As occupational health and wellbeing professionals, we’re really good at talking about resilience, mental health, sleep, stress and building healthy habits. We spend our working lives coaching and encouraging others to prioritise their wellbeing. However, as people who spend so much time caring for others, we’re not always as good at checking in with ourselves.

I already use a wellbeing action plan, which I review regularly, but having access to our new Member Assistance Programme and the Champion Health platform has genuinely been a bit of a game changer for me. It has quickly become a resource that I return to regularly as part of my own self-care.

For one, I live with anxiety, and having access to the meditations through the app has been really beneficial. Whether it’s a one-minute meditation during a busy day or one of the sleep sessions to help me relax at night, I really like the short videos and bite-sized support that I can access whenever I need it.

Many people may not know that I also live with fibromyalgia, which can cause widespread pain and significant fatigue. Again, the app has been incredibly helpful. There are meditations for chronic pain, short desk stretches and useful information about living with long-term conditions. They’re all small, practical resources that are easy to fit into the day and have given me ideas that I probably wouldn’t have gone looking for myself.

In fact, that’s one of the things I like most about the platform. It often introduces me to things I wasn’t actively looking for. Today, for example, an article popped up reminding me to check my breasts. That then led me to explore the masterclasses from Sharron Moffat, where she shares her own experience of being diagnosed with breast cancer. There are several short videos covering topics such as what to say to someone with cancer, how to support someone through treatment, and her own personal story. They’re exactly the sort of resources you can dip into whenever life presents something new, whether it’s something you’re experiencing yourself or someone close to you.

I’ve also found that I don’t just use Champion Health to support my own wellbeing. I often find myself exploring topics because I want to better understand what colleagues, clients or friends may be experiencing. Whether it’s menopause, cancer, supporting someone through a difficult time, or understanding different health conditions, there is a huge range of expert-led resources that help me both personally and professionally. As occupational health professionals, we’re always learning, and I think that’s one of the real strengths of the platform.

Getting started is really simple. The platform begins with a short wellbeing assessment that takes just a few minutes to complete. From there, it creates your own personalised dashboard, highlighting the areas that may be most relevant to you. You can repeat the assessment whenever you like, track how things change over time and set yourself personal wellbeing goals.

My own dashboard often highlights resources around managing long-term pain, improving productivity, tackling fatigue and remembering to take regular microbreaks. One of my favourite features is the collection of soundscapes, with different-length audio sessions depending on what you’re doing. Although I generally enjoy working in peace and quiet, I’ve found the 30-minute Focused Flow soundscape really beneficial. Sometimes having that gentle background sound is just enough to help my brain settle and focus on the task in front of me.

Alongside all of that are workouts, yoga, Pilates, stretching sessions, healthy recipes, grief support, articles, meditations and masterclasses. There really is something for everyone, whatever stage of life you’re at or whatever challenges you might be facing.

For me, Champion Health has become much more than an employee wellbeing platform. It’s become part of my own wellbeing toolkit. It helps me pause, check in with myself, discover new resources and, perhaps most importantly, reminds me to invest in my own wellbeing as much as I encourage others to invest in theirs.

If you haven’t explored the platform yet, I’d really encourage you to log in, complete the wellbeing assessment and have a look around. You might just discover something you didn’t know you needed.

The Wellbeing App is part of the EAP offering for iOH members (£10 a year or free for a year for OH and Wellbeing students/those new to the field)

Members EAP – iOH – The Association of Occupational Health and Wellbeing Professionals

Samantha Langford, Director of Workforce Wellbeing iOH
Owner of Gaia Workforce Wellbeing and trauma specialist