MENTAL HEALTH
Christine Alabastro leads executive communications at DoorDash. She previously leaded global communications at TikTok and Hulu. She is a member of the USC Annenberg Center for PR Board of Advisors.
The public relations industry has the tremendous opportunity to shape conversations around mental health and influence individuals and institutions to action. Mental Health at Work, younger and historically underrepresented workers struggle with mental health the most. That same survey also reveals that millennials, caregivers, and historically underrepresented groups were likely to leave roles for mental health reasons. Demographics play a part in the equation but there are expansive factors to consider - including age, neurodiversity, environment, traumatic life events, job stress and more. What this means for employers is that providing accessible and inclusive mental health programs will be both an ethical imperative and must be part of the equation.
The public relations industry has the tremendous opportunity to shape conversations around mental health and influence individuals and institutions to action. The stories we tell as PR practitioners play a critical role in advancing our understanding of mental health conditions and can both increase awareness and reduce stigma around mental health challenges. We can do our part to continue educating ourselves and advise our spokespeople and leaders on how to talk about and address these issues.
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