Occupational Health and Safety Receptivity towards Clinical Innovations That Can Benefit Workplace Mental Health Programs: Anxiety and Hypnotherapy Trends

Abstract

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health conditions experienced by people in Australia during their working years according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and employers recognising that mental health impacts their organisation’s bottom line are increasingly interested in programs to promote better mental health, well-being, and productivity. Beyond management concern for productivity, statutory protection is necessary to safeguard mental health, under the Australian Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act, organisations have a duty to eliminate or minimise risks to psychological (mental) health by designing effective workplace systems and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) practitioners are central to the design and responsibility in managing these systems. Despite literature indicating the benefits of OHS workplace mental health initiatives, such as improved overall health, reduced absenteeism, increased job satisfaction and morale, there remains a lack of empirical research around program measurement, and their effectiveness in this area has been brought into question. The OHS function is interested in improving research around the relationship and connection between work performance and mental health but: there are few studies regarding performance outcomes of mental health OHS services within management journals and insufficient information around the prevalence of psychological morbidity in the workplace and its impact. The purpose of this study was to assess OHS perception regarding anxiety and reveal perceptions and receptivity towards alternative therapies and solutions being used in clinical practice to deal with anxiety such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with a focus on Hypnotherapy.