The adult social care sector is under enormous strain. From increasing demand and workforce shortages to rising levels of complexity in care, providers are being stretched like never before. Combined with high workloads, emotional demands, and persistent underfunding, it’s no surprise that the wellbeing of care professionals is suffering. Staff mental health isn’t just a personal issue; it’s a workforce one and it’s time we started treating it that way!

While EAPs (Employee Assistance Programmes) can play a vital role, they are often underutilised, typically reactive, sometimes poorly publicised, or not fully trusted by staff. EAP utilisation in the UK averages around 4–6% of the workforce annually¹.

At MyMynd, we believe in meeting people where they are: providing support that is confidential, accessible, and designed for real life. The platform complements and enhances existing services by helping people understand what’s available and when to engage with it.

In organisations where MyMynd is in place, we’ve seen increased uptake of EAP services, a sign that the right kind of early intervention builds trust and confidence to seek further help when needed. That’s why we’re proud to share early insights from a recently completed external evaluation of our model, conducted as part of a year-long NHS pilot.

We’re now using these insights to introduce MyMynd to the social care sector, supporting providers to take a more proactive, preventative approach to workforce wellbeing. The sector has long lacked accessible, upstream support that bridges the gap between awareness and action. By empowering staff to understand their own wellbeing needs and helping organisations turn insight into targeted response, MyMynd offers a practical way to enhance existing provision and build trust in the support available.

Demonstrating Real Impact

MyMynd is a digital behavioural health platform that helps employees proactively manage their mental wellbeing, while giving organisations detailed insight into workforce needs.

Through a structured self-assessment, like an MOT for the mind, employees receive clear results about their current wellbeing. Based on those results, they’re guided to tailored resources, signposting, or 1:1 support with a trained responder.

An independent interim evaluation of MyMynd, carried out over 12 months within a large NHS Trust, found compelling evidence that our approach is delivering measurable outcomes. The pilot focused on two departments, Digital and Maternity, and aimed to assess the feasibility, engagement, and impact of MyMynd as a proactive mental health and wellbeing platform. Just over 1,200 staff were provided with access to the platform during the pilot, with the evaluation exploring both individual outcomes and organisation-wide insight.The NHS pilot revealed a range of outcomes that speak directly to the pressures facing the sector, from low uptake of support to workforce strain:

1. First-time reach: 53% of staff who engaged with MyMynd had never accessed mental health support before demonstrating that MyMynd is effective in engaging staff who may not typically seek help.
2. Strong engagement: Over half of invited staff took part, far exceeding average participation rates for other wellbeing initiatives, which often struggle to reach double digits.
3. Improved staff wellbeing: 72% of users who completed multiple assessments saw at least one area of concern resolved, indicating the benefit of structured, early intervention.
4. Reduced absence: 70 days of mental health-related absence were potentially avoided over just six months in two departments, easing the burden on overstretched teams.
5. Staff retention benefits: 7 staff members reported that using MyMynd had changed their decision to leave their roles, which infers a direct in-year cost saving in not replacing staff, a meaningful sign of impact for a sector like care which has such high-staff turnover and recruitment strains.

While delivered in an NHS setting, the pilot’s findings are highly transferable to the care sector, where staff face similar pressures around emotional strain, retention, and underused support services. The results demonstrate that a proactive, structured approach like MyMynd can drive meaningful engagement, improve wellbeing, and reduce pressure on stretched teams, outcomes that are just as vital in social care as in healthcare.

Why This Matters for Social Care

The need for better mental health support across the care sector is well documented. Skills for Care reports that staff turnover in adult social care was 24.8% in 2023/24, representing around 424,000 people leaving jobs in the sector².

Meanwhile, the number of days lost due to mental health sickness in the social care workforce has more than doubled since 2019³ and a third of social care workforce sickness absence due to mental health and stress4. With high recruitment costs, rising agency use, and CQC requirements to evidence staff wellbeing support, there's never been a more urgent time to act.

While our most recent pilot took place in a hospital setting, the implications of implementing MyMynd for the adult social care sector are clear:

• Support beyond the workplace: 64% of users presented with challenges originating outside of work, ranging from financial stress to bereavement, relationship breakdown and caring responsibilities. MyMynd’s model recognises that people don’t leave these issues at the door when they start a shift.
• Anonymity and trust:Stigma remains a major barrier in the care sector. Research shows social care workers are more likely to rely on psychiatric medication than other professionals, yet many avoid seeking direct support due to fear of judgement5. Studies also highlight fears of being demoted, sidelined or even dismissed6 after disclosing mental health struggles. MyMynd’s independent, confidential model gives staff a safe space to engage without risk, a vital step in overcoming this silence.
• Scalable, cost-effective support: Traditional workplace counselling and in‑house mental health teams often struggle to keep up, with one-third of UK EAPs reporting they’re “overwhelmed” by demand7, often referring employees back to overstretched NHS services. MyMynd offers a proactive, light-touch model that scales across organisations, delivering personalised, timely support without losing the human connection and no waiting list to access support.
• Cultural shift: MyMynd helps create a culture where staff wellbeing is visible, valued, and acted on, not just talked about.

MyMynd – Workplace wellbeing done better

MyMynd identifies challenges early, supports staff before issues escalate, and connects them to the right support, whether internal, external, or via an Employee Assistance Programme.

Trusted by NHS Trusts, universities, and private organisations, MyMynd improves wellbeing, reduces absence, and promotes proactive support.

Let’s Talk

We know from experience that supporting the mental health of care workers leads to better care for the people they support. If you're a care provider looking to strengthen your workforce, reduce sickness absence, or boost retention, we’d love to talk.

👉You can discover more MyMynd and how we work with employers and employees, here.

References

1. UK EAPA (2023): https://www.eapa.org.uk
2. Skills for Care (2024): The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England 2024
3. Health Foundation (2023): Fit for the future: Workforce policy in adult social care
4. The British Psychological Society (2023), One third of social care workforce sickness absence due to mental health and stress, troubling new figures reveal
5. PMC (2020): Frontiers in Electrochemical Sensors for Neurotransmitter Detection: Towards Measuring Neurotransmitters as Chemical Diagnostics for Brain Disorders
6. Mind UK (2022). Workplace Mental Health: How to Support Employees with Mental Health Issues. https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace
7. Personnel today (2022): EAPs ‘overwhelmed’ by demand for mental health support