Wellness Action Plan - Guide for People Working in a Workplace

Sep 12, 2026

Upload by Gloria

Wellness Action Plan provides a practical guide for people working in a workplace to understand mental health in broad terms and to distinguish mental wellbeing, poor mental health, and mental health problems. It explains common and severe mental health issues, and outlines work-related stress and burnout as workplace-relevant risk factors. The plan then introduces how to start, complete, and review personalised actions to identify what supports wellbeing, reduce triggers, and improve communication with managers for appropriate workplace adjustments.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryForms

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Helpful definitions

Mental health and mental wellbeing

Poor mental health and mental health problems

Common and severe mental health problems

Work-related stress and burnout

What is a Wellness Action Plan?

How it helps at work

Using a Wellness Action Plan

How to get started

Working in the workplace and remote work

Support and review

Wellness Action Plan Guide for people working in a workplace Helpful definitions For the purpose of clarity, when we refer to ‘mental health’ in this guide we are using it in the broadest possible sense. Some useful definitions to terms used in this guide can be found below. Guide for people working in a workplace Helpful definitions Mental health We all have mental health, just as we all have physical health. How we feel can vary from good mental wellbeing to difficult feelings and emotions, to severe mental health problems. Mental wellbeing Mental wellbeing is the ability to cope with the day-to-day stresses of life, work productively, interact positively with others and realise our own potential. When we talk about wellbeing we are referring to mental wellbeing. Poor mental health Poor mental health is when we are struggling with low mood, stress or anxiety. This might mean we’re also coping with feeling restless, confused, short tempered, upset or preoccupied. We all go through periods of experiencing poor mental health – mental health is a spectrum of moods and experiences and we all have times when we feel better or worse. Mental health problems We all have times when we struggle with our mental health. A mental health problem is when difficult experiences or feelings go on for a long time and affect our ability to enjoy and live our lives in the way we want. You might receive a specific diagnosis from your doctor, or just feel more generally that you are experiencing a prolonged period of poor mental health. Common mental health problems These include depression, anxiety, phobiasand obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). These make up the majority of the problems that lead to one in four people experiencing a mental health problem in any given year. Symptoms can range from the comparatively mild to very severe. Severe mental health problems These include conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder which are less common. They can have very varied symptoms and affect your everyday life to different degrees, and may require more complex and/or longterm treatments. Work-related stress Work-related stress is defined by the Health and Safety Executive as the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them at work. Stress, including work-related stress, can be a significant cause of illness. It is known to be linked with high levels of sickness absence, staff turnover and other issues such as increased capacity for error. Stress is not a medical diagnosis, but severe stress that continues for a long time may lead to a diagnosis of depression or anxiety, or other mental health problems. Burnout Burnout isn’t technically a diagnosis, but instead refers to a collection of symptoms. You may feel exhausted, have little motivation foryour job, feel irritable or anxious and you may see a dip in your work performance. What is a Wellness Action Plan? Given the high levels of stress and poor mental health we are seeing in UK workers, there is a growing demand for innovative and proactive ways of managing our mental health at work. Guide for people working in a workplace What is a Wellness Action Plan? The Wellness Action Plan is inspired by Mary Ellen Copeland’s Wellness Recovery Action Plan® (WRAP®): an evidence-based system used worldwide by people to manage their mental health. Wellness Action Plans are a personalised, practical tool we can all use – whether we have a mental health problem or not – to help us identify what keeps us well at work, what causes us to become unwell, and how to address a mental health problem at work should you be experiencing one. It also opens up a dialogue with your manager or supervisor, in order for them to better understand your needs and experiences and ultimately better support your mental health, which in turn leads to greater productivity, better performance and increased job satisfaction. We

FAQs

What does “mental health” mean in this guide?

It uses the broadest possible sense of mental health, covering anything from good mental wellbeing to difficult emotions and severe problems.

How is work-related stress defined here, and why does it matter?

Work-related stress is described as an adverse reaction to excessive pressure or other demands at work, linked with illness, sickness absence, staff turnover, and potential progression to depression or anxiety if severe and long lasting.

How do I start and use a Wellness Action Plan?

Set aside time to complete the plan, reflect on current pressures and their impact, and note what you can put in place. After completing it, review it monthly to track learning, understand triggers, and ensure your actions still work as work arrangements change.

Sep 12, 2026

Upload by Gloria