In the month in which the World Health Day was celebrated – April 7th – ABIMED decided to divulge contents that regard mental health issues, a provision from the Global Compact of the United Nations Organization (UNO), of which the entity is a signatory. The Global Compact is a call for companies to align their strategies and operations with the Ten Universal Principles in the areas of Human Rights, Labor, Environment, and Anti-Corruption, and to develop actions that contribute to meeting today’s challenges in society.

Mental health care of employees needs to be seen as something permanent and integral to the business strategy of companies, not just as corrective measures, which often act on the effects but do not treat the causes.

It is currently agreed that work can be associated with the onset of mental disorders. So much that the WHO (World Health Organization) included Burnout syndrome among the list of occupational diseases in 2022. Last year, an Oracle survey in 11 countries showed that 76% of employees feel that their companies need to do more to protect their mental health. In Brazil, the number is above the global average, which is already very high – 84% of workers claim for more measures.

The challenge is immense, but the positive aspect is that more companies are making an effort to take care of the mental health of their employees. The measures range from encouraging meditation and mindfulness, aimed at fighting stress, to decompression rooms, which are cozy environments for a healthy break from routine. An even more concrete solution that many companies are adopting is the hiring of services aimed at promoting mental health, such as online therapy, as part of the employee benefits package. These are positive examples that companies can be places that promote health, rather than environments that promote sickness.