Because talking about it makes it real and I think everyone has problems or issues that they are not comfortable talking about 4. Difficult to build trust 5. Don’t like to bottle up emotion as not healthy 6. Don’t like to moan 7. Friends and family are supportive but work isn't particularly helpful 8. I am under a mental health team 9. I deal with my own issues and don't need or want any help from anyone else. 10. I discuss these matters with family and friends but not at work. In work I concentrate on my work and don’t really chat about my life outside. 11. I do no discuss my health at work 12. I do not do gossip. it's nobody's business but mine at work, or possibly with my manager if it impacts upon my work 13. I do not like to discuss my health with staff that I manage

14. I don't know my workmates well and am happy to talk about this kind of thing at home. I've a major mental illness diagnosis and have yet to decide when might be best to disclose at home.

15. I find that I often vent as a way to deal with emotions when I feel overwhelmed.

16. I get frustrated at work and feel the need to vent

17. I have health conditions but my partner does not always appreciate how difficult this can make life for me

18. I have many illnesses, and I hate getting old

19. I have on going health issues which are a cause for frustration for myself

20. I just do my personal preference

21. I just do.

22. I just dont bother others.

23. I just need to vent sometimes 24. I need to off load sometimes

25. I look after myself. It's no-one else's problem.

26. I prefer not to speak about my health as it’s a private matter

27. I struggle with day to day living

28. I struggle with my weight and feel like I am always needing to diet and lose weight but find this very hard. I dont like exercise and find myself so tired from work I dont want to go out for walks

29. I survived cancer

30. I talk about my sore hip and haemorrhoids with friends onlt

31. I talk only to partner when concerned

32. I talk to my husband about it. At work, I look after elderly people, not about me.

33. I think too much about health and don’t speak to others about it as much as I should. 34. I try to look positive to avoid asking for help with health 35. It's a dull subject 36. Recently I have been ill and am very deconditioned (was in great pain by shift end), I am considering getting formal support and have had it in the past, but am not ready. I have chatted about it with my wife and colleagues 37. It’s nice to vent! I know what to do to help my well-being so I don’t need to discuss it with other people to get solutions 38. JUST GET ON WITH IT. THERE IS TO MANY PEOPLE OFF SICK. CAUSING THEM AT WORK TO WORK HARDER TO COVER THEM. JUST GET ON WITH IT YOU BUNCH OF FANNIES 39. Just to vent 40. Just something I won’t do 41. No particular reason, I just don't think anybody at work would be interested 42. No point. 43. It’s not that I keep things hidden. It’s just that there’s nothing to talk about. 44. Nobody’s business 45. None of their business 46. Personal health stays where it belongs, at home. If I had health issues that would affect my ability to work with clients, I would announce whatever needed to be done with a short message without details. 47. That's how it is for single people that have to keep going to care for others

Sensing - The Facts of The Situation / Simply not appropriate to talk at work @5%

1. Doesn’t always feel appropriate to discuss at work 2. Because you get them worried and a load of unwanted advice 3. Due to an underlying health condition I am always open with how I'm feeling while at home but find no matter how many times I explain it at work they never really understand. 4. Easier to discuss this at home with family. Not always appropriate at work 5. Either I would not want to discuss my health with people or they would not be particularly interested. 6. Frustrating health problems that have had a detrimental impact on my mental health 7. Husband deals with health all day and doesn't like to talk about mine

8. Husband not always so supportive

9. I am happy to discuss things like diet / exercise with my colleagues. I will speak about all my health problems with friends and family at home. Except for perhaps period problems as that’s a more private matter.

10. I am happy to talk about my mental health, it's generally negative

11. I am open about work related situations that cause stress or anxiety as this helps to diffuse the situation but my personal physical health is a private matter I would discuss with my husband.

12. I discuss issues like my health and/ or physical and mental wellbeing (e.g. nutrition, sporting or fitness activities, etc.) freely at home with my wife only

13. I do not speak about this at work, unless there is an issue with my health

14. I don't actually talk much about my mental or physical health but

15. I don't discuss my personal health with work mates

16. I don't feel this is for the workplace, however at home it's ok. My wife and I often discuss, sport and fitness in our home life.

17. I don't feel the need to

18. I don't have physical health issues and do not think about my physical health much. My mental well-being is of more concern to me.

19. I don't have time to discuss things at work much but I am comfortable discussing my health with most people

20. I keep it personal. I tell my closest friends but never work colleagues

21. I keep these to my close family

22. I keep work and home mostly separate 23. I like to stay professional at work

24. I don’t feel the need to discuss my general health at work

25. I don’t feel the need to discuss this regularly with my colleagues.

26. I don’t tend to plan sporting activities – therefore I don’t talk about them

27. I don’t think it is always appropriate to discuss my health and mental well-being with my colleagues

28. I don’t think that I should discuss it at work 29. I like to keep certain things private at work, unless I feel like it will effect it, but at home with my family I feel more relaxed and able to talk 30. I tend to have the resilience to self care 31. I work in mental health, but don't discuss my personal mental health at work. 32. My choice not to discuss as dont want to feel down about it 33. My health is personal, so I wouldn’t discuss at work, except with a professional Occupational Health advisor if necessary. 34. Newly disabled. Still awaiting full diagnosis. Husband has ptsd from years of frontline ambulance work and my illness is making his worse. 35. No time 36. Nobody cares 37. Not always appropriate to discuss at work. No forum for it / working in a hot desk environment meaning no privacy to speak about it 38. No one understands about chronic conditions 39. No opportunity to discuss health at work unless there is a specific health issue likely to impact on work 40. Not sure - don't really talk 41. There is no-one to talk with 42. There is nothing to say 43. Too difficult.

1/ WON’T SAY – FINANCIAL WELLBEING - TOO PERSONAL @ 43%

It’s just how I am – Or just how you are – Private – Personality issue about financial issue being 'personal' – see no need.or desire or skills or personality to tak to others – no matter what the situation. Regardless of the impact that ‘silence’ may have on them I'm a bit ashamed of my poor money management. I've stayed out of trouble because I'm well paid, but I could do so much better.

2/ LOW PAY – FINANCIAL HEALTH – DON’T TALK MONEY@ 24% -

– It’s just about the money! % Quotes based solely on Pay Feedback on Financial ‘Health’ issues - simply about money or lack of it. Financial ‘Health’ is NOT Financial ‘Wellbeing’. Can have LOTS of money or ENOUGH as well as in DEBT and be desperately in stress.

There's not enough income to be able to materially change the large existential problems of not owning a home, nor being confident that pension income will be sufficient; and we've been through nearly all the cost saving options to reduce outgoings over and over, and that's before we got to where core prices (rent, energy, etc) are now starting to go up dramatically.

3/ JUST WON’T… GO AWAY.. Or I WIll GO AWAY @ 14%

Money problems please go away, or I will get more money/pay and/or peace of mind somewhere else–Worries about the future, worries about the past won’t go away.

Working in the NHS the government set your wages, yet I'm struggling to make ends meet. My job role title and description is not really the role I am carrying out but the Hospital cant change it and give me a pay rise. I am struggling to feed my family and maybe forced to look for a new job because I cant afford to work in the job I love

4/ NO WAY – TRUST OR TELL YOU @ 11%

Will I, or can I, or want to talk

to

you It’s embarrassing – It’s stressful - It’s tough to talk about it. No way will I/ can we talk about it – to you. I’m scared to talk because of what you might say or think or do.

Because my partner earns more than me and wants to spend more than me but we're both in some sort of debt that I would feel better paying off but if I mention that I just get shit for it.

5/ BAD DAY – STRESS AT PLAY @ 8%

Finances impacting my daily life, our lives as a family Day to day - Worries, tension, Wellbeing Issues and stress not connecting – with yourself or others

I am in debt and seek advice through stepchange (org) My financial situation is awful and getting worse, it stresses me out.

1/ WON’T SAY –IT’S PERSONAL @ 43% The Number 1 Way To

Financial un-Wellbeing It’s just how I am – Or just how you are – Private. Personality issue about financial issue being 'personal' – see no need,

1. I do not believe it is anyone's business, it is something I will take care of myself..

2. don't want to admit struggling as would make it seem real

3. don't want to admit struggling as would make it seem real

4. Anything to do with finance is my business. If I need advice I'd ask for it.

5. As a family we are not poor (or particularly wealthy) but responsibility for finances fall solely to me and my partner can't really comprehend that we need to be careful.

6. Because I am a control freak and have always managed the families finances

7. Because I feel it is personal and therefore I prefer to keep it private.

8. Because I just don't feel comfortable to tell others

9. Because As I feel it's something private and I don't feel comfortable discussing it

10. Because it’s my business only

11. Because it’s private

12. Being single and living alone I feel my finances are my business and mine alone. Cos financial matters are no one else’s business

13. Embarrassing

14. Finance is personal

15. Finances is not a topic that comes up for me. It a very private thing

16. Financial talk should be personal

17. I am financially stable but see no need to preach to others.

18. I believe that finances are private

19. I do not want others to know about my savings as it could colour or undermine the friendship. However, I would offer to help out if I know somebody has problems, but I wouldn't like anyone to ask me for a loan. I keep my financial position private

20. I do not speak to my colleagues about this

21. I don’t feel comfortable talking about money ever

22. I don’t like talking about money to other people 23. I don't need to talk to others about finances

24. I don't talk to people about my finances

25. I don’t need to discuss finance with anyone else

26. I dont like people to know my business

27. I feel clueless about money, and there is an imbalance in how much my husband and I earn

28. I just don't feel I need to talk to anyone about it.

29. I like to keep my finances private

30. I like to keep my financial details close to me and my family

31. I like to keep personal and work separate when talking about money

32. I like to keep these conversations within the home. They are nothing to do with anyone else.

33. I live alone and have no close family so my financial status is a private matter I do not discuss with others

34. I live on my own and choose not to discuss my finances with anyone else

35. I live with one, disabled, young person and have no one to discuss with. Though if needed would approach certain family members

36. I prefer to keep my financial worries to myself I struggle daily with money concerns, but I’m the only one responsible for a household.

37. I think it is private 38. I try and deal with this myself. I think I would worry more if I spoke about it 39. I try to work out my problems on my own or until I get it straight in my head 40. I'm a bit ashamed of my poor money management. I've stayed out of trouble because I'm well paid, but I could do so much better. 41. I feel financial circumstances are private 42. I feel my finances are no one else's business 43. I feel my financial situation is my own business. 44. I feel that I can handle my finances without help 45. I feel that financial issues are ongoing and pointless to discuss 46. I feel finance problems are a private matter 47. I have always been closed about my finances and if I am in difficulty, I sort it out myself 48. I have always been private about my finances 49. I have always thought of financial matters as private. They are just not a thing I discuss openly 50. It's private 51. It's private 52. It’s a private matter especially with colleagues 53. It’s my decision 54. It’s my own business 55. It’s my personal business 56. It’s my personal preference

57. It’s my personality. Stay for me. I do t like people think I am not good 58. It’s my problem so I have to deal with it 59. It’s nobody else’s business. I don’t have significant problems but I like to think that if I did I would seek advice appropriately

60. It’s nobody else’s problem

61. It’s nothing to do with anyone else

62. It’s personal, the only person who knows about our budget is my husband 63. It’s private 64. It’s private and no one needs to know 65. It’s something between myself and my husband, nothing to do with others 66. I’d rather not discuss 67. I’m a very private person 68. I’m very closed about my finances 69. I’ve learnt to not talk about money with other people as it can cause rifts between relationships 70. Just with my husband 71. Like my privacy 72. Like to keep things private 73. Money is a very personal matter especially in todays society people are quick to judge 74. Keep it between myself and my spouse who are responsible for our finances 75. Money is my business and certainly not the business of anyone outside my home 76. My business, not others

77. My family: I have a lot more money than them and I don’t want them to ask for it.

78. My finances are My business and don't feel it necessary to discuss with people outside my family

79. My finances are a private matter that I only want to discuss with close family. 80. My finances are my own business

81. My finances are my own business, not sure what benefit there would be in discussing it. 82. My finances are nobody’s business but my own 83. My finances are only relevant to myself and my partner whom I live with; they do not affect anyone else so I would not discuss with anyone else. If I needed financial help in the future I would seek professional advice. 84. My finances are private. 85. Nobody business

86. None of anyone else's business 87. None of their business

88. Not everyone is comfortable talking about money. 89. Personal information so not freely discussed 90. Personal matter dealt with by me 91. Peter to keep financial issues between family and friends 92. Prefer not to. My financial affairs are mine alone. My money is my own business 93. Prefer to avoid these conversations, to try not worry to much just live day to day 94. Private 95. Private matter 96. So many people facing financial worries at present, so they probably don't want to hear about mine. Also, finances are usually best kept private. 97. We need to discuss how and where we spend / invest our assets but it is no-ones else’s business.

98. My finances are my business, no one else’s 99. Because this is who I am 100. Feel its private 101. Finances private to household 102. It’s my business and when others are in the same boat it doesn’t help. It’s personal 103. It’s private 104. Money is personal to me and no one else’s business, brought up to believe it is my issue only and I am responsible for it. 105. No one else’s business 106. Not always very good at discussing this with in family, but we muddle along 107. Personal finances are personal 108. It's private and I don't trust

2. LOW PAY @ 24% The unWellbeing Way To Financial ill-HEALTH – IS NOT Financial un-Wellbeing – It’s just about the money!

Feedback on Financial ‘Health’ issues - simply about money or lack of it

1. Always skint at the end of a month. Usually half way through the month. It can be embarrassing to be honest.

2. As soon as the wages hit my bank they are gone I bills and the kids etc

3. At the moment I am a single parent so I have regular discussions with my children about how they use energy, money, food in the house.

4. At work the recent cost of living crisis is a topic of conversation most days

5. Because I don’t earn enough to be comfortable and I’m not great with budgeting

6. Because everyone at work is struggling because we know we don't get paid enough for what we do.

7. Because we dont have enough to live on most months

8. Cost of living

9. Cost of living and commuting is forcing my family into using credit and overdraft more. My employer is not interested in supporting

10. Cost of living crisis affects me

11. Cost of living crisis can not afford to buy house everything so expensive pay been frozen with no increase for years

12. Cost of living crisis means we need to talk about our family finances regularly

13. Cost of living crisis, pathetic pay rises, growing up in a low income family, crippling student debt

14. Cost of living has bit into my current financial situation

15. Currently long term sick, newly disabled. Am main income earner for family. Husband dosent earn can’t find job since medical retirement from nhs can’t access his pension as they’ve decided ptsd is not bad enough.

16. I am not good with finance

17. I don't earn much, but I'm the bread winner. We are on a very tight budget and I accept help whenever it comes

18. I dont earn enough

19. I'm broke.

20. It is increasingly difficult to budget due to cost of living and no wage increase

21. It's a dull subject

22. It's a tough one because I'm qualified in business & finance as well as accounting & auditing. I have knowledge & experience of finance. However the current economic situation is quite dire for a lot of people, me included, so it's very tough to talk about especially when there's not a lot of options available to improve the situation.

23. It's hard to talk about the money when you are working as hard as you can and you can't do anymore as at the end of the day family comes first. But then again if you won't take extra work you won’t have enough money. Specially when everything now is tripled

24. It's only money

25. I’ve always seen advertised services for healthcare workers, by the nursing union and NHS organisations, offering financial support during times of difficulty. I recently faced this myself and tried to access the services but found them extremely unhelpful and restricting.

26. I say I don't earn enough for my outgoings.

27. Just the way it is

28. Look after my own finances

29. Lots of staff concerned with cost of living and the impact this has in being able to work

30. Money issues are hard

31. My outgoings now exceed my income. My husband earns more money and he has seen a significant rise in his salary along with bonuses whereas mine has reduced and any pay rise has not met increased cost of living.

32. NHS jobs don’t follow national living cost rises 33. NHS salaries are below private sector, everything is very expensive and difficult to afford while I also need to financially support family members. 34. Poor pay 35. Poverty is endemic in the NHS so it's nothing to be ashamed of 36. Never been so skint 37. No helpful support at work for foreigners like me re: finance and visa etc 38. Wages never seem to stretch far enough. Would like to be able to do more in a month as well as save more, but little slack in household finance 39. We are all in the same boat re cost of living, see no reason to talk about it 40. We are all in the same situation of having no money 41. We are aware of each other's financial situation. We will cover necessary payments for each other if necessary.

42. Not enough money to make ends meet. 43. Our organisation has joined with a business venture purporting to support colleagues financially. I think this is wrong and we should have made a link with the ( I can't remember the name,it's the one where people save regularly and can get loans when needed, a people's bank) 44. Prefer to know how to get the best from my money 45. Sometimes there’s not enough 46. Struggle

47. The cost of living has had an effect on all my bills. 48. The cost of living has risen and sometimes it can be hard to get by. 49. The current state of wages in the nhs being appalling, and the over taxation of our income, including the Nat insurance hike! I can barely afford to eat!

