5-a-Day: Business-ready incentives tool to help prevent a workforce mental health crisis

Our new 5-a-Day HR tool uses BetterPoints’ pioneering behaviour change technology to help prevent a mental health crisis among staff working from home – a crisis that is forecast to last well after the virus has been brought under control.

As many as 10 million people will need new or additional mental health support as a direct result of the epidemic, the Centre for Mental Health has forecast. And even back in October, before we knew of the new virus variants, office workers already feared their mental health would suffer if they had to spend another six months working from home. 

BetterPoints quickly recognised that employers and HR teams needed a simple and effective way to support colleagues’ mental and physical wellbeing in these new circumstances, and to spot early warning signs if things began to deteriorate. Employees, too, would welcome a fun and simple way to manage the flexibility of working from home and the struggle of maintaining a healthy and productive work-life balance. 

As the home replaces the office and pets replace colleagues, many people have lost the important structure to their day. Cabin fever, isolation and poor work-life balance are becoming common features of working life, and can cause a serious decline in physical and mental health, and in the general wellbeing of staff. 

People are reported to be working in bed, not washing or dressing, and spending all day in front of the computer – even taking their laptop into the toilet and working from there. Many overcompensate and work longer hours than they would in an office, which has its own negative impacts on mental health – particularly for women with children. 

Earlier this month, Dr Adrian James, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, told the Guardian the epidemic posed the greatest threat to mental health since the second world war, and the impact would be felt for years after the virus had been brought under control. 

We are heading for a wellbeing crisis if we don’t act now.

This is why BetterPoints developed the 5-a-Day work management tool. It enables employers to build a three-month programme of incentives, content and messaging that encourage employees to observe five activities that frame a healthy and structured working day:

	1: Feel great! Freshen-up with a shower, fuel-up with a good breakfast and start the day feeling alive!
	2: Look great! Feel fabulous in clothes you love and ace those Zoom calls.
	3: Walk to work Go for a walk, a run or a cycle. Get some air in your lungs and a spring in your step so you start work at home ready to take on the world.
	4: Connect with others Human contact is what keeps us going, so chat in person with at least one colleague during the day.
	5: Clock off Go for a walk, dig the garden, bake a cake – do something to mark the end of your working day.

Out of the box, 5-a-Day incentives include medals for users to collect, motivational messages, useful tips, inspiring stories, and prize draws. Employers can add the power of financial incentives in the form of the BetterPoints currency, which can be exchanged for high-street vouchers or donated to charity.

5-a-Day is all managed through the BetterPoints award-winning system and delivered through a free user-facing app, making it easy to manage and deploy.

5-a-Day can be customised to the client’s requirements.

To find out more email Richard Kirk, BetterPoints CEO, or phone him on 07836 23500. Alternatively, book a demo and we’ll be in touch.