Ensuring a client stayed in work by bringing everyone together was critical to support a customer who had attempted suicide three times and regarded work as her happy place.
To mark St Valentine’s Day Health & Protection has been speaking to advisers to discover their stories of how they have worked from the heart and gone above and beyond on behalf of their customers.
Karen Gittings, senior corporate benefits consultant at Titan Wealth Planning (pictured), told Health & Protection about a workplace client with a young woman working for them who had attempted suicide three times.
Gittings explained how her training and by bringing the employer and insurer together she was able to get the right outcome for everyone.
“The employee thought work was her happy place, to the extent that she was released from hospital and went straight to work and only felt safe there,” Gittings said.
“Unfortunately everybody at work felt uncomfortable being there.
“But I knew as a mental health first aider they wanted to lay her off and I knew that was the worst thing they could do for her mental health.”
Line manager training and lunchtime walks
And it was through drawing on her mental health first aider background, that she told the client that the worst thing they could do for the individual was to remove her from the workplace – a recommendation they took on.
“So we did some line manager training and got the insurer involved,” Gittings continued.
“Luckily Zurich are really hot on mental health and have got their own mental health trainer.
“So we got them involved and gave the employer a lot of advice about why it was better for her, while the line manager training made people more comfortable because people were saying they didn’t know want to say to her.
“They did things like set up a lunchtime walking group which she joined and she really enjoyed.”