50. The more you share your financial situation the more likely you are to realise that other people have the same issues too

51. The pay is not commensurate to the job and the standards of London

52. There's not enough income to be able to materially change the large existential problems of not owning a home, nor being confident that pension income will be sufficient; and we've been through nearly all the cost saving options to reduce outgoings over and over, and that's before we got to where core prices (rent, energy, etc) are now starting to go up dramatically.

53. There is no-one to talk to

54. Times are difficult

55. Too difficult.

56. Try to manage finances myself. Worried that if I ask for advice from a financial advisor they are making money themselves when they tell me where to invest

57. Trying to invest what I can

58. We talk about struggling with bills, poor wages. Coping with ever increasing bills.

59. Its going to get worse while rich people don’t care and the government are driving working class to early graves due to their flawed ideology

60. Money not enough

3/

The

Just Won’t …Go Away

@ 14% .. Or I Will Go Away Elsewhere –

No. 5. Way To Financial un-Wellbeing

Money problems please go away, or I will to get more money and/or peace of mind somewhere else– Worries about the future, worries about the past won’t go away.

1. At the minute everyone is feeling apprehensive about their financial future and it is good to share so no one feels alone

2. Currently going through a divorce and the money is a big concern and my need to make sure I can support my family

3. I am a saver but my husband is a spender

4. I am doing the job of a higher band and not getting paid for it. My manager is not supportive in this , the only way I can get paid appropriately is by moving to another trust. I will move soon

5. I am going through a separation and am worrying about what my financial future will look like

6. I don't want anyone to know how much money I have; I didn't want anyone to know when I was really struggling in the past. My issues were my problem to sort out and I feel that talking to someone else would mean that I've failed.

7. I have a lot of debt and don’t like talking about it

8. I have a lot of debt and feel responsible and ashamed of this.

9. I have been out of work for a few months and some household bills have been late getting paid but I haven’t told my husband as I think he will be cross.

10. I have no additional access to funds. I don’t want people’s pity as everyone is struggling. The embarrassment of not being able to feed myself or the children is not something I want to share.

11. I have no money I have been off sick for six month's with a shoulder replacement living on sick pay is impossible nowhere near enough to survive. My pension pot is proving impossible to withdraw from penfold are impossible

12. I have no money. My husband blames himself

13. I have no one to discuss it with

14. I have no one to talk to about this. Family have their own struggles and I am a single mum so don't have a partner to talk about this with

15. I like most people are very worried about the way things are going moneywise with inflation etc. My husband always says we are fine financially but I worry because he spends money on unnecessary items.

16. I live in London, which is expensive and the thought of owning a home seems unachievable.

17. I manage my money, by saving and planning while others live paycheque to paycheque, I noticed that others didn’t want financial advice they just want to borrow my money which they would never pay back, so I find that if I don’t talk about money then fewer people try to use up mine

18. I am concerned about affording retirement, but don't know how to access affordable financial advice

19. I probably have more money than most of my friends, so wouldn’t talk about how much I have in savings to them. I don’t have close family to talk to about money

20. I really worry about money. The pay I receive just isn't enough to live on

21. I said, I dont trust people in UK

22. I speak with my husband about our finances. We plan together and have planned financially in the past. We are quite careful with money. We are not well off but do have regular incomes, some savings and saving plans. I still worry for the future, when we retire and will we be ok financially but it is not on my mind all of the time.

23. I work part-time (21 hours per week) due to long-term illness, so I don't like discussing finances as I feel guilty about not being able to contribute 5% of our household expenses. My partner and I are also from backgrounds where money was short, so we fret a lot about finance. As is the case for most people - our expenses have increased significantly.

24. I've been in bad positions financially in the past and worry about being in the same place again

25. I’m ashamed that I can’t afford to live in todays world

26. I’m not sure about how to talk about my finances especially my pension. I don’t feel I know enough to ask the right questions

27. Money issues in my marriage always causes arguments. So I tend not to discuss them.

28. Me and my husband have very different views on money. I like to budget. He likes to have what he wants instantly.

29. Money is taking up a lot of my thoughts right now. I am going through a divorce so have many extra costs on top of the current cost of living crisis. I am torn between hearing my house and keeping my children well fed and entertained.

30. My husband doesn’t like talking about money

31. My husband thinks we have a money tree in the garden

32. My own personal situation is complicated and since my divorce I am concerned about my financial future and lack of security

33. Working in the NHS the government set your wages, yet I'm struggling to make ends meet. My job role title and description is not really the role I am carrying out but the Hospital cant change it and give me a pay rise. I am struggling to feed my family and maybe forced to look for a new job because I cant afford to work in the job I love

34. Personal would feel a failure if could not balance finances and support myself

35. Right now I feel a little bit comfortable with my finances but know this is likely to change in the times ahead. For now I feel like my husband and I can discuss what our situation is and what we need to prioritise and what we need to curb spending on without getting upset or annoyed at each other. But I can also see that as financial pressure builds it would become easier to get frustrated and have disagreements about money. 36. We do not know when money is coming in because my husband is self employed and my wage is not keeping up with our increasing costs

4/ No Way @ 11% -To Financial un-Wellbeing - Will I

or

can

I or want to talk to you It’s embarrassing – It’s stressful - It’s tough to talk about it. No way will I/ can we talk about it.

1. Because my partner earns more than me and wants to spend more than me but we're both in some sort of debt that I would feel better paying off but if I mention that I just get shit for it. 2. Because people don’t care about my finances and is none of their business anyway. 3. Different values around money

Differing views with husband

Difficult conversations

Difficult subject

Don't like discussing money

Don't want to be judges

Don’t want people seeing I’m struggling

Don’t want to worry my partner

12. Everyone has different circumstances and is difficult to put yourself in somebody else shoes. I find frustrating how the others deal with the problems and I'm pretty sure that they do as well

13. Everyone has their own problems

14. Family think I have a constant supply of money

15. I am the only one who can sort it

16. I can only speak to people I trust but in reality they cant change things

17. I dont like to talk about finances with others. I can become stressed when talking about it with others

18. I sometimes feel pressure at work to spend money being on a single income and the majority of staff have 2 incomes. It means I have to watch my spending more, and I worry others think I'm 'tight'

19. I don’t really want anyone to know I worry about my finances I find it embarrassing

20. I don't think friends or family can help me with this, so talking about it is a waste of time. I certainly would not disclose at work, as it is embarrassing.

21. I earn a regular wage but my family have never spoken openly about money. I feel shame talking about money

22. I feel embarrassed about my lack of knowledge on money matters

23. I don’t want people to worry about me x I only share what I have to

24. I live month to month and see other people enjoying lives more making me embarrassed to say

25. I worry a lot about the cost of living crisis and sometimes find it difficult to talk about money difficulties with others because I feel embarassed

26. I would talk about money openly with family and friends, but other than that I wouldn’t feel comfortable discussing money with others.

27. wouldn’t know who to share it with. Fear about who to trust with personal financial information

28. I'm not good at personal budgeting, I'm prone to over spending and getting into debt. I feel uncomfortable talking to anyone about this

29. I'm prepared to make sacrifices to save money but my immediate family aren't.

30. I'm trying to save to buy a house and find my husband isn't supportive 31. In my culture, we do not discuss openly about money. It can be seen as rude at times. 32. It always causes arguments 33. It can cause stress or arguments 34. It concerns me , has never been a part of everyday conversations 35. It doesn't help me to talk about this with others 36. It is a worrying subject, I do not want to put that worry onto someone else 37. Purely, because I live on my own and I don't like to put my burden on others. 38. We don’t always agree on things regarding money 39. I don’t like talking about money with my friends as it always leads to tension

5/ Bad DAY @ 8%! The 5TH Way To Financial un-Wellbeing

Finances impacting my daily life, our lives as a family. Worries, Tension Wellbeing Issue and stress not connecting = the No 1 Way to Wellbeing is relationships.

1. Always a sore point!

2. About how expensive the cost of living is, how wages aren’t improving. Mainly to let out frustrations about how we are meant to cope 3. Because I have recently been scammed 4. Have financial worries but people assume we are well off because I have a good job 5. Having lots of financial difficulties and have had to ask family for help 6. Everyone at home earns different amounts of money so it causes tension

7. I am in debt and seek advice through step change. My financial situation is awful and getting worse, it stresses me out.

8. I am in debt. My outgoings exceed my income

9. I am very worried about my financial situation at the moment. Things are very difficult

10. I don’t feel as though my friends can relate to how I feel

11. I don’t really budget because up until recently I’ve never really had to. I’m at the stage of life where I meet all of my bills but don’t really have much extra for saving or investments and therefore not much of a cushion so it can be stressful.

12. I don’t think others need to know about my financial situation

13. I mostly complain I never seem to have enough money

14. I struggle financially, but I don't want anyone else to know that as I'm embarrassed. I just limp along.

15. I worry about my financial situation a lot

16. Income is borderline for keeping our head above water, the hours are long simply to get enough money to not have to claim benefits.

17. Insecurity

18. It is my worry and not somebody else’s

19. It is nice to have someone listen. Venting allows me to think.

20. It worries me the current financial situation is going to get worse

21. It's stressful

22.

Duetoworkingfromhomeitishardertotalktoworkcolleagues 23. Everyoneelsehastheirownproblemswithoutmine 24. Feelitistoopersonal 25. Feellikeit’sprivate 26.

IamaprivatepersonanddonotfeelcomfortablediscussingmyfeelswithpeopleIdonot knowwell. 27. IamaprivatepersonandonlywishtotalkwiththoseIknowtobeconfidential 28.

Iamaprivatepersonandprefernottosharemypersonallifetoofreely. 29. Ibelieveothersdeservethesamecourtesy 30. Iamaprivateperson. 31. Iamaveryprivateperson 32. Iamaveryprivatepersonandbroughtuptobeselfsufficient 33.

Iamdivorced,aged79,workingpart-timefromhome.Iliveandworkalone.Ilivedthrough theendofthe2ndWorldWar,wasbroughtupwithrationing,watchedTV(theCoronation)forthe firsttimeinaneighbour'shouse,wedidnothaveaTVuntilIwas 6.Apartfromthefirstfiveyears,I havebeenself-employedallmylife.Ihavenoproblemwithwellbeing.Itisalovely(madeup)word, andIthinkitisallaloadofrubbish. 34. IamnewtotheorganisationandquiteaprivatepersonbutIwilltalktomylinemanager andmyassistant 35. Iamnotopenaboutmyfeelingandwe’llbeingintheworkplace 36.

IamquiteaprivatepersonandIonlyfeelcomfortabletalkingtoaselectfewpeopleabout howIfeel. 37.

Iamquiteclosedoffanddon’tliketotellpeopleinworkaboutmypersonallife.Iventabout myfrustrationsinworkathome 38. Iamquiteprivateandnotcomfortablesharingwithlargegroup 39.

Ibelievemyhealthissuesareofnobusinesstoanyoneelse 40.

Icanmanagemyself 41.

Ican'treallytalktocolleaguesandmypartnerhasnoempathy 42.

Idealprivatelyinvolvingaslittlepeopleasnecessaryinanyissues 43.

Idealwithstuffmyself 44.

Idonotfeelmyconnectionwithmycolleaguesisstrongenoughtotalkaboutmy/others’ wellbeing. 45.

Idonotlikealotofpeopleknowingpersonalthingsaboutmesoonlytrustafewpeoplewho Iworkcloselywith 46.

Idonotliketoburdenotherswithmyfeelings 47.

Idonotneedtodiscussthiswithanyone 48.

Idonotseeitasanyoneelse’sbusiness 49.

IdonotwanttosharepersonaldetailswithtoomanypeopleasIfeelitwouldbe unprofessional. 50.

Idosomethingsbutnotall 51.

IdothisaspartofreflectionandgroupsupervisionwithSocialWorkcolleagues 52.

Idothoseactivitesatwork 53.

Idon'tcarewhatpeoplethinkaboutme 54.

Idon'tfeelanyrestrictionsonmeexpressingmyself 55.

Idon'tfeelclosetosomecolleaguesandfeelcomfortabletalkingaboutpersonalmatters.I don'tthinktheycandomucheitherotherthangiveopinionandpossibletellothers 56.

Idon'tfeelcomfortablediscussingitinmyworkenvironment 57.

Idon'tfeelcomfortabletalkingaboutthisunlessitiswithpeopleI'malreadycloseto 58.

Idon'tfeellikeeveryoneneedstoknowandIonlydiscusswiththosethatIfeelandhave shownmethattheywillbesupportive. 59.

Idon'tfeelthemajorityofpeopleIworkwithneedtoknow 60.

Idon'tfeeltheneedtotalkaboutthingslikethat-I'mfineasIam 61.

Idon'tfeelthisisbeneficial 62.

Idon'thaveanyproblemsthatneedhelpfromothers. 63.

Idon'tlikeanyOneelseIworkwith Hatemyjob 64.

Idon'tliketalkingaboutsuchthingsandonlydosoifIfeelforced. 65.

Idon'tliketodiscussthingswitheveryone,onlythoseIknowwellenough 66.

Idon'tliketoshareabouthowIfeelveryoften.ButIwillalwaysbethereforsomeoneelseif theyneedtotalk.Tolistentoanotherperson'sfeelingshelpsmeputmyfeelingsintoperspective. 67.

Idon'tliketosharemythoughtsandfeelings.Theremindandnotforanyoneelse 68.

Idon'tliketoomanypeopleknowingmybusinessorifsomeonehasconfidedinmeI wouldn'tdivulgewhattheytoldmetoanyone

69. Idon'ttalkaboutwellbeingunlessit'sbroughtupinconversation.Ilistentootherstalking abouttheirwellbeingandsupportthem 70. Idon'ttalktoanyone 71. Idon'tthinkthere'saplaceforitatwork 72. Idon'twantto 73. Idon'twanttobethesubjectofgossiporgossipaboutotherpeople 74. Idon'twanttoburden/boremyfamilyandfriendswithmyproblems.Iprefertodealwith anymentalhealthissuemyselfuntilthingsimproveandmightthendiscussitafterwardswithfamily andfriendswhenIamcalmer.

75. Idon'twanttodiscusshowIfeelwithmycolleaguesIdontfeelcloseenoughtomywork colleaguestodiscusswiththem 76. Idon’tlikerevealingpersonalstufftopeoplethataren’tfriends 77. Idon’tliketotalkaboutmyfeelings 78. Idon’tliketotalktopeopleaboutmyworries,mostpeoplehaveenoughoftheirown 79. Idon’tmindtalkingaboutothers’well-beingbutIamaprivatepersonandchoosenotto sharethatinformationatwork 80. Idon’tproactivelyorregularlydiscussmyfeelingsandwell-beingbutfeelsupportedthatifI hadaproblemsomeonewouldhavetimeforme. 81. Idon’tsharemypersonalfeelingswithcolleagues,Ikeepthatforfamilyandclosefriends 82. Idon’ttalktopeopleintheworkplaceaboutmyissuesbutIdotalktomyfamily 83. Idon’ttellpeopleasthereisnothingtheycando 84. Idon’tthinkPeoplewouldunderstandhowitaffectsmepersonally…todescribemyfeelings wouldbehardtogetacross 85. Idon’twanteverybodyknowingprivateaffairs 86. Idon’twanteveryoneknowinghowI’mfeeling 87. Idon’twanttobotheranyone 88. Idon’twanttoburdenpeoplewithmyconcerns.Idon’thavemassesoftimenordomy colleagues.Idon’tappreciatepeopleburdeningmewiththeirtroublesatlengthatwork. 89. Idon’twanttomakethingsworsebyexplainingtootherpeople 90. Idon’twanttotalktoanyone 91. Idon’twanttowriteanything 92. IfeelIwouldbejudgedanditwouldbeheldagainstmeifIdiscussedmyownmentalhealth issuesatwork 93. IfeelablebutIdon'tchoosetodiscussmywellbeingwithmycolleagues 94.

IfeelmorecomfortabletalkingtocolleaguesthatIamcloseto,donotalwayscompletely trustthoseIdon'tknowwellsowillnotshareasmuch 95. IfeelmorecomfortablewithpeopleIknowwell 96. Ifeelthatanydiscussionwithallcolleagueswillleadtomyaffairsbeingthesubjectof generalgossip.Iprefertospeakwiththeproprietorortheoperationsmanager. 97. Ifinditeasiertodealwiththingsalone. 98. Ifinditverydifficulttoworkoutwhat'sgoingoninsidemyownhead,letalonebeingableto articulatethateffectivelytoanyoneelse.Iamclosewithmyimmediatefamilyandwedotalkabout things,butIdon'tfeellikeItellthemenoughhowI'mgenuinelyfeeling,ratherrelyingonoutbursts whenI'mfrustratedorstressed. 99.

Ifindmywellbeingtobeaprivatematter,andthereforedonotfeelcomfortablesharingthis sortofinformationbeyondmyinnerprofessionalcircle. 100.

