The Dental Professional Alliance of London has launched a new initiative called Mental Health Wellness intended to encourage dental practices to prioritize mental health.
The initiative was announced on May 21 in the British Dental Association's BDJ Team online publication. The project will support dental professionals in responding in a timely and effective way to mental health issues in the workplace.
It is being led by Dental Mentoring Network founder Fiona Ellwood and Dr. Roz McMullan, chair of the BDA's Probing Stress in Dentistry project. The initiative's first recommendation includes the following suggestions for dental practices:
- Identify a mental health wellness lead
- Provide stress awareness training for all practice members
- Design a workplace action plan
- Join local peer support networks
- Complete annual training and maintain skills
