Di* was referred to our Employment Retention Service for support educating her employers. She was on sick leave due to her diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder and felt their lack of understanding was preventing her from returning to work. In our initial appointment, Di explained that she felt that her employers were not making the reasonable adjustments which she needed.

We got in touch with Di's employers to introduce ourselves, and to arrange a meeting to explain what our service does and how we may be able to help support Di back into work. The meeting brought together ourselves, Di, her CPN and two members of the management team from the company Di worked for. We introduced them to the role of MHM's service - to support Di back in to the workplace by helping the company explore possible reasonable adjustments - and shared some information about Bipolar Disorder. We explained how this affects Di on a daily basis both at work and in her personal life. Di’s employers were very grateful for this information and by the end of the meeting they felt that they had a much better insight in to Di's mental health and how to support her in the workplace. We discussed what adjustments could make Di’s return to work as smooth as possible. For example, her manager agreed to provide Di with information in a written format and allow her time to process it before confirming verbally that she understands, as Di explained that she was finding some of the new information at work difficult to process and this was leading her to feel panicked. They also had a better understanding of the side effects Di sometimes experiences from her medication, and agreed to try and be more flexible with rearranging shifts when Di was unwell. Di is now in the process of her phased return back to work, and feels happy about the prospect rather than apprehensive. 

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* This case study is from a real client of MHM, but the names have been changed and the photo has been staged by actors to protect their privacy.