Igetembarrassedifanybodyknowspersonalthingsaboutme.Iknowitisn’thealthy. 101. Ihaveajobwhichdoesnothavecontactwithmyworkcolleagues.

102.

Ihavenoissuesinmywellbeingsoidon'tneedtotalktoanyoneaboutitlifehardjustgeton withit

103.

Ihavenoneedtodothis.Icandothisandmyemployerisverygoodaboutenablingthisbut Idon’tneedtoshareinformationaboutmywellbeingandIwouldneverdiscloseinformationina colleague. 104.

Ihavenothingtotalkabout

Ihavesufferedboutsofdepression/anxietyeversincemyyoungestSondiedinAugust 09 aged33,followedbymyFathersdeathinJanuary 00.IwasveryclosetomySonandImisshim terribly,IwasnotjustaMamtoDeanIwasalsohiscarer.IhadbeenestrangedfrommyFatherfor approximately30yearsuntil 08,mySisterapproachedmeandaskedifIcouldhelpherwithmy Fatherscare,hehadVascularDementia.Ihelpedoutofduty.NowIfeelsolonelyandlost.

105.

Ijustdon'twanttobotherpeoplewithmyproblems.Everyonehastheirownstuffgoingon. 107. Ijustdonttalktoanyoneaboutmywellbeing 108. Ijustdon’ttalkaboutit,onlyifit’sstrictlynecessaryandtheissue/illnessisnotresolvedor takelongtoresolve.

106.

109. Ijustliketokeepmyproblemstomyself. 110. IjustliketothinkaboutanyissuesIhaveandreflectonhowIcansolvethem.Truestrength comesfromwithin,Iwouldbehappyforsomeonetocometomeforhelportolistentothem.ButI donotseekhelpfromothers 111. Ikeepmyselftomysef 112. Ikeepmyselftomyself 113. Ikeepmyselftomyselfandlistentoeveryoneelse 114. Iliketokeepmyprivatelifeprettyprivate 115. Iliketokeepmyworkandpersonalbusinesskeptseparate,somethingsI’mhappytotalk aboutbutsomearemoreprivate 116. Iliketokeepmyselftomyself 117. Iliketokeepworkandpersonallifecompletelyseparate. 118. ImostlyworkfromhomeandImovedtoanewdepartmentwhereIhaveonlyjustmetmy colleaguesthatIamnotparticularlyclosewith 119. Ionlyknowoneortwocolleaguesparticularlywellanddon'twanttotalkaboutmy wellbeingwithstrangers 120. Ionlysharemyfeelingswithfamily 121. Iprefernottodisclosemytruefeelings.Donotliketobejudgedormakemyselffeel vunerableasIammorelikelytogetmorehurt 122. Iprefertokeepmyfeelingstomyself 123. Iprefertokeepmyworkandpersonallifeseperate 124. Iseenoreasontalkingaboutthiswithothers 125. Istillwouldn'ttendtogodeepintohowIamfeeling,stressedoranxious.Idotquiteknow howtofindthewordsandalwaysseemsanawkwardthingtohandle 126. Isupposeit’snotacomfortableconversationtopicformeandIdon’tfeellikeI’dwanttoput myselfinanuncomfortableposition.OnawholeI’mcontentandIfeelifIweretobeverylowI wouldreachout,butobviously,it’seasiertosaythatthanhavetheactualconversation. 127. Itendonlytospeakwhenfrustrationboilsup 128. Itrytokeepitlightandnottopersonal 129. Itendtokeepthingstomyselfbutwilltaketoclosefriends.Notalwaystoletoutfrustration butthiswasclosestanswertohowIfeelIam. 130. IwanttoappeartobeabletobecopingbetterthanIam 131. Iworkalone 132. Iworkaloneandhavenoneedtosharemywellbeingwithanyone 133. Iworkasafreelance.Ionlyspeaktocolleagueswhenessential. 134. IworkinalonemostofthetimesoI'mnotthatclosewithmycolleagues.Theyaren'tthe peopleItalktoaboutwellbeingunlessitwillhaveaneffectonthejobI'mdoing(e.g.lettingmy managerknowwhenI'msickorneedtotakecompassionateleave).Ihaveagoodcircleoffriends andfamilyoutsideofworkwhoItalkwithinstead,andwesupporteachother. 135. Iwouldonlyopenuptoacoupleofmycolleaguesatworkaboutdeepconversationtopics 136. Iwouldonlyspeaktopeoplei'mfriendswith 137. Iwouldratherkeepmybusinesstomyself 138. Iwouldn'twanttodivulgepersonalinformationtoallofmycolleagues,asIdon'tknowmost ofthemwellenoughtoknowhowitwouldbereceived.Idon'twanttoappearunprofessionalby oversharing. 139. Iwouldn'twanttotellanyone,butmyclosestcolleagueswouldunderstand 140. I'mtheircolleaguenotfriend. 141. I'mveryisolatedandhavebecomeavirtualrecluse. 142. I'vealwayskeptmyfeelingstomyself.Evenasachild. 143. I'dratherdealwithitmyself 144. I'mBritishandwedon'tdothatsortofthing. 145. I'maprivateperson 146. I'maprivatepersonIdon'twanttobethecentreifgossip 147. I'maprivatepersonandit'smybusiness 148. I'maveryprivateperson 149. I'mabletohandlemyownwellbeing. 150. I'manadultanddonotlikeothersknowingmybusiness. 151. I'mnotcomfortabletalkingaboutit. 152. I'mnotdiscussing 153. I'mnotparticularlyclosetothem.Theyhaveworriesoftheirown. 154. I'mnotthatclosetomanyofmyco-workers-IchattotheonesIamclosetolikefriends 155. I'mnotthathappytosharewithpeopleunlessI'mclosetothem 156. I'mnotcomfortabletalkingaboutit.

157. I'mnotdiscussing 158. I'mnotparticularlyclosetothem.Theyhaveworriesoftheirown. 159. I'mnotthatclosetomanyofmyco-workers-IchattotheonesIamclosetolikefriends 160. I'mnotthathappytosharewithpeopleunlessI'mclosetothem 161. Keepquietandcarryon....hopefully 162. Keepselftoselfasmuchaspossible 163. Keeptomyself 164. Liketoremainprivateaboutmypersonallife 165. Peoplearetooworriedaboutthemselvestotakeonother’sproblems 166. Othersarenotinterested,investednorappropriate 167. Othersnotcloseenoughtotalkaboutmyproblems 168. Peoplearoundmedon'tseemtocareaboutmywellbeing.It'salsonoteasytotalkaboutthis sortofthing. 169. It'smybusinessnobodyelse 170. It'snooneelse'sproblem. 171. It'snotgoingtochangeanything.Idon'twanteveryoneknowingmybusiness. 172. It'spersonal 173. Itsjustpersonalchoices 174. It’smybusiness...notanyoneelse’s 175. It’spersonal 176. I’maprivateperson 177. I’maveryprivatepersonandonlydiscusswithfamily 178. Myheartisbadandmyclientsworryaboutme&constantlyaskaftermywellbeingwhichI findintrusive 179. I’mquiteaprivatepersonandliketokeepcertainmattersmoreprivate 180. Noconfidencetospeaktoothers 181. Noonecares 182. Noonetotalkto 183. Peoplereportyoutosocialservices. 184. Personalandonlyshouldbediscussedwithlinemanager 185. PrefertalkingtopeopleIamcloseto. 186. Prefertokeepthoughtstomyself 187. Private 188. Privateperson 189. Privately 190. Problemswithfamilymemberssocan'tspeakwiththem.Ifeelit'sbesttokeepquiet. 191. ReflectsmypersonalityandwhatihavegonEthrough 192. Youneedtogetitoutswappingideassometimeshelpsincaseyou’remissingsomething 193. Amaprivateperson

UK/Workplace @ 30% Mangrment not approchable Male ego work environment has no room for cosy chats It is not appropriate in the workplace to talk about others' wellbeing to anyone. It is not in our workplace culture do talk about our wellbeing openly

1. Asworkliketopushthewordwellbeingaboutbutdonothingaboutitthat’sofanyreal impact.Ifyoustateyouarestressedtheysaytheywillsupportyoubutmostpeopleseemtobeput onformalplansleadingtodismissal.

2. Atworkmanagersdothetalkbutdon'tdothewalkregardingmentalhealth.Basicallywellbeingisjustacorporatechecklistthatneedstoexistforthem.

3. BecausemanagershavelaughedatmewhenIsaidI'mstrugglingtodealwithdifficult residents.OneincidentIhadaresidentligature 3timesin4hours,andfoughtmyselfandmy colleagueeveryonewhilsttryingtoremoveit.AgovernorsniggeredatmewhilstIwasnearlyin

tearsandsaidthisiswhatyousignedupfor,getonwithit.Hethenproceededtosayinadifferent conversation"Ithinkyou'rementallyunstableandneedtofindanotherjob"outoftheblue.Because ofthelackofsupportI'venowhadtoreachouttoadoctorandcounsellorasIhadamajorpanic attackathomewhereIgotmypartnertocallanambulanceasIthoughtIwashavingaheartattack, I'mnowonbetablockers.HadIhadsupportatworkjusttohelpassistwithdifficultsituationsI probablywouldn'tbeinthispositionrightnow.Governorsinmyplaceofworkareanabsolute disgraceandhavenoregardfortheirstaffwhatdoever.Theyfinditfunnywerebeingassaulted everydayandhavingoutnervesshotalldayeveryday.Ashamedtobeworkingfortheservice

4. Becausetheuppermanagementdon'tcare

5. Becauseworkistoobusytodothisandbecauseyoudon’tknowwhoyoucantrustatwork

6. Cultureofblameandgossip

7. Despiterecentimprovementsthereisstillhugestigmainmyworkplacearoundnotcoping orneedinghelporevenbeingweak.Recentchangesinmygoverningbodyhavereinforcedthese viewsandputupfurtherbarrierstoopendiscussionabouthowwearedoing.

8. Don’tfeelsupportedenough,managerhasmywayorhighwayattitude.Tellsyou,you’re doingagoodjobthenfollowsitwithacriticism.Shortstaffed,workingtoomanyhours,poorlypaid 9. Don’twanttoupsetboss

10. NobodycanhelpmewithmysituationandtalkingaboutitaffectsthemtoosoItendtostay silent.

11. Employeewellbeingisn'tengrainedinthecultureoftheorganisationatall,butIfeelitis veryimportantandIliketodiscussitandmakeothersfeelliketheycantalkaboutittoo.

12. Employerspretendtocarebutdotheyreallyneedtoknow

13. Everyoneatworkhashadsomedegreeofmentalhealthissuesoverthelastcoupleof years,weareacloseteamandfeelcomfortabletalkingaboutitwitheachother.

14. Hatemyjob.Iworkfromhome&onlyseemyworkcolleaguesduringmeetingssothat helps.IhelpedruntheCompanyfor 0yearsbutgraduallymyemployerhasgotmorestaffinwho aregraduallytakingthepiecesofmyjobaway.Thiswassupposedtohaveimprovedour effectiveness.ButafterafurtheryearsnothinghasimprovedsinceIwasdoingit&theygetpaid tripletheamountIwas/am.WeneedthemoneysoI’mhangingonforretirement,that’sifthe Companysurvives.TheowneroftheCompanyisinfinancialdifficultymainlybecauseheringsitdry forhisownextravagantneeds&dreadfulCompanydecisions.Althoughhethinksdifferently 15. IamabletotalktomycolleaguesifIhaveaproblemorIamfeelingacertainway.Theyare supportiveandlisten.Iamalsohappytolistentootherpeopleandadvisewhennecessary.Idon’t feelthereismuchfocusasacompanyonourmentalwell-beinghowever.

16. IamanexamassessorandweworkremotelynowbyMSTEAMS.Itisverydifficultto contactanyoneexceptmyteamleaderdirectly.

17. Iamaskedaboutmywellbeingonmyannualappraisal.

18. Iamavailabletomystaffbutfeellikemyownissuesihavetokeeptomyself

19.

IaminapositionofauthoritywhereIamseenashaving"aneasyride".Itwouldnotbe appropriatetodiscusswellbeingwithmostpeoplewhoholdthisviewofme.However,Ihaveno issuediscussingitwithcolleaguesIknowwell.

20.

Iamthemanagerofalargeteam.Imakespaceformyteammemberstotalkabouttheir well-beingbutfeelIneedtomaintainastrongpersonalbrand.

21.

Icannotallowthosewhomrelyuponme,tothinkofmeasapersontroubledbyanythingtoo greatly.Iwouldmakethemuneasyandfearful.

22.

IhavebeenjudgedinanegativewaywhenIhaveopenedupaboutmyfeelingsbefore,so nowItendtokeepthingshiddenandnotdiscusswithanyone.

23.

IhavemyowncompanywhichcontractstoanothercompanyandIdonotdiscussmuchofa personallevelasgenerallynooneisreallyinterestedanditcanhaveanimpactonmyworking environmentasaresult

24.

Idon'tthinkwellbeingismycompany'sbusinessandIthinkcompanieswhopretendtocare aboutwellbeingwhilstnotmanagingemployeeworkloadsarehypocritical

25.

IfeelthatthementalhealthbandWagonhasbeenjumpedin,byallsortsofpeople,whoin thepastwouldhavehadtoshakeitoffandgetonwithit,nowthey'reallpanderedtonomatterthe severity,sowhensomeonehasrealdeepissuestheyarenotDealtwithappropriatelybecause they'rethe97thpersonHR/family/collegeshavespokentoabouttheirmentalhealthissuesthat week

26.

Ihatemyjobandthebossisabully

Ileadbuttheothermanagementincludingmydirectmanagerdon’t 28.

27.

IleavepersonalconcernsbehindwhenIgointoworktoenablemetobeprofessional 29.

Ionlydiscussmywell-beingwithcolleagueswithinmyimmediateteam

IonlytalktoanappropriatepersonlikemymanagerorifIamworriedaboutsomeoneelse theirmanager.

30.

31. IstillfeelthereisastigmaattachedtomyabilitytodomyjobwellwhileIamsufferingwith stress,depressionoranxiety.Ihavehadmentalhealthproblemspreviouslyanddidn’tfeelvery supported,moreattackedandworkwereveryimpatientwithmyrecovery.

32. IstrugglewithmymentalhealthbutwhenI'vetriedtotalkaboutitnobodylistenstohow seriousitis,soIdon'ttalkaboutit.Ihavetobethereforeveryoneelse,asamother,wife,family member,colleague,teamleader

33. IthinkthathavingalinemanagerknowhowIfeelwillmakethemviewmenegativelyasa badworker 34.

Itendtofeelthatrevealingconcernsaboutmywellbeingtosomecolleagueswillmakeme vulnerable 35.

Ithinkwell-beingispersonalanddoesn'tneedtobeoverthetopandsharedwithlotsof people.Itendtosharewithworkcolleaguesthingsthatarerelevanttothejob. 36. Ithinkwellbeing/mentalhealthistalkedabouttoomuchtolittleeffect. 37. Iworryspeakingupwillnegativelyaffectpeople'sopinionsofme. 38. Iwouldnotwishforeveryoneinmyworkplacetoknowdetailsofmylife. 39. Iwouldonlyconfideaboutmywell-beingtoacoupleofothersinwork. 40. IwouldonlydiscusswithcolleaguesIfeeltotallycomfortablewith 41. Iwouldn’tsaymyemployersupportustoomuchbutwetrytobeinvolvedwitheachother asmuchaspossibleascolleaguestosupportoneanother 42. Iwouldn’tsharehowI’mfeelingwitheveryoneinmyworkplace,onlyafewpeoplewhoI’m verycloseto,andusuallyoutsideofwork. 43. I'donlytalkaboutthistopeopleIconsiderfriendsanyway,ortothoseinworkwhohavea needtoknow. 44. Manyinmyworkplacedon’tunderstandmentalhealthparticularlytheybosses. 45. Mostofmyothercolleaguesareidiots. 46. Mybossisinsensitiveandwouldprobablytakethemickey 47. Myemployerconstantlytriestogetustalking.It'sfineifthereisessentiallynothingwrong butismostlyjustvirtuesignallingandlecturingontrendyissues.But,whenyou'vereallybeen strugglingwithsomethingmagorwhatcanthemarketingmanagercontribute.She'snoideaandit isn'tappropriatetoburdenherwithamedicalproblem.It'snottheappropriateplaceorforum.Ergo awasteofeveryonestime. 48. Nofriends,workinabankwhereitissurvivalofthefittest. 49. Nooutletfordiscussionatwork,peopleatworkarenotpeopleIwouldbecomfortableto discloseprivateinformation 50. Nosupportinwork.Lotsiffrustrationwiththeprimecontractor. 51. Nobodywouldlistenorbeinterestedanyway 52. Notabletospeaktoall 53. Notappropriateandmybusiness 54. Notappropriatetodiscussoutsidelinemanagement.

