Managing mental health in the event industry with Helen Moon, EventWell

The event industry has no doubt faced its fair share of challenges during the pandemic, and it goes without saying this has impacted the mental health of event professionals in one way or another, at some point throughout this period.

Additionally, over the years many reports have shown that the role of the event planner is among the most stressful jobs out there.

With this in mind, Sledge recently caught up with Helen Moon, a mental health advocate and the Chief Executive of EventWell, a charitable social enterprise dedicated to educating, campaigning and supporting better mental wellbeing in events.

We discussed the state of mental health in the industry, and ways the sector can go about managing this important issue.

How can event profs manage their mental health?

It's important for us all to start to get into the mindset that "we all have mental health," and there is not really a camp of people who have poor mental health and a camp of people who have good mental health.
We are all on a continuum, in the same way that we are for our physical health, with ailments that can range from the common cold to more serious conditions like cancer and heart disease, where we will need a high level of integration and professional support to manage and recover from those illnesses.

Recovery is key here. You can experience mental ill health and recover, the same as with physical health, and just because someone lives with a mental health disorder, it does not automatically make that person mentally ill.

A person living with a mental health disorder can at times have better mental wellbeing and be in a better place on the health continuum than a person who does not. Poor health, whether that is physical or mental, does not discriminate.

So with this in mind, simply looking after our mental health and wellbeing and brain, in the same way that we look after our physical health and bodies is crucial. Self-care is the single most important thing to leverage here. Eating well, being active and moving lots, getting plenty of sleep and rest. Thirty minutes of moderate exercise or a good night's sleep of 7-9 hours have been said to be as effective in terms of managing mental health conditions as taking one tablet of medication for such.

It’s not just about improving our lifestyle, but also about looking at our life skills. These include having a flexible mindset, communication skills and emotional intelligence. They’ve all been proven to have a positive impact on our resilience levels and ability to bounce back from adversity and negative life experiences.

The best advice I can give is to find the things that work for each of us as individuals, the things we love and enjoy, and putting time aside for them. Investing in ourselves and in the relationships that we have with those around us, our support network, all held up and reinforced by those three pillars of sleep, exercise and nutrition are key. We all have mental health, and there is no health without it.

Why must event industry leaders address mental health?

For all of the above reasons. We all have mental health, and poor mental health and illness does not discriminate. It's also not about what is wrong with people but what happens to people, especially when we look at the past 22 months and what we have faced as an industry, which came from nowhere without warning.

If we look after our people as leaders and employers then we are building a stronger, more resilient business and a more resilient event industry. There is a duty of care here too, and there are welfare laws that have always been in place that state that we have this responsibility.

Deloitte’s Mental Health and Employers, Refreshing the Case for Investment report details the average number of days lost due to sickness per employee as being 5.9 (Office of National Statistics). Of these, 12.4% will be due to mental health, although it’s not always disclosed as such. With an average cost of £299 a year for absenteeism and £909 (low) to £1000 (high) for presenteeism, it’s clear this is becoming a much wider problem in the workplace (these are pre-pandemic figures).

We also already know that approximately one in three event professionals will experience poor mental health and wellbeing every year, the same as in the hospitality industry.

We therefore have a real responsibility to ensure that as leaders and businesses we are doing all we can to ensure that our working environments are ones that are supportive, and culturally and psychologically safe, so that we are not influencing or exacerbating the problem.

For businesses to thrive then the people and teams within them need to be thriving too. You cannot have one without the other.

How can event profs go about becoming mental health first aiders?

They can come to EventWell and train with our MHFA England training partners, Balancing Edges. I also just completed my MHFA First Aider course, and event profs can find out more about this on the EventWell website.

What are some ways the industry can commit to mental health onsite?

Make it an integral part of your event. Not by having mental health sessions as these are not really proven to be that effective, but more by designing your events with mental wellbeing at the heart. Consider session length, venue location, communications, breaks, menu planning, and social inclusion and support.

Approximately one in four people are managing a mental health condition or disorder, and one in seven are neurodivergent.

Investing in a supervised quiet room like our EventWell Quiet Room and Hub, which is designed around these aspects, offers support to anyone who may have become overwhelmed, needs to rest or recuperate because they are managing a health aspect, nervous because they are about to go on stage, or just want to get out of the hustle and the noise for five minutes.

It also sends a very clear message to anyone attending your event that you care about their wellbeing and that it really matters to you, in implicit ways that we may never have even thought about before.

Let's stop simply talking about mental wellbeing at events and let's start normalising it and really show that we mean business when it comes to taking care of not just our people when they are on site, but also our entire stakeholder group.

What’s in store for EventWell this year?

We recently launched the new EventWell® Awards 2022, which will be taking place during Event Wellbeing Week in September. Entries are open at the moment and we are looking forward to celebrating and recognising the amazing heroes and individuals from our industry.

Event Wellbeing Day will be taking place on 9th March, so look out for the programme of events and education that will be available.

We are looking forward to working up and down the country this year with our quiet rooms and onsite hubs, working daily with our cohort of EventWell Mental Health Champions that we are training, and of course continuing the invaluable support that we offer professionals and individuals that are experiencing hardship through Pledge, our benevolent support programme.

The last 22 months have been challenging for us all, especially as a small charitable organisation and social enterprise, but we are looking forward to what 2022 has in store for us, getting back to in person events and seeing lots of our peers and colleagues on site as we get back to doing what we do best.

Last but by no means least we are looking forward to continuing the EventWell® message of the importance of empathy, culture and self-care.