Championing Mental Health at Gildan Australia

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[{"type":"text","content":"Championing Mental Health at Gildan AustraliaNORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 10, 2024 / In 2023, Gildan's entire Australian office became certified in mental health first aid, becoming equipped to identify and support those in need around them.This World Mental Health Day, we sat down with the individual driving this initiative, David Hillen, Sales Director at Gildan, to learn more about the project's inception and how he rallied the senior management team and his co-workers to heighten employees' awareness around this topic.What made you want to get mental health first aid certified?Almost five years ago, I encountered a colleague who didn't seem to be doing very well, and after a few conversations, it came to my attention that the individual was facing mental health issues.At the time, I did my best to help the colleague - I connected the individual with a professional and made sure to regularly check-in. Today, I'm happy to say that the colleague is doing quite well.This experience made me realize the importance of normalizing conversations around mental health and having the right tools to help those who need support. Motivated by this, I pursued a course provided by Mental Health Foundation Australia (MHFA).When you first acquired the certification, did you envision this step scaling the way it did?Not at all! It was only after I got certified that I realized the potential of this course in benefiting my network. I especially realized how useful it might be in the context of the workplace where most people spend the majority of their time. Our teams in the Australian office work closely together, so it seemed like the natural next step to encourage my colleagues to get certified, deepen our collective understanding of mental health, and create an even more open work environment.To facilitate this, I became a certified trainer of mental health first aid myself, making the course more accessible to my network.How did you rally the support of your colleagues and eventually the entire office, to acquire the certification?Once I became a certified trainer, I approached the senior management team at our office to gauge their interest in the course, and the team wholeheartedly embraced this idea. From there, it was a matter of promoting the training among employees.We began offering it on an optional basis. Gradually, as pe...

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