Myworkplaceisnotconducivetotalkingaboutpersonalwell-being,mainlyduetoa majorityofcolleaguesbeingArmedForcesorex-ArmedForces.Thecompanydohoweverput processesinplacetoemphasisewell-beingandwaystoaccesshelp. 65. Myworkplaceisn’tnecessarilyverysupportive.PlusIworkfromhomesoit’sdifficulttosee colleagues. 66. NewtoroleandnotcomfortabletalkingtocolleaguesyetsoItalktomyfriendsand partneredandalsotherapist 67. Newjob,temporaryposition,sonotcomfortabledoingitinworkyet. 68. MylifeismylifeisprivatetalkingaboutmylifeatmyworkplaceisthelastthingIwill doing...Idon'twantpeopleinterferenceinmyprivatelifeIgotmyworklifeandIgotmyprivatelife notbusinessorconcernsofmyprivatelife 69. Myproblemsaremyproblemstodealwith.Idonotseepointto"ask"someoneforwordof support.

70. Mywellbeingisapersonalmatter.Iworktoearnnottobepartofa'community'. 71. I'mbasedfromhomemostlybymyselftravellingacrossEnglandtowhichirearlyseeanyof mycolleagues. 72. I'mnewanddon'tfeelsecureinmycurrentplaceofwork.HOisinDelftsoEnglishishard andcommunicationsarefrustrating. 73. InthepastwhenIhavetriedtospeakaboutmywellbeingitnevergotareactionthatmade mefeelcomfortableenoughtodoitagain,soIdon't 74. Issuesliketheseshouldbetreatedconfidential 75.

.Itcanbeharddealingwiththingsveryfewpeopleunderstandinmyworkplace 76. Itdoesn't.Atworkmostpeoplearen'tbotheredoraren'tpeopledclassasfriends.Managers areinterestedinoutputonly.OutsidefworkIamhappytodiscussmywellbeingwith 77. Itisabouttrustandappropriateboundariesintheworkplace 78. Itisnotappropriateintheworkplacetotalkaboutothers'wellbeingtoanyone. 79. Itisnotinourworkplaceculturedotalkaboutourwellbeingopenly 80. Itisnotinterestingenough 81. Itisnotyetthecultureinourorganisationtotalkaboutwellbeing 82. ItleadstoaplaceIdon'twanttogo.Itshowsweakness,ratherthanbuildingfoundations. Wespendtoomanytimeschasingnumbersratherthenusingthehumanelement,talkingtoteams, makingpeoplefeelvaluedwithtargetsandrewards.Insteadwehirementalhealthfirstaiders,job done,waitforpeopletobreakdownbeforeanissueisanissue!

83. Iworkinanenvironmentwheretalkingaboutwellbeingisseeninanegativeway.Plusthe peopleatworkwouldn'tcareanyway 84. It’saverypersonaltopic,Iwould’vechosenwithallmycolleaguesbecauseihavemorethan oneortwoclosecolleagueswhoInowclassasfriends,butthentherearesomeIwouldn’tsharewith sothiswastheonlyoption.SomepeopleIwouldnotfeelcomfortablespeakingtoaboutitforfearor beingbrushedaside,lookedatandtreateddifferentlyorseenas“lessthan” 85. It’sjustthewayitis.Mycompanydoesntencouragespeakingaboutit 86. Itwasinmypreviousjob.Detailsofwellbeingcanbeverypersonal.Alsotheempoyers clearlydidn'tcare.Openly"complaining"wouldnothaveachievedanythingandmadethe atmosphereevenmoredifficult. 87. It’snotappropriateatwork 88. Maleegoworkenvironmenthasnoroomforcosychats 89. Mangrmentnotapprochable 90. Largeworkforce,soloworker,difficultjob 91. I’mnotcloseenoughtocolleaguestofeelIcantalktothem 92. I’mtheyoungestinafamilybusiness,myolderfamilymembershavebiggerproblems 93. I’mtheretoworkthat’sit. 94. I’mveryintrovertedandsometimesstruggletounderstandhowIfeelmyselfsohowwould someoneelse.It’seasiertokeepittoyourself.Alsodon’twanttoburdensomeoneelse.Atmywork wecomeandgosooftenyoudon’tbuilduparelationshiptotalkaboutpersonalfeelings 95. Someofmycolleaguesare'notuptodate'withtalkingaboutmentalhealth. 96. Stigmaattached 97. Strugglingfinanciallyduetoadiagnosisofmetastaticbreastcancerlastyear.Becauseofmy surgery,chemoandongoingtreatmentforboththisandchemoinducedheartfailure,Icannolonger workthehoursIdidpreviously…. Ishouldhavebeenretired3.5yearsagoifthepensionagehad notbeenraised,andIwillhavetokeepworkinguntilIam66,another .5years,notknowingifIwill evenlivethatlong!Ifeelmyphysicalandmentalwellbeingisgoingtosufferevenmoreduetothis pressuretokeepworkingtomakeendsmeet,whenreallyIshouldbeprioritisingself-care.

98. TbhIdon'tseemuchpointintalkingaboutawellbeingproblem(I'mcountingthisasmental healthinmycase)asthere's-mostoften-vlittlepeoplecando,&itwillusuallyjustworrythemor 'bringthemdown'(creatingmoreproblems).IfIseriouslyneedhelp,Iwillgoonline,lookatallthe options,&seeifIcangetanapptwithaprofessional(althoughthiscanbeawasteoftimetoo) 99. Teachers-everyonefindsithardsonobodywantstolisten 100.

Tendtorantandcomplainunproductivelytohighlightmywellbeingissues. 101. ThecompanyIworkforisbasicallyleaderlessanduntrainedsupervisorypeoplehavetobe pushedtomakedecisions.

102. Thecompanyarenotsupportive 103.

Thecompanyhashadasustainedcultureofnotcaringaboutthementalwell-beingof employees,andIdon'texpectcolleaguestocareeither. 104.

Thepandemichaseffectedmymentalwellbeingbuttalkingaboutitjustseemsweak. 105. ThestaffteamwhereIworkarenotfriendly 106.

ThereareafewpeopleatworkthatIhaveacloserelationshipwiththatextendsbeyond workorlightconversation.

107. ThereareonlyafewpeoplewhereIwork.Somepeoplemightfeelburdenedbyhearing aboutmywell-beingorlackofit,butothersareempatheticandgoodlisteners.IthinkIknowmy colleagueswellenoughtojudgethis.Itisalsoimportanttoknowthatwhatisbeingsaidwillbe treatedinconfidence.

108. Thereisaverytoxicatmosphereatmyworkplaceanddiscussionsaroundwellbeingarenot takenseriously. 109. ThereisworkplacesupportbutIprefertospeakwithtrustedcolleagues 110. Thereisn’ttheprocessesinplacetoraiseissues 111. There’sstilltoomuchstigmawhenitcomestomentalhealthandwellbeing.Everyonejumps onthebandwagonduringMentalAwarenessDay/Week/Monthbutthat’sallitis!!They’reaware ofitbuttheydon’treallywanttoknowbecausetheydon’tunderstand Isn’titabouttimepeople stoppedbeingsimply“aware”andlearnthowtolisten/help/respond/care? 112. Thinkitsbettertohaveacoupleoftrustedfriends 113. Toomanyabusivenarcissistsintheworkplace. 114. We'reallsuffering,lifeismiserable.It'spointlesstopretendotherwiseandbringitupat work. 115. WeaknessisnotsomethingIwanttoshare 116. Wellbeingmanagementissoprescriptiveinmyorganisationthatyougetjudgedandoften others/managersmakeassumptions

117. Workisforwork,Ibelievethatinallbutthemostextremecircumstances,problemsshould beleftatthedoor.Ifeelthateverybodyisjumpingonthementalhealthbandwagonwhichtakes resourcesawayfromthosewhotrulyneedit.Nowadayspeoplewhopreviouslywouldhavebeen describedassadarenowdepressed.Everythingnowisa“medicalcondition”anditbreedsneurosis andI’mpersonallynotgoingtoaddfueltothatfire 118. Workisnotinterested 119. Workingfromhomeimpactswellbeing 120. Workinginalargeorganisationmeansthereislittlechancetodiscusswell-being.Wejust havetogetonwiththejob 121. Workinginasmalloffice,dontwanteveryoneknowingeverythingaboutyou 122. Wedonottalktoourmanageraboutourwellbeing,butwedooftentalktoeachotherabout ourwellbeingandgetsupportandadvicefromeachotheraboutit 123. Whiletalkingaboutwell-beingisimportantincreatingahealthyworkenvironment,itis alsoadeeplypersonalthingthatIwoulddiscussonlywiththosewhoneedtoknowandthoseI confidein. 124. Whybotherotherpeople 125. Whybotherotherpeoplewithmystresses,mostlikelytheyhavetheirowntodealwith 126. Willonlytalktopeoplethatareonmysectionatworkandmymanager 127. Youcantburdeneveryonewithyourproblems 128. Workcolleaguescannotbetrustedastheygossipalot 129. Workenvironmentsareoftenquite"bitchy"andalotlikeschoolpeopleliketostartrumors etcetc.Andmygirlfriendhasalotofmentalhealthproblemssoshedoesn'tneedtodealwithmine aswell.ForthatreasonItrytokeepittomyselfmostofthetime. 130.

3.

UK/Workplace @ 2%

beingpaidtowork 2. BecauseIwouldrathertalktomyfriends.Itrytostayoutofthegossipandofficepolitics thatgoesonwithcolleagues.

wouldn’twantpeoplewhodon’tknowmethatwelltojudgeme 4. Becauseinmyworkplacenosecret'saresafe,soifthereisapersonalissueeveyonewill knowitinadayorso 5. BecauseitispersonalandIwouldtalkwithsomeonewhoI’dtrustnottorepeat 6. Becauseit’sprivate

12. Confidentiality.Thereareotherwaysofcommunicatingsuchissues 13. Donottrustpeopleatworkplaceandtheydonotparticularlycareaboutmywellbeing.Also toomuchgossip 14. Don'ttrustsomeindividualsatworksomewouldseeitasaweakness 15. Don'twanteveryoneknowingmybusiness 16. Don’tknowwhoyoucantrustinworkplace. 17. Fear.Rejection.Feelworse. 18. Iamnewtomyjobanddonotyetknowwhototrustwithsuchinformation 19. Iwouldn’twanttobethesubjectof“officegossip”andfeeltherecould/wouldbejudgment oncertainthingsImaysayorfeel. 20. IcanonlybeopentothecolleaguesthatItrust 21. Idonottrustthem 22. IdonottrustthoseIworkwith 23. Idon'ttrusteveryone 24. Idon'ttrustotherpeopleI'mnotclosetoo 25. Idon'twantpeopletothinklessofme. 26. Idon’ttrusteveryoneIworkwithorwishtodiscusspersonalthingswithallofthem 27. IliketokeepmywellbeingprivateingeneralbutwillspeakupwhenIfeelitnecessaryor withsomeoneIfeelcomfortablewith. 28. Ihaven’tworkedthereverylonganddon’thavethesameleveloftrustacrosseveryperson 29. IonlytalkaboutmywellbeingwiththoseIfeelmostcomfortablewith. 30. IneedtoknowIcantrustpeople 31. Ionlytrustafewcolleaguesnottodiscussmyconcernsbehindmyback. 32. Ionlytrustasmallgroupofpeople.ThissmallgroupmakesmefeelcomfortableandIdon't feelliketheywilljudgeme. 33. Ionlytrustcertainpeople 34. Itrustafew.Notmany.Thesearecolleaguesnotfriends. 35. Iusefamilytimetoletoffsteam,butworkinginasmallorganisationmakesittrickytoknow whothiscanbedonesafelywith 36. I’vepreviouslysharedwithcolleaguesandit’sreflectednegativelyonmywork 37. Managerswouldbeangryandothercolleagueswouldreportyou.Justventtolike-minded colleaguesyoutrust 38. NegativechildhoodexperiencesmeanIstruggletotrustpeople. 39. Noteveryonecaresoristrustworthy 40. OnlyafewpeopleItrustatwork 41. OnlypeopleItrust 42. OnlyspeakwithpeoplewhoItrustnottodivulgepersonalinfotoothers. 43. Youcan’ttrustanybodyatworkattimessoit’sbesttonotspeakout. 44. Somepeoplehaveproventhattheyareuntrustworthywithsensitiveinformation. 45. Struggletotrustpeoplewithpersonalinformationaboutme. 46. Trust 47. Trustandconfidentiality 48. Trustissues 49. Trustmycolleaguesnotmyemployers 50. Truth

Dis-Quiet UK/Workplace @ 5%

1. Acoupleofmyfriendsaremycolleagues,butIdon'tliketocomplaintoomuchtoanyoneas everyonehastheirissuesgoingon

1. BecauseIcanaddressmyfeelingswhenIwantto.Idon'tliketobepressurizedtoopenupif Idon'tfeellike.Someofthecolleagueshavesimilarissuessotheycanunderstandmebetterthan someoneoutsideofourorganisation 2. BecauseIdon`twanttobotherpeoplebytalkingaboutmypersonalwellbeingandIamnot surethattheywouldbeinterestedanyway. 3. Becauseidontfeelcomfortabletalkingtopeoplethatarecolleaguesratherthanfriends. 4. Becauseidon’tmixworkandpersonallife 5. Becausepeoplearefake 6. Don'tfeelcomfortabletalkingtothatmanypeopleaboutit.

7. Don'tfeeltheneedtodiscussatwork 8. Don'tfinditappropriateatwork,privacy 9. Don'tliketocauseproblemsatwork 10. Don'tliketorevealtoomuchtopeopleI'mnotclosewith. 11. Don'tneedeveryonetoknowbuthappytosharewhereappropriate. 12. Don'tseethepointindiscussingthis 13. Everyoneneedstoventattimesandfamilyorfriendsarethebestorsafestpeopletoventto 14. ItjustdependsonwhoIfeelcomfortabletalkingto 15. It'snotnecessary.

16. I’minaseniorpositionsoiwouldn’tdiscussmywell-beingwithanyonebelowme. 17. It'sapersonalmatterandshouldnotbediscussedwitheveryone 18. It'sconfidential 19. It'sjustsomethingthatIrarelytalkabout.Mostpeoplehaveconcernsabouttheirown wellbeingandaren'tbotheredbyanyoneelse'swellbeing.

20. MostofmyfamilystruggleswithmentalorphysicalhealthsoI'donlyaddtothestressifI toldthemhowIfeel

21. Sometimesit’sbettertotalktofamilyandfriendswhounderstandyouwhowilllistenand providetherightguidance.

5 Distressed UK/Workplace @4%

1. BecauseIwouldratherdiethanbeforcedtoliveinthiscountryforanotheryear.

2. Duetosocialanxiety

3. IworkwithadultswithlearningdisabilitieswhichmeansIdon’thavetimetotalkaboutmy mentalandphysicalhealthatwork.

4. I'mthesoleearnerinthehouseholdandI'msuperfuckingstressedanddepressedandhave beenforyears.TechnicallyIcountassuicidalbutIcan'tdoanythingaboutitbecausemyhusband wouldlikelyfollowme,andI'mprobablytooexhaustedtoplananyway.Idon'thavethetimeor energytogetthroughtheNHSqueuesforsupportorcounseling.Thereisnoendinsight.I'mnot exactlyscaredofmentioningittocolleaguesbuttheywouldn'tcopewithknowingallthatkinda stuff.

5. Muchtalkismadeofimprovementstowellbeing,buttheseniorplaningteamsneverstop therelentlessstupidschedulingwhichisthemaincauseofworkplacestress.WehaveaRESPECT policy,howeveritonlyseemstoapplyupwards. 6. Myworkloadistoohighandthereisnorealmitigationinplace

mypersonalsituation.Organisationcounsellorsetcneedbringinguptospeed,andIcan'taffordthe timeorefforttogointothathistory

Intravert – Keep things private or bottled up

Becasue I don't talk to anyone at all about my health and/ or physical and mental wellbeing, not even those closest to me; I keep things hidden.

Because its nobody elses business

I am a master of disguising my pain and fatigue in order to appear “normal”. Why would I ruin that?

I am a private person regarding these matters. Its deeply personal, but I was abandoned by my mother at the age of 8 and left really to bring myself up with a father who was an alcoholic. That was sixty years ago, and it was hidden from school and to be honest teachers at my school did not know anything about pastoral care let alone be able to spell it. Social services were not as they are now, and I knew that life in care would be far worse, just look at all the historical abuse events that are coming to light. So, I grew up as a product of society of that time, learning to cope, internalise and rationalise a range of wellbeing issues. It was a case of when the going gets tough the tough get going or you go under. No individual can never understand how painful it was, as you have to live it to truly understand the depth of despair and misery.

