Preventing stress is the best option. If you are able to remove obstacles or help your staff overcome their issues, then most people end their shifts happy. But realistically, this is no easy task in social care. There are certain challenges around staffing and funding that cannot be solved overnight. So with this in mind, take full advantage of the issues that you can solve.

Everyone deals with stress on their own terms or can be affected by different things. Some staff might be unhappy working with particular colleagues or residents, or struggle with their working hours due to outside commitments. Some people may be taking on too much responsibility, whereas others don’t feel their job is rewarding enough.

Creating healthy working environments where staff feel valued, supported, listened to and fulfilled is extremely important in keeping morale high and stress levels low. Here are some ways to help prevent and manage burnout:

Create support plans

Similar to person-centred care plans, develop personalised support plans to help affected individuals through their roads to recovery. This could include anything from reduced responsibility for a temporary period, working with more experienced team members, offering flexible-working options to help better manage personal commitments outside of work, or even extra financial incentives if money is a factor.

Train people to better understand mental health difficulties

Managers can be equipped with the knowledge and skills to help employees overcome a range of challenges. Consider training managers and some staff to identify symptoms of burnout and point people in the right direction to get appropriate support. Implement policies and procedures for dealing with high-stress levels so each case is handled with care and consistency.

You can take this support one step further by introducing a Mental Health First Aider program. Mental Health First Aiders or MHFA Champions are dedicated members of staff who have undergone specialised training to assist anyone who needs mental health support at work.

Maintain healthy channels of communication

Burnout shouldn’t be a taboo subject. Encourage everybody to speak about it openly to reduce the stigma and shame some people feel. Consider implementing regular wellbeing discussions, either as a team or privately, to find out how your staff are coping.

Have supportive resources at hand

Don’t wait until it’s too late – start accumulating online resources and printed literature on handling stress at the earliest opportunity. Mental Health UK has created help and information that can be accessed from their website.

Many employers have also begun offering some form of mental health service as an employee benefit. Read more about this here.

Another free resource is the Work Well Advice Line. This phone service – operated by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust – provides confidential wellbeing advice to people who are suffering from stress at work or experiencing a range of hardships.

Recognise & empathise with outside difficulties

In a sector where work-life balance is notoriously difficult to manage, being compassionate about personal difficulties outside of the workplace goes a long way to easing stress.

Provide access to the right tools

If part of the reason your staff are experiencing stress is due to outdated processes or feeling underprepared to handle certain situations effectively, then it could be time to invest in new equipment or systems to create a more organised and efficient working environment.

For example, digital care management systems like CareDocs have proven to save care staff hours each week by reducing the need to complete time-consuming administrative tasks. By using computers and mobile devices to record care, your workforce can spend more time on the parts of the job they love, and less on paperwork.