Glossary
A quick guide to common terms used on this site. For links to more extensive online dictionaries of mental health terms, try the sites listed on the right.
Quick links on this page:
Absenteeism
Birmingham Health and Wellbeing Partnership (BHWP)
bWell Employers Charter
Health Inequalities
Mental Health
Mental Wellbeing
MINDFUL EMPLOYER ®
Presenteeism
Priority Wards
Primary Care Trusts (PCTs)
Absenteeism
Absenteeism is when a member of staff is absent, or off work ill. Absenteeism through mental ill health is believed to cost £8.4 billion a year to the UK economy (figure from the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (external site)).
> see also presenteeism
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Presenteeism
When a member of staff is present at work, often working longer hours than is necessary, but they have low productivity because their health and wellbeing is poor. Poor wellbeing in such circumstances can be made worse by not having a good balance between work, leisure and relaxation time.
Productivity lost through mental ill health is believed to cost the UK economy £15.1 Billion pounds every year (figure from the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (external site)).
> see also absenteeism
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Birmingham Health and Wellbeing Partnership (BHWP)
The BHWP is part of Birmingham City's Be Birmingham structure, which works across the city targeting key issues and concerns. Be Birmingham is the strategic framework that assists the City in tackling issues such as poor health, employment and crime.The BHWP is made up of the three NHS Primary Care Trusts, Chief Executive Officers, the Strategic Director of Adults and Communities, and the Strategic Director for Housing from within Birmingham City Council.
> read more on The Birmingham Health and Wellbeing Partnership (external site)
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bWell Employers Charter
The bWell Employers Charter is a series of pledges that employers can sign up to and is based on the MINDFUL EMPLOYER Charter. The bWell Charter mark indicates that an organisation is working with bWell to better support the mental wellbeing of their existing staff, and to use positive recruitment practices that enable those with experience of poor mental health to continue in or move back into employment.
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Health Inequalities
A health inequality is broadly defined as being the differences in health, life and quality of care experienced by people form different communities, cultures, or backgrounds - for example, differences in life expectancy between different wards.
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Mental Health
Mental health is not another way of saying 'mental illness'! Every one of us has mental health, good or bad, in the same way that we can have good or poor physical health. Good mental health is essential to good health generally.
Positive or good mental health for everyone is what bWell is trying to achieve. We aim to do this by helping people to gain the skills, knowledge and supports they need to maintain good mental health and by improving the help available for those experiencing poor mental health.
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Mental Wellbeing
Mental well-being means being positive about ourselves, our lives and our futures, our work and our environment at home, within our families and in our communities.Every aspect of our lives impacts on our mental wellbeing, from how we spend our leisure time to the way in which we deal with crises.
At bWell we are trying to ensure that people have the right mix of knowledge, awareness, skills and supports to keep physically, emotionally, and mentally fit, with a positive attitude to life, work, family and friends.
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MINDFUL EMPLOYER
The MINDFUL EMPLOYER initiative began in 2004 and is run by Devon Partnership NHS Trust. bWell is a partner of MINDFUL EMPLOYER in the delivery of our employers programme.
> visit the MINDFUL EMPLOYER Website (external site)
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Presenteeism
When a member of staff is present at work, often working longer hours than is necessary, but they have low productivity because their health and wellbeing is poor. Poor wellbeing in such circumstances can be made worse by not having a good balance between work, leisure and relaxation time.
It is believed presenteeism costs the UK economy up to one and a half times more than absenteeism does each year - or some £15.1 billion per year.
> see also absenteeism
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Priority Wards
These are the wards within Birmingham that have the most deprived communities within them. These wards are known for experiencing health inequalities, low levels of employment, and are traditionally seen as the poorest areas.
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Primary Care Trusts (PCTs)
PCTs are the local NHS bodies repsonsible for ensuring healthcare provision across Birmingham. Birmingham has three PCTs - South Birmingham, Heart of Birmingham, and Birmingham East and North.
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