1. I don't like having everyone know what is wrong

2. I know this is bad. I stress internally instead of talking

3. Again, my business

4. Again, this is too personal.

5. Becasue I don't talk to anyone at all about my health and/ or physical and mental wellbeing, not even those closest to me; I keep things hidden.

6. Because I simply don't talk about it, I don't feel like anyone understands so why bother.

7. Because I'm happy to talk about a lot yet don't bring my own issues up

8. Because I'm very introverted

9. Because im a private person i share with my Husband and my closes friends of many years standing

10.Because it's private

11.Because its nobody elses business

12.Don't want to worry anyone

13.Don't want to worry people.

14.Dont feel the need to. Like to keep things private

15.Don’t need to worry others

16.Family just don’t understand

17.Find it difficult to talk about

18.Frustrations born from a lack of understanding generally mean I keep things to myself mostly.

19.I am private

20.I am a master of disguising my pain and fatigue in order to appear “normal”. Why would I ruin that?

21.I am a private person regarding these matters.

22.I am a very private person

23.I am content to discuss my health with qualified professionals as and when it is required. I do not discuss my health with friends

24.I am quite a private person. Can talk about the positive things but like to keep the more negative things to myself. Find it much easier to talk about physical than mental well being

25.I am retired but i would not discuss my health/ mental wellbeing with friends maybe with my children if needed. I did not discuss with work friends, maybe a close friend

26.I deal with things alone

27.I do not actively talk about it at work, unless prompted (such as in meetings) but at home i am open and honest

28.I do not enjoy sharing about myself to anyone.

29.I do not feel comfortable talking to people about my issues as they will not be able to help.

30.I do not feel the need to speak about my health at work as I do not have any health issues currently.

31.I do not like to concern people with my problems.

32.I do not like to talk too much about my health as I do not want to bother others. Also my feelings about my health overwhelme me.

33.I do not really like contacting doctors , I have the feeling that they are too busy for any issues I may have.

34.I do not want to get involved

35.I don't ever talk about having a good mental health day

36.I don't feel comfortable talking to people about this and don't want to burden them with my problems.

37.I don't feel the need to disrupt working with talking about something irrelevant

38.I don't generally talk to my family about my health, mostly with friends as they can be more objective and have a wider range of experiences

39.I don't have to discuss health matters much as I am relatively healthy thankfully

40.I don't know many colleagues well enough to discuss any health issues with them.

41.I don't like chatting about personal stuff, i'm a very private person and you never know who you can truly trust.

42.I don't like revealing personal information

43.I don't like talking about it

44.I don't like to

45.I don't like to talk to people

46.I don’t like to open up

47.I don’t like to talk about it

48.I don't talk to anyone

49.I don't talk to my colleagues much because I'm usually alone at work. I'm much closer to My friends.

50.I don't tend to voice my worries or concerns to many others.

51.I don't really interact with people at work or share too much incase of judgemen

52.I don't think anyone outside of home would care to hear me maundering on about aches and pains!

53.I don't trust the NHS neither will i ever. They are old fashioned, set in their ways, and any cures you find, they will attempt to erase it. I have gone through hell with the NHS and still am, having to spend over £800 in the past year for a serious wound they operated on, and have had to buy all my own medical supplies and at 76 years of age, i think that's disgusting, they don't mind getting you in their Pet Scans / tomography etc.etc. which costs a fortune, but they cant supply me with medical supplies to improve my health. I am past caring about them.

54.I don't trust the people I work with.

55.I don't want others to see me as weak or to burden others with my issues

56.I don't want to share with people

57.I don't like talking to people about my wellbeing because i don't want people to know what happens to me as i am ashamed of my past

58.I keep it private

59.I keep my thoughts on illness to myself because it worry’s me a bit about my health but not very often

60.I keep things hidden

61.I like to keep personal things to myself

62.I like to keep such matters private, but would seek professional help if necessary

63.I live alone, I deal with things by myself

64.I need to let my wife know how I feel but I don't feel the need to let others know

65.I only talk to my partner

66.I prefer not to discuss my health with other people except professional medical people such as doctors.

67.I prefer the privacy 68.I prefer to be private 69.I prefer to deal with things myself

70.I prefer to heal myself but if needed I do contact outside people and find things go wrong 71.I prefer to keep my health private

72.I prefer to keep this private.

73.It is a personal matter 74.It is my business

75.It is my private information I don't think my employer is entitled to know everything about my health and wellbeing

76.I value my privacy; my health is my business

77.I would talk to family but not colleagues

78.I wouldn't discuss these topics at work because I feel they are private 79.I wouldn't do it at work, new job 80.I'm a closed off person 81.I'm a private kind of person and I don't complain. 82.I'm a private person 83.I'm a private person and it's my business 84.I'm not close enough at work to many other people, maybe only my close colleagues 85.I'm not comfortable talking about it.

86.I'm not interested in discussing my health issues with all and sundry. 87.I'm not open 88.I'm private 89.Im a person who keeps their personal matters to themselves. Sharing won’t benefit me in any way 90.Im a private person 91.Introvert 92.It's nobody else's business 93.It's nobody else's business. If I am concerned about an aspect of my health, I go to the doctor. I regularly visit the dentist. 94.It's personal 95.It's personal to me and my wife 96.It's private

97.Its deeply personal, but I was abandoned by my mother at the age of 8 and left really to bring myself up with a father who was an alcoholic. That was sixty years ago, and it was hidden from school and to be honest teachers at my school did not know anything about pastoral care let alone be able to spell it. Social services were not as they are now, and I knew that life in care would be far worse, just look at all the historical abuse events that are coming to light. So, I grew up as a product of society of that time, learning to cope, internalise and rationalise a range of wellbeing issues. It was a case of when the going gets tough the tough get going or you go under. No individual can never understand how painful it was, as you have to live it to truly understand the depth of despair and misery.

98.Its nobody's business but mine 99.Its not that easy to get an appointment

100. It’s a personal matter 101. It’s a private matter in my view.

102. It’s for me to deal with any possible issues, no one else’s business 103. It’s hard 104. It’s my own issues

105. It’s nobody’s business what my health is apart from those closest to me.

106. It’s not something I feel the need to discuss.

107. It’s personal 108. It’s personal again to me…scared to say

109. It’s private 110. I’m a very private person I’ve been brought up to just get on with it , I would be frightened to sell anyone , I had cancer 6 years ago but didn’t tell anyone I was going to the doctors before I got the diagnosis I didn’t want to worry anyone ..

111. I’m being treated for blood cancer 112. I’m not open in the workplace about my well being as I don’t feel that comfortable around my boss and colleagues 113. I’m quite private 114. It’s too personal 115. It’s too personal to discuss at work but at home I trust my family 116. I’m a private person 117. I dont think that its necessary to talk to everybody about my medical problems apart from family and medical professionals , most other people have enough problems of their own without taking on mine as well 118. I keep myself to myself.

119. My finances and my health is my concern only. 120. My health and mental wellbeing are between myself and my doctor.

121. My health especially mental health is something personal to me and something I would only talk about with people I trust like family or close friends so I would feel free to talk about it at home but I don’t think it’s appropriate work conversation unless you are really comfortable around your work colleagues

122. My health is for me to deal with, nobody else. 123. My health is important but I do not need to chat openly about it 124. My health is my our personal business. I talk at home with the people who care about me and who I care about.

125. My health is private 126. My health will only be discussed at home with my wife or with my GP. People who discuss their health & mental wellbeing with people at work or outsiders at hypochondriac.

127. My husband doesn’t understand or knows how to deal with illness his answer to everything is to take an aspirin so this makes mr anxious and worry should anything serious happen to me as he won’t use the phone or how to contact any help. That worries me 128. My husband will not discuss such things 129. My own business 130. My own private business. 131. My personal health is something i think should be with people qualified to deal with any problems that may occur. 132. My workplace is not the place to talk about it 133. Need to be more private 134. Neither myself nor my partner like discussing illness. We do so when it is necessary but don't revel in illness and certainly don't raise the topic with friends If people ask how we are we say "fine" even if we aren't and move on. 135. No body elses business 136. No one at work needs to know how I work out 137. No one cares 138. No one is really interested 139. No one needs to hear it 140. No one needs to know. It’s boring to talk about. 141. Nobody else's business 142. None of works business 143. None of works business unless it’s impairing my ability to do my job and I needed support to carry out my job. 144. None of your business 145. None of your business. 146. Not appropriate at work 147. Not at work because it doesn’t help at all. 148. Not close to work colleagues 149. Personal 150. Personal reasons. 151. They are not my friends, it's my private life 152. They cant help 153. This is a personal matter for family only 154. This is a private matter

155. This is a tough one because I don’t have a problem talking about physical problems, but I avoid talking about mental health.

156. This is not something that a Gentleman should discuss.

157. This is private and my business o ly

158. This is where I prefer to share

159. Too much gossip

160. Too personal

161. Too tired

162. Tough to talk about

163. Try to keep things private, but sometimes need to vent frustrations

Judging – What others might say, think, do – or not do

Because many mental health ‘experts’ are actually pretty incompetent and patronising. I know more than they do. Most people understand less about mental and physical health matters than me because I do lots of research. The professional NHS services are pitiful and disconnected. Referrals don’t seem to happen or take weeks. Their assessment methods are wrong - they assess ‘risk’ in order to dismiss people. They are not assessing true risk and people will die as a result.

1. As a disabled man. Nobody wants to know or the professional response is "but it's because of your disability so nothing can be done!"

2. Bad experiences with many health professionals... Awful mental symptoms that would probably get me sectioned again if I talk about them. Physical difficulties are hard, but lost all trust in my GP due to his behaviour, and no trust in any doctor or other staff anymore. No more trauma, I can't take it anymore.

3. Because I have chronic pain and mobility issues, Drs aren’t interested and I’m worried about my future

4. Because I’m expected to be the strong one.

5. Because as per my previous statement, raising a mental health issue, you just get laughed at and told " this is what you signed up for, get on with it"

6. Because it’s hard to say how you feel without feeling judged

7. Because many mental health ‘experts’ are actually pretty incompetent and patronising. I know more than they do. Most people understand less about mental and physical health matters than me because I do lots of research. The professional NHS services are pitiful and disconnected. Referrals don’t seem to happen or take weeks. Their assessment methods are wrong - they assess ‘risk’ in order to dismiss people. They are not assessing true risk and people will die as a result. 8. Don’t talk much about it, worried what people will think and they won’t understand 9. Don’t want anyone at work to know about any problems, love to talk about how much I love the gym 10.Don’t want others to form opinion of me in light of my physical / mental health 11.Don’t want to bother anyone 12.Don’t want to burden, they have their own problems 13.Don’t want to worry anyone 14.Don’t want to worry my family 15.Embarrassing 16.Everyone has problems and don't want to talk about mine as well 17.Everyone has their own problems 18.Everyone has their own problems, they don't want to have to listen to me moaning about my health. Just try to get on with it yourself 19.Everyone has there own worries and concerns why put more on them to add to it .just hold on and ride out whatever comes. 20.Family before me 21.Family don’t want me to be unwell so minimise 22.I am miserable, my life is difficult and grim. Talking about it won't change anything or help me. There is no help.

23.I deflect from wellbeing issues via humour 24.I don’t see any need to discuss this with anyone but my husband 25.I don’t see this has anything to do with my boss / workplace 26.I don’t talk to family or friends about my mental health, only in a joking way or a dismissive way to avoid telling people I’m struggling. I don’t want to seem weak. I sometimes discuss it with my boyfriend but his problems are more serious than mine so I don’t want to trouble him. Aside from

personal mental health, I encourage others around me to talk about it and prioritise this when needed. I look after myself using my knowledge from studying psychology

27.I don’t seem to have time for me and a huge lack of will power when it comes to diet and exercise and a lot of people are in the same boat and share our frustration

28.I don’t think it’s something you discuss at work

29.I don’t think they would be interested so I just try to deal with things myself

30.I feel people would judge me and I would lose my job 31.I’d be judged 32.I’d rather not.

33.I’m a man, it’s certainly not in line with British culture to talk about our mental issues, rather to accept them as normal and do our best to carry on

34.Just cause I’ve been sectioned and I don’t like talking about anything

35.Leave me be my problems are my own

36.Mental health is difficult to talk about with people I work with. I often feel like people will use it against me if they know.

37.Mental health is still a taboo subject to talk about in modern times - even with the family.

38.Money worries, sky high bills, and climbing debts are not helping with my mental health problems, especially when I was abused, and bullied while I was in school. My friends, and family don’t know the half of my story so far, I am mentally exhausted, but I feel like I have had enough.

39.My business

40.My business no body else

41.I worry it will change people's opinions of me

42.I worry that I may be seen as exaggerating.

43.I would only talk about such things in extreme circumstance

44.It shows weakness and it is nobody else's business. Discussing at work is actually detrimental to your mental health, in my opinion. I have been on receiving end of 'company well being policies' which i found intrusive, box ticking and affected how i was perceived. The majority of staff / people do not understand mental health and their 'caring' / advice causes more issues. I have seen professional 3rd party people about mental health and am comfortable i have the tools to cope without telling the world about my condition

45.I'm stressed

46.I'm to busy looking after others than me

47.It's not important at work

48.It's not necessary.

49.It's not very important

50.It’s not a topic I am comfortable discussing

51.It’s not appropriate for work

52.The NHS is being prepared for selling off it's being deliberately run down; this government doesn't give two gigs to ordinary people. As an OAP I feel that there is no health service I dread becoming an emergency and dying in pain in an ambulance or on a trolley in a hospital corridor, or at home alone.

53.The world is a mess full of greed, corruption and exploitation. Depressing.

54.We keep saying we will do something about our health and we'll being but end up doing nothing, usually my wife doesn't do enough or falls off the wagon first and then I get frustrated and fall quickly after as it feels easier or more that it's difficult to do alone

55.What is the point you cannot get an appointment with your GP god knows what they are doing???

56.When I get into a dark space I just want life to end. So far I've come out the other side having pulled through the dark space

57.Work is not the place to discuss health issues. It may be taken negatively and lead to less opportunity for advancement

58.Workplace not conducive to discussing well being or financial issues

59.Worried about others attitudes

60.You deal with your own problem yourself

Sensing - The Facts of The Situation / Not appropriate to talk at work

1. Am overweight and ignoring it

2. As i do not work due to ill health there is no one to talk to in the first place

3. Because I'm not losing weight

4. Because historically, it has never helped

5. Because i don't know my colleagues well enough to trust them

6. Because no one is interested

7. Because some people can’t see anything except that I am fat and assume that is the source of every other problem

8. Because it’s personal

9. Depression

10.Discussing these things at work is not beneficial

11.Doctors are not easily accessible anymore

12.Don't have time to discuss at work

13.Find it hard to communicate about things like this, I clam up

14.I don`t want to bother people with my personal issues etc.

15.Frightened of scammers

16.Hard to word things when no one can fully understand the way mental health affects me

17.Have had cancer and I am so worried it will come back

18.Have meds every day for high blood pressure best to tell someone don’t like them to worry about me

19.Have ongoing health issues

20.Having had depression in the past this can be a recurring illness for me which generally I am able to manage by myself however at times depending on what happens in life this can go up and down and sometimes I don’t like to speak to people about it for fear of judgement or making people feel uncomfortable. A lot of people do not know what to say and cannot just listen and behave as they did before when you tell them you are feeling or have had depression In the past

21.Health of sometimes personal and makes me feel worse when talking about it

22.Husband not interested

23.I find it difficult to talk about all this at home due to lack of understanding and not getting support that I expect.

24.I find that people appear to be listening but then relise they have "switched off" so i do not bother.

25.I have no confidence in the confidentiality at work to discuss this, and only a select few friends and family who I would feel have the emotional maturity to do so

26.I don’t want to talk to anyone

27.I don’t want to talk to people bout my health

28.I have no one to talk to outside of work

29.I have no real idea about my health since it is procticaly impossible to talk to a doctor unless you are T DEATHS DOOR (AND THEN IT WOULD PROABLY BE a & e)

30.I have no reason to talk to anyone about my Health

31.I have struggles that sometimes are not fully understood.

32.I have severe anxiety and panic attacks so dont like leaving my home.

33.I have type diabetes and it's hard for members of the family to understand the constant pressure this brings

34.I keep a boundary between work and home and these issues are not something I feel the coworkers need to hear. Unless I am ill and unable to work.

35.I keep the family going and have no time for myself

36.I separate my private life and home life.

37.I so desperately want to get fit again but I don't have any time or support to do so

38.I tend to think if I don't draw attention to it then it goes away!

39.I talk with friends and family about my physical health, I don't talk with anyone about my mental wellbeing because I prefer to deal with it alone.

40.I will talk to my daughters and husband but others have their own problemsa

41.I work at work / not the place for indulging

42.I would rather keep those details to myself.

43.It suits me to deal with issues that arise personally and privately

44.It's something I have to work on

45.My family are from Somaliland so mental health is not a huge topic.

46.Not many people listen

47.Not much to talk about

48.Not really much to discuss. I think mental wellbeing is blown out of proportion. It seems to me that simply being content is not enough and if we are not super happy then we are depressed and have mental health problems. Seems we are not allowed to be sad about something that should make us sad or upset such as a death of someone close, or losing our job, as that would mean we have mental health problems. As for physical wellbeing I will simply tell friends or family of any ailments my doctor says I have. However, I have not seen a doctor for many years. I hear it is not possible to get an appointment, so I don't bother. I don't work so cannot discuss anything "at work".

49.Not really necessary to share these details, unless it could help me.

50.Not really scared but don’t want my family to worry about me.

51.Not relevant to workplace

52.Not something a discuss at work

53.Not that important, just get on with living

54.Not the business to anyone my health is between me and my GP

55.Not their business or concern. Family / friends have no mental health or medical knowledge or expertise.

56.Not wish to disclose 57.Nothing to do with work 58.Nothing to do with you 59.Ohers have far worse health an me, I do not want to make any fuss 60.Only people at home need to know about any problems 61.Only speak to my family and close friends

62.Other people have their own problems. They don't need or want to hear about mine 63.Others don't seem to be interested in fitness

64.People around me, see me as a strong direct confident person. I find it very hard to admit it is all fake, I am shy and most of the time a bag of nerves. I use anger to mask it. 65.People don’t understand you cannot always see an illness 66.People don’t want to know your problems…they have enough of their own 67.People have there own problems and do not need to hear mine.

68.People not receptive to talking 69.Personal matters are not always appropriate for the workplace

70.Same as finances really - our concerns only.

71.Same as the money reasoning. It's not really anyone's business other than my own if I'm struggling or not. Better to keep it to myself.

72.Scared 73.Simply I don’t talk about it, only if asked 74.Speaking about health issues can cause me anxiety 75.Stiff upper lip, old boy. Someone has to be strong. 76.Struggles to understand 77.Suffered in the past and it was bad because I did not talk

78.Talking doesn't change anything, there's nothing they can do.

79.Tend not to discuss at work 80.Tend to deal with things myself 81.There is a lack of understanding and talking creates problems.

Thinking – Logical way of going about things @ 11%

1. Again, these topics are not considered welcome at work, but I discuss them with my friends.

2. At work it’s quite unprofessional

3. Because I can discuss my health at home but not at work

4. Because I think about my health and well being, but I'm not actually scared about talking about it

5. By talking about my various long term health problems I am forced to face how much my life has changed and the restrictions I now face which depresses me.

6. Because there isn’t really anyone to talk to and I don’t want to upset close family members

7. Being a carer for my partner makes it impossible to speak about myself

8. Being a long term carer and experiencing bereavements have seriously affected my mental and physical health. I don't want to burden my family with my problems weh they have their own lives to lead.

9. Being disabled sucks!

10.Because they won't help me in anyways

11.Because this is the true situation.

12.Because unless they saw all of their mates RPGed in Iraq, they cannot really understand. But neither can professionals. But I worked for MSF so I sm EXCLUDED from all help available to British serivicemen. I chose to go to save lives. I even had to sign a form saying that the government had advised me not to go and it was entirely MY risk. Yeah - we pulled 34 squaddies out of burning vehicles, but we should not have. We should not have been there.

13.Because when you get older you become invisible and no one cares anyway so why discuss it.

14.Everyone has things going on in their lives, if I have a problem I'm capable of finding my own solutions

15.I am a student and work at a supermarket so there is not really an environment conducive to discussing this at work

16.I am a transplant recipient. Only other transplantees can understand the journey I have travelled, the decisions that were taken out of my hands by the government response to COVID, the many who do not comprehend opportunities for infection, and the NHS who say you must do this, or the your decision will affect our care for your transplant.

17.I am concerned about what others will think of me.

18.I do a lot of thinking about how I'm feeling, but can never seem to articulate it to tell someone if something's wrong or what's on my mind, or if I do think of a way to say it I can never pluck up the courage to do so, whether that's with family, friends or close colleagues

19.I dont think work is somewhere I would ever discuss my health issues

20.I dont want to talk about that

21.I don’t find it necessary to talk to people about this

22.I don’t have many understanding people around me, but some are, but very busy and I don’t want to make them uncomfortable, or seem like I’m placing my problems on them. Also, people just don’t need to hear another person banging on about depression and Asperger’s when there’s nothing thing they can do to help. Which can only make them feel worse, which will make me feel worse.

23.I don’t like being vulnerable

24.I don’t like talking about health. It has a habit of making one paranoid.

25.I don't work, but if I did it would be none of their business

26.I have to discuss with work due to having to take time off but do not really want to. I also need to speak to Gps to get the help I need

27.I just say that because if I talk about those things with my family they don't take it very seriously

28.I only talk to family about my feelings. At work l don't feel comfortable talking about it.

29.I prefer to keep my feelings private

30.I prefer to keep some things to myself as I don't like worrying other people

31.I see a therapist on a regular basis for my mental health which has only started recently. I feel better speaking to someone I don't know rather than family or friends.

32.I tend to think if I don't draw attention to it then it goes away!

33.I tend not to talk to many people

34.I tend to not burden the people around me about my problems

35.I want to kill myself a lot and it would upset my family to hear that 36.I'm still at a lower level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs than this stuff. Just trying to stay employed so we can afford rent. My physical and mental health are both terrible but the world is falling apart so I don't have the energy to work on any of that stuff.

37.I think people get fed up listening to problems, and would stop visiting, so try not to dwell on things

38.I think there is far too much talk about mental health. It encourages people to feel sorry for themselves instead of just getting on with things and not taking themselves too seriously. People should not be encouraged to look for negatives in life.

39.I try to talk to my family but they don’t want to know. If it’s not visible they think it doesn’t exist and I’m exaggerating, I must have done something and “oh well, I’m sure you’ll sort it out”

40.I often vent about issues to my friends, maybe not for positive reinforcement

41.I only discuss my health and fitness with people I can trust which is family only.

42.I tend to think if I don't draw attention to it then it goes away!

43.It’s best to keep quiet

44.I only talk to family about my feelings. At work l don't feel comfortable talking about it.

45.I prefer to keep my feelings private

46.I prefer to keep some things to myself as I don't like worrying other people

47.I see a therapist on a regular basis for my mental health which has only started recently. I feel better speaking to someone I don't know rather than family or friends.

48.I tend to think if I don't draw attention to it then it goes away!

49.I tend not to talk to many people

50.I tend to not burden the people around me about my problems

51.I want to kill myself a lot and it would upset my family to hear that

52.I'm still at a lower level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs than this stuff. Just trying to stay employed so we can afford rent. My physical and mental health are both terrible but the world is falling apart so I don't have the energy to work on any of that stuff.

53.On balance, with the best will in the world, other people don't really want to hear about other peoples problems / issues on a regular basis. To that extent, I generally keep quiet about it.

54.When i have told people i suffer with anxiety, since the lockdown, i feel they are not interested or take it seriously. I have done a lot of online research on anxiety, coping mechanisms and I would rather do this than talk to anyone about it

55.While I personally prefer to be open about these things, attitudes of other members of the family make it difficult. As a result, I avoid the topic, even if it probably shouldn't be avoided.

56.With the current crisis in UK healthcare, there's no point moaning

57.Work is not an appropriate forum for this.

YouGov UK Omnibus/Workplace Financial Wellbeing

1/ It’s Private– And not your business @ 35%

Because I don’t talk to anyone about my money, not even those closest to me; I keep things hidden.

Because my finances are my concern, no one else. It makes no difference talking about it.

Friends and families and strangers are in it to find out how much you have in your bank it is private you should not tell anyone

It’s my business and there is nobody I would ask for help if I needed it 1. Again, if you live alone you get used to keeping things to yourself 2. Again, my money problems are my business and dragging others in is unfair. 3. Always in debt ,but bury my head in the sand. Just hope it goes away. 4. Am a private person and am aware that lots of people go blabbing about others money. Money issues are confidential and not for attention seeking 5. As a sole trader doing relatively menial work I don’t like to discuss this with customers 6. Because I am an English man. We keep personal things private. 7. Because I don’t like talking about money 8. Because I don’t talk to anyone about my money, not even those closest to me; I keep things hidden. 9. Because I feel uncomfortable talking about money to others

10. Because I won't talk to others about my finances 11. Because it is my business and not anyone else’s 12. Because it is none of their business 13. Because it's a private matter. 14. Because it's my personal business 15. Because it's personal 16. Because its private 17. Because my finances are my concern, no one else. It makes no difference talking about it. 18. Because it’s perdonnel 19. Because it’s private 20. Because my money is my business 21. Don't feel comfortable discussing money 22. Don't like people knowing my business 23. Don't like talking to people about my finances, I feel this should be kept private 24. Don’t like talking about money 25. Don’t like to think about it 26. Don’t want to discuss 27. Experience has taught me that those who want to listen don't always want to help, I can only test myself 28. Feel its better to keep money matters private 29. Friends and families and strangers are in it to find out how much you have in your bank it is private you should not tell anyone 30. I am a private person 31. I am a very private person and have little family 32. I don't need to tell others about my incoming and outgoing 33. I don't need to. 34. I don't talk to others about money 35. I don't really discuss financial matters with anyone it is mine and my partner's private business. 36. I don't think it's anyone's business 37. I don't want people knowing my business 38. I don't want people to know my situation 39. I don't want to burden other people who can't help me 40. I find it too personal and don't want to be judged by others 41. I want to keep that hidden 42. I think this is a private subject and should be kept that way 43. I thinks it’s personal and I don’t like to share any frustration or worries 44. I would like to be in less debt so rather not talk about it 45. I'm a private person 46. I'm private 47. I discuss our affairs with my wife and it stops there. Our monetary affairs are private and not for open discussion. 48. It has got nothing to do with them 49. It is a personal matter 50. It is a private matter and everyone has their own opinions 51. It is my business 52. It is my own business, no one elses 53. It is my private business 54. It is no one else’s business 55. It is not something appropriate for discussion - and I don't have much anyway! 56. It is private to me 57. It isn't anyone else's business 58. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm Dutch and we tend to keep matters such as income and savings to ourselves. 59. It will à my personal business 60. It's a personal issue. 61. It's a personal topic 62. It's a taboo subject 63. It's my business 64. It's my business not theirs, they all a lot more money than I have. 65. It's no one else's business regarding my finances 66. It's nobody else's business 67. It's nobody else's business. 68. It's nobodys business but mine

69. It's my money so it is my problem 70. It's not my style 71. It's not necessary. 72. It's personal and nobody else's business 73. It's personal, and I don't think others should know my business 74. It's private 75. It’s my money 76. It's too personal 77. Its My business 78. Its my problem... I'll sort it. 79. Its personal, and nobody else business. 80. It’s a personal mater 81. It’s a personal matter 82. It’s a personal thing… 83. It’s a private matter if I’m struggling I’ll talk about it 84. It’s my business 85. It’s my business and there is nobody I would ask for help if I needed it 86. It’s my business to look after my finances I don’t ask anybody about their money 87. It’s no one else’s business. 88. It’s nobody else’s business 89. It’s nobody’s business but mine. 90. It’s none of their business 91. It’s only my business. Nobody else’s. 92. It’s personal to me an my family 93. It’s private 94. My business 95. My business no body else 96. My business only 97. My business. 98. My money is a private matter for only me 99. My money is my business and concern 100. My money is my business. 101. My money is my own business 102. My money is my private business 103. My money is no one else’s business - I am the only one who pays the bills 104. My money is no one's else's business but my own. 105. My money matters are my own business. 106. My money my views no need to be told what to do 107. My money situation is private I prefer to keep quiet about it. 108. My own business 109. My sole responsibility 110. No one cares 111. No one else to talk to about struggling with lack of money!! 112. No one else's buinsses 113. No one else’s business 114. No one needs to know how much I have 115. No ones business 116. Nobody else's business 117. Nobody else’s business 118. Nobody’s business but mine. 119. None of anybody's business 120. None of their business 121. None of us have any mon 122. Not enought money 123. Not really anyone's business, if I'm struggling or doing really well at that moment in time that's my problem and my problem only. 124. Not their business or concern. They have no financial expertise 125. Nothing to do with anyone how much money I have 126. Nothing to share - capable of managing my own finances 127. Only my business 128. Only think it is my business to deal with… 129. Only with my husband

130. Other people don’t need to know about my financial situation, it’s my money that I earn and it’s not anyone else’s business 131. Others are struggling so don’t need my woes 132. Others may think I am an idiot and dont know what I am talking about 133. Our personal financial situation is always kept at home and spoken about with family rather than friends. I do not feel comfortable talking about money with workmates. 134. It’s very private 135. I’m quite sensible with money, work hard and don’t spend beyond my means so not embarrassed or ashamed to talk about money but also aware that my financial circumstances have nothing to do with people outside my household 136. I’ve always been single, and never felt a need to share my financial situation good or bad with others. 137. Like I said I don't talk about money 138. Money matter is a personal thing and shouldnt be shared with some people 139. Past trauma from parents being irresponsible with money leads me to not talking 140. People don't see things from your perspective or try to out do you 141. Personal 142. Personal finance is a sensitive topic area (for myself and other), so only discuss it with those directly impacted by it 143. Personal finances are personal 144. Personal finances only relevant to family members. 145. Personal information and is no one’s business but my own 146. Privacy 147. Privacy, who to trust 148. Private 149. Private person 150. Private person and only discuss my finances with my husband. 151. They are a private matter and should be kept so 152. This is private Even from close family. 153. They dont need to know my business.. 154. They have enough problems of their own without hearing about mine 155. What happens to my finances is my business and nobody else's. 156. Very personal subject, don’t want others knowing my business

2/ It’s Emotional – And struggles @ 25%

The current financial situation is a massive source of stress and mental problems. I am not feeling hopeful and it is taking a toll on my everyday life.

Cos it’s overwhelming and I’m really stressed about it but don’t know what to do

I am worried about my financial situation but do not want to inflict this on my family. They have their own worries

1. Because its embarrassing when you are struggling

2. Because that's what I do ....I live alone, I'm self employed lone worker working from home. Who else am I supposed to talk to? I was supposed to get my pension at 60 all my working life has been geared to that. I didn't find out I had to wait until I was 66 until I was 58 and that was by pure chance. I set up my business in a small way to supplement my expected pension so money is tight and it's unfair. I still have to pay NI contributions although I'm fully paid up. I'm virtually unemployable with no specific skills or qualifications. Employers aren't allowed to discriminate but of course they do. They have to employ younger qualified people and tbh why not? They need the work too and make better long term employees with less risk of health issues. It's really unfair. I've worked hard all my life and was looking forward to retirement, helping my daughter with child care and contributing to society in an unpaid way. Now with increasing prices and my small little business I'm tired. I don't know how I'll go on and I'm not the only WASPI woman left exhausted and in poverty. There are thousands of us 3. Being a pensioner, I feel let down by this government who change the pension rules to suit themselves, leaving some pensioners in a difficult position. I cannot understand how some people who have never or hardly ever worked are being looked after far better than me, 4. Cos it’s overwhelming and I’m really stressed about it but don’t know what to do 5. Being pensioners , money is tight and we see everything going up in price 6. Can’t do anything about it 7. Cost of Living is a big crisis in the UK 8. Cost of living crisis 9. Cost of living is getting so high and i dint like to admit to people that i am low on funds 10. Current situation with energy prices and costs of living prices rising is too much for me 11. Depression 12. Don't like to let people know what is stressing me 13. Don't want to come across as negative 14. Embarrassed 15. Embarrassed or worried not on top of it 16. Embarrassed to discuss my financial situation. 17. Everyone is struggling while the rich get richer by exploiting the working classes and not stopping huge businesses taking advantage. Disgusting. The middle classes are being pushed into poverty, even with both adults working professional jobs. 18. Everyone is under heavy pressure these days and all have big worries.Dont know how it will all pan out but there is always someone worse off than yourself. 19. Everything feels very insecure at the moment and I’m worried about my financial security in the coming months 20. Everything is more expensive. The possibility of securing a job that doesn’t make me want to kill myself but also pays enough money to get a mortgage is basically zero. 21. Fear of losing control. 22. Frightened of scammers 23. Government has failed to manage cost of living crisis and I don't want anyone to suffer for it 24. Have always tried to plan for future bills and expenses, including planning for treats. But I always feel close to running out of money so this makes me budget. I used to have debts and grew up in a family with tight budgets so I do always feel a bit anxious about money. 25. I am worried about my financial situation but do not want to inflict this on my family. They have their own worries 26. I don't feel comfortable or really like telling anyone my struggle. 27. I don't like confronting money issues but they scare me 28. I don't feel confident discussing my finances with people I know... I feel embarrassed 29. I don't feel the need to discuss my finances with others as I have a distrust with what they tell me 30. I don't want anyone to think I can't cope with my money.

31. I don't want people to judge me 32. I don't want to share too much or if I have money I dont want them to think I can afford a lot and expect to treat them or brag 33. I dont feel comfortable discussing money. 34. I dont like discussing money 35. I dont like talking about money 36. I don’t like people knowing my business, it’s private. It’s embarrassing for me to tell others I can’t afford things. 37. I don’t like talking about money to people after previously getting into financial trouble 38. I don’t like thinking about money because it gives me anxiety. 39. I don’t talk 40. I feel I am to blame for not having a job 41. I feel I don’t contribute enough 42. I feel embarrassed by financial problems, that it is embarrassing to tell people 43. I feel like it's my fault that we struggle sometimes. This feels like a very personal line of questioning though. 44. I feel this is my own business and private 45. I feel uncomfortable talking about my finances 46. I find it vulgar 47. I find money stressful and triggering 48. I get worried when things start to look bad and then I research myself how to rebalance my finaces 49. I have debt which scares me 50. I hate money 51. I have anxiety around the issue and struggle to talk about it 52. I need enough to keep my children supplied with what they need. I keep concerns to myself 53. I need to keep a tight rein on spending and dont want to get into conversations about buying new items 54. I need to talk about how we are going to pay the bills. 55. I never have enough money to do the things we would like and therefore sacrifices always need to be made making the issue perpetually frustrating. 56. I tend not to discuss money 57. I tend to keep worried to myself 58. I used to be a full time carer and now have long term mental health issues so budgeting has always been difficult. 59. I worry about debt especially now during the cost of living crisis. I am trying to.economise but i worry that it wont be enough. I have baillifs sending me letters and I have nothing to give them. 60. I worry about money 61. I worry about my future 62. I worry about my income 63. I worry about not having a private pension 64. I worry about when the next bill is going to come in and how I’m going to feed / clothe my children. It’s a horrible feeling when sometimes you want to ask for help but can’t 65. I worry how I'm going to pay energy bills 66. I'm in debt. I'm struggling. 67. It can be quite stressful to see most of your money leaving your account every month 68. It is a constant disaster. You can't help but talk about things you can't afford to do anymore or things you know you will never afford. 69. It is embarrassing admitting you are struggling to keep the lights on and worrying about if I can hear my home 70. It's boring to other people. Saying worries out loud makes them worse. 71. It's embarrassing 72. It's good to let out frustrations 73. It's too stressful to think about, so I try not to 74. It's worrying to know what to do 75. Its embarrassing to have money problems at our time of life 76. It’s a difficult conversation to have with some people. I don’t want to cause them worry. 77. It’s a sensitive topic and the cost of living crisis has exacerbated this 78. It’s a very tough subject to openly discuss, but everyone is suffering the same. Everyone is onboard the sinking titanic together 79. It’s depressing 80. It’s easier not to think about it sometimes 81. It's now at a place where I am struggling all the time getting and no light at the end of my financial tunnel

82. It’s hard times and I’m on a low wage .30 hours but need to run a home as a single mother . Cost of living . Everyone in same boat but yes I rant to friends about it 83. Money scares me a lot 84. I’m a student so ranting about how little money I have is common and releases my anger 85. I’m scared because on paper I earn a decent wage, but in reality I’m a single homeowner paying all bills and mortgage and prices keep rising. I can’t manage but people don’t realise how hard it is being single and a homeowner 86. I’m so concerned that I don’t want to talk about it, and would rather spend my time researching online advice and try to make these decisions, or keep my clients concerns to myself, since people around me are just as panicked. 87. Just to release pressure valve but nobody can solve anything for me. I must deal with it. 88. Money is infuriating and its good to let put your frustrations with friends 89. Money is stressful especially with cost of living going up it makes me panic 90. Money is very stressful at the moment so I prefer to just not talk about it and pretend it’s not happening. 91. Money is very worrying right now 92. Money isn't a topic I talk about alot. But when I do it is normally in a bad way 93. Most pensioners talk about why the UK has such a low rate of pension that means they exist rather than live - the low pension is mentioned often especially with the extravagance of the royal family 94. Sole bread winner worried about future 95. Sometimes I don’t understand 96. Sometimes embarrassing 97. Tend to complain / worry about how as a retired person living on a pension I will manage. Little thought is given to pensioners. 98. The cost of living crisis has affected me and I'm very frustrated with my finances at the moment. 99. The current financial situation is a massive source of stress and mental problems. I am not feeling hopeful and it is taking a toll on my everyday life. 100. With energy bills through the roof I am very worried but don’t want to worry others 101. With inflation rates and prices of everything going up is hard to make ends meet especially when pay don’t matchup to the increase in prices 102. With the cost of living crisis, it’s scary! I have a decent job and earn a good amount of money so I don’t feel like I can complain / worry about it. 103. With the cost of living going up, money has negatively affected me a lot. I'm finding it hard to support myself day to day. 104. With two young children at home money is a big factor in my mind. I have a very poor credit history and it’s embarrassing to speak about. 105. Worried about being judged 106. You don’t know if your doing the right thing if they are legit 107. The pressure of debt can be overwhelming 108. They do my head in calling me tight when I’m skint 109. They judge me 110. Things have been difficult financially over the last 2 years and it’s been very frustrating 111. This is a very difficult time for many of us (including myself)with some companies excessively profiteering at the misery and suffering of others. Naturally, people will want to voice their frustrations as they wait for the next general election 112. To much pride to ask for help 113. There's nothing anyone can do. The people who can change things don't care about how people live.

It’s Relationships – And conflict @ 16%

Because I am not the main earner in our household, so there is a big imbalance in whose financial decisions are considered most valid. Despite my partner saying we have equal input into financial decisions (as I stayed home to look after the children and worked part time, whilst he worked full time and earned more), in practice that is not true. Any financial output led by me comes with strings attached and expectations of it being repaid in some way in the future.

It's just something people are not willing nor happy to talk about and it can cause friction or problems especially within families if there is a struggle of any kind.

Coming up to retiring so money plays on my mind a lot. Being single makes me concerned about how I will manage financially. Don't want to be a burden on my daughter

It’s not good not to discuss with your husband. However once he has died you have yourself to discuss with. There is no one else you can trust.

1. Because I am single and live with my 2 sons (adult) one of whom has disabilities and needs extra support. My other son works and I want him to feel able to save towards his future without feeling he has to help me out or support his younger brother

2. Because I am not the main earner in our household, so there is a big imbalance in whose financial decisions are considered most valid. Despite my partner saying we have equal input into financial decisions (as I stayed home to look after the children and worked part time, whilst he worked full time and earned more), in practice that is not true. Any financial output led by me comes with strings attached and expectations of it being repaid in some way in the future.

3. Coming up to retiring so money plays on my mind a lot. Being single makes me concerned about how I will manage financially. Don't want to be a burden on my daughter

4. Cos I’m poor and our family is poor so it’s frustrating 5. Different attitudes- saving vs spending. Often too emotional conversations as a lot of pressure on both of us to cover all bills 6. Different expectations and approaches in the household 7. Differing opinions on spending 8. Family finance is important and requires communication to be effectively planned. 9. Finances are a private thing. I prefer to keep them between myself and partner 10. Finances are already a struggle to manage in this household and so any discussions about money are just a headache and rather awkward 11. Finances are personal and iam happy to discuss this with my spouse but no one else 12. For example...Today I mentioned to a friend that, I'm a bit short of funds at the moment so instead of buying lunch in a tea room I had a packed lunch instead. I don't go into massive detail about why I'm short of funds though.

13. For the most part it doesn't concern them. 14. Friends and family do not have the appropriate experience. Online financial discussion forums are superb.

15. I am concerned whether the savings I have will last for my lifetime as my pension is not enough now that there is such economic chaos and uncertainty for the future. I cannot discuss any of this with my children as they appear to think I have a higher income than in reality

16. I don't consider my finances to be a topic of conversation with anyone else, especially my family members. It's like politics and religion; a topic not to be discussed freely. I am in control of my finances even in these reduced circumstances.

17. I don't like to worry my daughter with my finance as she has her own financial problems to worry about

18. I don't regularly talk about my finances with my family, but don't feel the need to keep quiet about them if it crops up

19. I don't wannt to appear tyo be concerned to my nearest and dearest, but I am concerned 20. I don't want my partner to worry about our financial situation 21. I don’t discuss my money with friends and family 22. I don’t talk to anyone about my money, not even those closest to me; I keep things hidden 23. I don’t want anyone to worry.

24. I don’t want my family to worry about our finances 25. I don’t what my friend to know waht I’m going through 26. I find talking about money at home frustrating as my husband is very money focused - doesn't like spending money even though we have sufficient funds to live comfortably! 27. I have lots of debts and don't like my family knowing about this. 28. I worry about future finances but don’t want to worry my family so try not to talk about it 29. I'm better with my money than my partner, but we work the same job so it's frustrating hearing about her having no money when it's clearly her spending too much. 30. In the past money was simple. My Grandfather handed over a wage poke. My father and mother had a joint account and the main income earner made the decisions. Having to spend six months coaxing my partner into agreeing holiday planning only for her to change her mind is not managing money but wasting it. 31. It can be frustrating if people have totally different opinions on money 32. It can be hard to agree or find time for conversation 33. It's easier to vent every now and then to friends rather than stress my partner out 34. It's just something people are not willing nor happy to talk about and it can cause friction or problems especially within families if there is a struggle of any kind. 35. It's the only place I can talk about money and my partner gets my money since it's a joint benefit so I don't see any of it apart from occasional bill money... Its frustrating as hell having no financial freedom. 36. It’s normally a negative conversation about what we need to stop doing/ buying 37. It’s not good not to discuss with your husband. However once he has died you have yourself to discuss with. There is no one else you can trust 38. Just the budgeting the money can cause arguments with my other half. 39. Mental health issues limit my working ability but family don’t understand and encourage me to find full time work 40. Money can often be a source of disagreements within the household 41. Money causes problems 42. Money is not something we talk much about. 43. Multiple needs and conflicting opinions! 44. My husband ignores financial worries 45. My husband is so conservative 46. My husband lied to me for several months about multiple £k of debt. I can't plan to sort out our finances when I don't have all the info. I'm still not sure what else he's not told me about. I ask him to cancel accounts with regular payments like streaming services and he "forgets". 47. My partner does not discuss his finances with me, our finances are separate 48. My partner has a different view on the matter 49. My partner should be aware about our finances 50. My partner wastes money 51. My sister, who I live with, has a much lower income than I do and is totally impractical about finance and what things cost so it sometimes is very frustrating especially as she is a very clever woman with a PHD. She is also very generous with her time which takes her away from the work she could be doing to earn money. She has never had a job but has always freelanced so has never had the chance to save money unlike myself. This means if we need repairs to our house, I have to pay for them. 52. My wife and I disagree about things. 53. My wife won't join in and help out / take joint responsibility amd i hate it 54. Need to inform partner of money decisions as he has little understanding with regards to budgeting 55. Need to plan and keep family informed 56. Partner has Aspergers and finds it difficult to discuss finances 57. Talking to my partner about money always leads to arguments. 58. We don't agree 59. We don’t talk about it without an argument 60. We have somewhat different views on spending 61. We just don't have enough so all discussions end in frustrations. 62. We need an avenue to vent our frustrations 63. We need to talk about this at home; it's no-one else's business 64. We vent our worries about the cost of living increasing 65. Wife spends too much 66. When money is tight it can lead to stress in relationships 67. The response to financial matters in the family is very do as I say not as I do 68. There is a difference in household wages and ages discussions quite difficult sometimes 69. Too many differing opinions on who considers what is a reasonable purchase to make 70.

4/ It’s Finances – And difficulties with them @ 14%

Over the past 6 months I have seen a huge change in my financial outgoings - negatively - and this concerns me / I discuss the impact of this and the similar situations people I know are in. I have had a big change in my income since covid following redundancy during the pandemic and taking a job that was much less pay. This was not an issue until recently with the impact of the increased costs which are having a huge change on my financial well-being

Because I am in a difficult situation regarding my finances and feel frustrated by my disabilities which impede on my ability in getting jobs and then also having my social security benefits taken away from me if I were to find a job. I'm unsure of where to go.

I don't want anyone knowing my personal financial business as it can change how people view you as there's a lot of snobbery surrounding financial status

.

1. Because other people have similar problems with their finances in this current economic crisis and there is little we can do about it apart from making personal savings by cutting back on certain things in life

2. Because I am in a difficult situation regarding my finances and feel frustrated by my disabilities which impede on my ability in getting jobs and then also having my social security benefits taken away from me if I were to find a job. I'm unsure of where to go.

3. Because I am in a difficult situation regarding my finances and feel frustrated by my disabilities which impede on my ability in getting jobs and then also having my social security benefits taken away from me if I were to find a job. I'm unsure of where to go.

4. Because our finances are between my wife & myself so we don't involve anyone else.

5. Because people aren't interested in my finances. They're only interested in they're own problems.

6. Because I like to think I am fiscally responsible, but I do worry when I make mistakes.

7. Because I'm the chief income earner, being under scrutiny is frustrating and difficult

8. Don’t want others to know private financial affairs in case some try to take advantage. Very few people really understand about finance and savings. Ordinary people just get ripped off with savings accounts. City speculators make lots of profit from having access to real-time data and systems. The financial system is an insiders scam basically 9. Don’t have anyone I can confide in about my financial situation 10. Forward planning concerns me and what I can do in the future will be influenced by my financial situation 11. Finances are private 12. Financial affairs are private. 13. Financial discussions are difficult so it helps to be positive and structured 14. Financial matters are private 15. I am financially responsible, and have, as yet, felt no urge to discuss my financial affairs with others 16. I am only prepared to talk about our finances with my partner 17. I am perfectly capable in handling my own finances and feel it is a personal thing. 18. I am worried about money and finances in general and I would be embarrassed to talk about this to others. 19. I complain about my personal financial situation in a negative way without offering solutions. 20. I complain about rising prices, but I don't think I'd discuss personal finances. 21. I constantly have to stop myself from buying unnecessary things as I need to save money so complain about the cost of living with my friends as I have very little freedom with money 22. I don't see why my finances would be of interest to anyone - I do my own budgeting to make ends meet

23. I don't want anyone knowing my personal financial business as it can change how people view you as there's a lot of snobbery surrounding financial status 24. I dont need any outside input as I follow financial information very closely and I certainly would not include any one else with information about my finances. 25. I don’t feel confident about my knowledge 26. I don’t feel it necessary to discuss my finances with anyone 27. I don’t like discussing my finances with others 28. I don’t like to admit I’m not financially comfortable. I try to stretch out my money without people realising I don’t have a lot. 29. I don’t like to dwell on finances or burden other people with the issue 30. I don’t want to talk to people about my finances I prefer to work them out myself

31. I feel that finance is a personal issue and is no one else's business. 32. I feel that if i speak about it to friends it may trigger me to try and sort my finances out better . 33. I have no financial knowledge 34. I have no interest in sharing my financial position 35. I have recently changed jobs so have been struggling financially. 36. I just don’t like thinking about finance or planning for it. I only do it when I have to. 37. I keep personal details to myself. 38. I keep some of my personal financial matters hidden from others as it could lead to complications in their opinion and financial relationship 39. I like to keep my finances private and not talk. Sometimes I am scared at the thought of my finances worrying if I am going to be okay in the future. 40. I manage my own finances don't concern anyone else 41. I was brought up to not discuss financial matters 42. I'm not in a strong financial position for my age and the future looks quite bleak. I don't talk about it because I doubt anyone would really care or have any sympathy for me. 43. My fiances are no one else's business 44. My finanances are of no concern to anyone other than myself. 45. My finance is private 46. My finance matters are my business alone. 47. My finances are mine and my husbands business and not relevant to anyone else 48. My finances are my business. I am fortune not to need financial assistance so I don't discuss my savings with anyone. 49. My finances are my own concern and private. 50. My finances are private

51. My finances are private and I don't want anyone to know my situation. 52. My finances are private apart from with the people closest to me

53. My financial affairs are for me and me alone to deal with 54. My financial affairs are no-one else's concern.

55. My financial situation is not good and I don’t want anyone to know. I am using a professional agency to help me

56. My friends are usually less well off than me and it seems rude to talk about positive financial circumstances when so many people are worse off

57. My friends, family and I are all poor. We talk abot financial struggles and share little tips that help save pennies here and there. Whilst this is great its simply not eniugh and we NEED help from the government to survive.

58. My home, my budget , my finances 59. I’m always quite worried about our financial situation, but I simply ignore it instead 60. Over the past 6 months I have seen a huge change in my financial outgoings - negatively - and this concerns me / I discuss the impact of this and the similar situations people I know are in. I have had a big change in my income since covid following redundancy during the pandemic and taking a job that was much less pay. This was not an issue until recently with the impact of the increased costs which are having a huge change on my financial well-being.

61. I’m always quite worried about our financial situation, but I simply ignore it instead 62. Over the past 6 months I have seen a huge change in my financial outgoings - negatively - and this concerns me / I discuss the impact of this and the similar situations people I know are in. I have had a big change in my income since covid following redundancy during the pandemic and taking a job that was much less pay. This was not an issue until recently with the impact of the increased costs which are having a huge change on my financial well-being.

63. There's nothing positive to say about money in the current times. Been struggling financially for years.

5/ It’s Money – And lack of it @10%

I feel that my money worries has to be dealt by me, unless the money worries have gone too far by xxx power company cancelling my direct debits, and putting me into the red so deep, that they are piling on £20 per month, that I feel that it’s cheaper to die, than carry on trying to pay my debts. Which is a desperate statement to make down the phone to xxxpower company.

Because everyone I know is struggling. None of us are comfortably off, we are all terrified about the energy bills. Our rent, cost of living in general. And lots of us live ruraly and also need heating oil and coal etc - no one wants to talk about the crippling cost of that too. I have friends in their 50s working 3 jobs just to stay afloat - that is not OK. My daughter is working 2 jobs, one full time and another part time, just to pay her rent. We are sinking like a stone - and all the while the big business and shareholders get fatter and richer off our pain. I would burn the whole shit show to the ground and start again. I am disabled and am unable to work - there's no help, just a palty £50 - and I am stuck at home all day whilst my husband works. I am sat with as much electric turned off as possible, and spent january - march this year, almost in the dark, with no heating while hubby was at work, so I could keep the bills down - its a miserable existence

1. Always skint, underpaid and overworked. Have a dangerous job, work hard and have nothing to show for it after all my household bills are paid.

2. All my friends & family know that I am existing on the pitiful state pension, which is now failing to meet all my bills during some weeks. Whilst I usually just accept that (unless I win the lottery) this will be the way things are for the rest of my life, occasionally I become a little fed up & angry about it & have a good old moan about it!

3. As my partner always goes on about money at home, where he thinks we can eat less food to save on messages

4. Because I am poor.

5. Because I don’t have any

6. Because I'm absolutely broke

7. Because everyone I know is struggling. None of us are comfortably off, we are all terrified about the energy bills. Our rent, cost of living in general. And lots of us live ruraly and also need heating oil and coal etc - no one wants to talk about the crippling cost of that too. I have friends in their 50s working 3 jobs just to stay afloat - that is not OK. My daughter is working 2 jobs, one full time and another part time, just to pay her rent. We are sinking like a stone - and all the while the big business and shareholders get fatter and richer off our pain. I would burn the whole shit show to the ground and start again. I am disabled and am unable to work - there's no help, just a palty £50 - and I am stuck at home all day whilst my husband works. I am sat with as much electric turned off as possible, and spent january - march this year, almost in the dark, with no heating while hubby was at work, so I could keep the bills down - its a miserable existence 8. Because there is not always enough money to cover all the expenses 9. Bills too high 10. Concerns bout rent arrears, possibility of eviction, how I would secure a future tenancy etc. etc. Not to mention day to day living and rising costs. 11. Due to limited income its frustrating having to decide to heat or eat 12. Everything is expensive 13. I am in debt 14. I am in debt and it seems like a hole. 15. I ask how much their bills are. I realize that I am getting ill each winter by being too cold (I was blown up by an RPG in Iraq so I'm held together with metal) and so I have to have SOME heat not for comfort, but because (and this has happened) I have been crippled and the police and ambulance had to attend. I'm very careful about energy use. I eat once every 2 days, I wash my hair with soap and similarly shave off prices and yet I KNOW it will get worse. 16. I do not enjoy sharing my personal details to other people. 17. I do not like negative statements concerning money so i prefer not to talk about it with others 18. I do not talk to anyone about money 19. I do not want anybody to deal with 20. I do not wish to talk to anyone 21. I don't discuss money with anyone feel its my personal business. 22. I don't feel a need 23. I don't like to discuss money 24. I feel that my money worries has to be dealt by me, unless the money worries have gone too far by xxx power company cancelling my direct debits, and putting me into the red so deep, that they are piling on

£20 per month, that I feel that it’s cheaper to die, than carry on trying to pay my debts. Which is a desperate statement to make down the phone to xxxpower company.

25. I exist on my state pension topped up with pension credit. I have no clear idea of any help that might be coming my way. Even with energy costs fixed at £2500, I will struggle. I am disabled and suffer from chronic Arthritis in my spine and keeping warm is very important to keep pain at a minimum.

26. I feel most organisations are more interested in their profits than customers interests. Therefore it is difficult to know who to get advice from.

27. I feel my money is my own personal problem and there’s no need to discuss it with people. 28. I have a bit of a head-in-the-sand attitude to money 29. I just don’t like talking about it 30. I just don’t like talking about money 31. It is difficult to discuss money as others judge you on their feelings about it , not seeing always what you are trying to say 32. Money doesn’t affect me too much as still living rent free at home 33. Money does worry me sometimes, bills have gone up a lot at same time as a change in personal circumstances. I don’t tend to talk about this. 34. Money is a sensitive topic for me 35. Money is a very sensitive and personal topic to be talking about with others. 36. Money is not something that I discuss 37. Money is private. I manage it best I can and limit debt 38. Money is scarce, it's expensive to be alive. 39. Money is stressful enough, planning and budgeting in a fun way takes this away 40. Money makes you happy and without it you will suffered and no one will help you and that's how life is no one really care about others unless it's friends or family members 41. I’m on a low paid job. We all know that the cost of living is increasing with the rise of inflation and my wage has not increased.

42. Talking about money in general is very dull. I tend to avoid it. 43. Talking about money is common 44. Talking about money is really difficult at the moment because everyone is struggling and it feels hopeless

Addendum – A New Way Of Wellbeing Working

Levelling Up + Levelling Down A New Way Of Wellbeing Working

By Kevin M Thomson

There is a wonderful saying “If something isn’t working do something different – ANYTHING!”

A different, more bleak saying goes like this - “The great thing about hitting your head against a brick wall is when you stop.”

This last saying might apply to anyone after a decade of investing time, money and passion into anything - and getting nowhere: Nada! Zip!

A decade of worrying, researching, and writing about the ‘Doom Loop’ as applied to the Cure + Care i.e ‘Health’ Sector.

A decade now resolving to a crisis backing up from ‘bed blocking’ and staff shortages in Cure + Care to a decade of crisis in health + wellbeing with endemic obesity, diabetes, mental health @ work and @ home creating ever more need for ‘cure + care’

THIS IS THE UN-WELLBEING + UN-HEALTHY DOOM LOOP!

This is what Jeanette Phillips could have felt like after a decade with the CPIC she co-founded – the Centre for Practical Innovation in Care

Her passion went into all the research and development she did, trying to do something ‘different’.

She did it as well, with a research grant from the Government Office for Culture, Media, and Sport All this, alongside her role as CEO of FlexicareUK developing a model of ‘Hubs and Hublets’ acclaimed by CQC as ‘outstanding’ which formed the basis of trying (very, very hard) to be ‘doing something different’!

Then came the other solution to this problem of hitting your head by doing something differentanything: It is to ‘knock the damn wall down!’.

Together, we’re delighted to have put our heads, hearts and minds into a ‘virtual + real’ solution we’ve been developing separately and now brought together. We call this FlexiWell, Flexible WellbeingWellbeing Your Way.

More of that later, when we talk of the FlexiWell Care + Wellbeing Campaign we are looking to launch through One Gloucestershire – the Care Sector partnership We call this The Levelling Up Ability + Levelling Down Responsibility Campaign – Goes Local’

Simply put, we’re talking both about Levelling Up WELLBEING ABILITY for all + Levelling Down WELLBEING RESPONSIBILITY for all – not just for employers, not just for employees, not just their families, friends or for everyone in care, or caring for someone – or caring about themselves. We’re talking about Wellbeing Ability + Responsibility’ for all – all ages from children to senior living – for all abilities – from fit and well to un-well – for all aspirations – from wanting to win Olympic Gold to wanting to recover from illness.

With our WellTech ‘5 Ways to Well-Beings’ Platform & ‘Moments’ To Wellbeing; Apple & Google Play Apps for Employers & Employees, we’ve applied the real world of Flexicare’s Hub and Hublets System. We are (very) excited and delighted to be trying something different – that already works: Outstandingly according to CQC!

On a path to somewhere where you need to find WayFinders. Why? To guide the WayFarers. That’s how we are building our ‘Care + Wellbeing Way Forward’, through people who can, and want to change ‘the way we do things around here.’

First though, let’s talk about writing this article now, during the current crisis and lack of solutions to problems like bed blocking, huge staff shortages, large (but fair) pay demands, and even talks of strikes facing both the NHS and Care Sector.

We must also add a deeper and personal issue for Care Sector workers. From the recent Leaders Council forum at the Caledonian Club, which drew together leaders from the NHS and Care Sector, we know there is also a major crisis of perceived low/poor status, of Care Workers, especially in comparison with NHS staff.

This ‘Crisis of Status’ – of low perception of the role and perception of care sector staff, compared with both NHS workers and other job roles in society, is further eroding any desire to join, to stay or to progress in the caring profession.

Add that to low pay.

Add that to stress.

Add that to the issue of Care Staff being required to assume levels of responsibility during the Pandemic, as discussed at the forum. For example, being requested to agree far less certify a death, in the absence of an authorised Doctor; or to administer injections. Increasing demands, without commensurate pay or legal authority - the mix is explosive.

The forum feedback was that even dedicated staff are leaving the care sector to work in retail and other sectors. Why? Not just because of low pay, but as importantly, because of low status. Amazon here we come! Staff shortages inevitably result. BUT the real question is.. ‘Is this anything new?’ Do we really need to write a new article on the PROBLEM? The next extract, from Jeanette Phillips and Ian Briggs for the CPIC, was written in 2016! Have a read. Anything new? Hint: The ‘doom loop’ they wrote about was in the news last week.

Guardian Oct. 2022

The ‘Doom Loop’ Message - CPIC Report in 2016!

By Jeanette Phillips & Ian Briggs

“Perhaps it was as early as 2010 when the ‘doom loop’ was brought into the daily discourse of those in the health care of those sectors. In short, the impending austerity programme was going to bring in real world cuts to budgets at a time when the known explosion of demand from the igniting demographic time-bomb was exploding.

Resources were diminishing as demand was rising, a certain recipe for panic. It is not too simplistic to apply the notion that as demand rises in a perfect market new entrants are enticed into the picture: demand is good – it encourages entrepreneurs to invest. Growth is pretty certain to follow.

Classical economic theory also points towards the natural innovation that comes when demand increases. The consumer wants diversified products and services not a homogeneous sameness; this in turn attracts new providers willing to invest in new ways of delivering satisfaction to the consumer.

So, if this is what the theory says what has been the practise? In short, the direct opposite!

Today we have diminishing financial resources. Yet we have more and more people entering the market: People with the need for professional care and support. This is not rocket science as people

CBI warns Rishi Sunak against ‘doom loop’ of public spending cuts

get older – a natural phenomenon that was prophesied decades ago. and yet no political body had the bottle to do much if anything about it.

To complicate matters further, higher demand has had the complete opposite effect on the provider side.

Today we have fewer providers. As the resources to meet the demand decreases, managers find it hard to make ends meet and withdraw from the market - perversely increasing the demand upon those who remain.

Yet those demanding the service, of the fewer providers remaining in the marketplace have less resources themselves.”

Update 2022 – 6 YEARS LATER - Crisis! A QUARTER OF A MILLION STAFF SHORTAGE IN THE NHS/CARE SECTOR.

Our Solution is Radical – The Levelling Up + Down Wellbeing + Care Campaign

– Goes Local

We will soon be announcing the results of the two 2022 YouGov Surveys we conducted on the single biggest influencer of people’s Wellbeing – the No. 1 of the 5 Ways to Wellbeing. Our relationships, and the way we all CONNECT.

The who, how often, and with what we Connect impacts on the very fabric of our lives. It impacts on our Personal Wellbeing; our Financial Wellbeing and our Wellbeing in the Workplace. We call this the Wellbeing Triumvirate.

We surveyed all three of these Wellbeing drivers in the YouGov NHS/Care Professionals Survey and in the separate YouGov UK/Workplace Omnibus.

Given that precious little has changed from our previous 2015 & 2020 UK Surveys (apart from the recognition that something needs to, and has happened with Wellbeing at work, reflected in better scores) we believe from all our decade of working in care and Wellbeing that it is now more than ever, absolutely critical to ‘do something different - anything’

We need to ‘knock the wall down’ of current poor perception of Care Workers. We must move from a UK strategy of ‘Cure and Care’ to one of Wellbeing and Health prevention. How? We call it Levelling Up ABILITY + Levelling Down RESPONSIBILITY. The great thing is that by adding Virtual technology i.e. WellTech to the Reality of the Hubs and Hublets solution we can now see a way to ‘do something different!’. Something ‘Outstanding’.

A New Way to Campaign for Care and Care Workers – The New 4 P’s

When it comes to a campaign to ‘do something different’ we need to treat any change just like a campaign. In short, for any campaign, in any sector; for any launch of any product or service; or change in anything – visions, missions, values, goals, laws etc. requires an integrated management of change campaign.

How? Through a marketing and communication mix. Any marketing and communication mix will usually include Promotion. And when it comes to the UK Government advice on The 5 Ways To Wellbeing – then there is masses of Promotion – in many care and charity organisations. But there it stops.

Since the launch of the nef Report in 2008 on the 5 Ways to Wellbeing, commissioned by the Government Office for Science and Technology there have been innumerable sets of posters, web pages and advice on the 5 Ways to Wellbeing – but little else.

In reality, trying to tackle Wellbeing as a way to focus on ‘prevention not cure’ through a poster campaign is not a change campaign.

This is where we are doing something very different and trying to knock down the wall of indifference or inability to change. We’re building our Care + Wellbeing Campaign around our very own 4P’s –Virtual + Reality. Virtual + Real Hubs & Hublets in our communities, in our companies, in our care sector, in our counties and in our country – the UK.

We are launching our own Care Campaign STRATGEY with the title… ‘Levelling Up + Levelling Down UK’ - as an antidote to believing that ‘Levelling Up is only one of the 4 P’s – Place. It’s not. It’s not South v North. It’s not London v Leeds. It’s nor rich v poor. The levels of un-Wellbeing are endemic.

Here’s the 5 Ways of un-Wellbeing

1. Obesity is endemic.

2. Diabetes is endemic.

3. Stress in endemic.

4. Financial un-Wellbeing is endemic.

5. Workplace un-Wellbeing is endemic.

How do we know? As measured by our YouGov Surveys we have a core issue of all 5 Ways to Wellbeing being in negative NPS Net Promoter Score territory. You can’t build a campaign if you have a negative score of Detractors relative to Promoters.

Based on our model of The 4 P’s, we are beta testing our UK campaign in Gloucestershire. We’re looking to do this with a goal of what we call (not ICS = Integrated Care Services, but) ICWS = Integrated Care + Wellbeing Services. We’re looking to do this with One Gloucestershire to create a model of ICWS for the UK.

Our 4P’s Campaign is based on our YouGov Surveys giving us a steer on the very first thing we need to do in our approach to the Care Sector. That means we ensure the health and Wellbeing of all in the Care Sector in Gloucestershire come first – then we can extend the campaign to all those cared for, as well as professional carers.

We are building a framework of Virtual + Real Centres of Care and Wellbeing Excellence. We’ve based them on the (real) Hubs and Hublets model that gained ‘Outstanding’ status from CQC for the Flexicare Gloucester & Stroud Hub & Hublets

We’re adding the virtual management and marketing tool of the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing Employers’ Platform’ for our Hubs, and the 5 Ways to Wellbeing ‘Moments’ App for Employees. Both are needed to drive the Care Campaign. NOT drive it Top Down – but to drive it Bottom up!

We would be delighted to hear from anyone in Gloucestershire Care Sector be it NHS, Doctors Surgeries, Care Homes, Care at Home, Charities, and those involved in Health + Wellbeing in Companies and the Community. More soon!

I’ll leave you with a summary then an addendum – a sneak preview of the How’s Your Day? YouGov Surveys & The Full Report.

Levelling Up Ability is giving everyone the Wellbeing ABILITY to manage, monitor and motivate themselves and others with what we call The KIST! Principle Knowledge, Inspiration, Skills and Tools.

Levelling Down Responsibility is giving everyone from professional staff to those in care, and everyone in the community, in every company their own personal RESPONSIBILITY for themselves, and for others’ Wellbeing – family, friends, and fellow travellers on the road to health and Wellbeing –for life.

The 4 P’s process for managing and marketing our ‘Wellbeing + Care Campaign sits in our version of the 4P’s = Your Platform + Your Progress + Your Place + Your Promoters. See our Levelling Up Strategy Report