With expanded support for challenges linked to suicidal thoughts - including substance misuse, gambling, and domestic abuse - your ability to intervene and support your people has increased dramatically.
As an HR manager, wellbeing champion or leader, you can’t be everywhere at once - and you can’t be an expert in all things mental health. But the pressure is unrelenting: mental ill health among employees is now the most common cause of work-limiting conditions among those 44 and below1.
With one in six workers experiencing a mental health problem at any one time2, the relationship between mental health and the workplace is a complex one too. That’s why we’ve just expanded our support, enabling HR to support their people across more areas of mental health. Here’s what it means for you.
Expansive mental health support for your colleagues
R;pple’s digital crisis intervention tool - which intercepts harmful online searches - is now in action across 180+ established organisations, including big corporates, leading universities, NHS trusts and county councils.
Through R;pple, when your employees search harmful content online, they will be redirected to 24/7 helplines and support tailored to their needs, providing timely intervention and assistance.
Since launching, R;pple has intercepted more than 70,000 crisis-level searches related to suicide or self-harm. However, there are multiple factors which contribute to the risk of suicide:
- People with substance abuse are up to 14 times more likely to die by suicide.3
- People with problem debt are 3 times more likely to have had recent suicidal thoughts4; problem gamblers are at 15 times higher risk of suicide5.
- LGBTQ+ young people are more than 4 times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers.6
Clearly, from financial desperation to addiction struggles, suicide is complex. As a people leader, your suicide prevention support should reflect this.
That’s why R;pple has collaborated with over 30 experts - each specialising in a different area of mental health - to significantly expand our support for organisations and individuals.
Thousands of hours of expertise and lived experience have guided the development of R;pple’s latest technology. This significant expansion is grounded in data which highlights strong correlations between mental health conditions, life struggles and suicide risk. It exists to intervene and support your people when they need it.
So, let’s take a look at R;pple’s expanded approach to digital crisis intervention designed to intervene when your people are at their most vulnerable. Previously focused on blocking access to harmful content accessed via crisis-level searches related to suicide and self-harm, R;pple’s support now extends to challenges leading to an increased risk of suicide, including:
- Substance misuse
- Gambling addiction
- Financial struggles
- Eating disorders
- Domestic abuse
- LGBTQIA+ struggles
- Divorce and separation
- Military to civilian transition
By intercepting more harmful searches across a broader spectrum of conditions and life challenges, R;pple connects more people with the support they need before they reach crisis point.
How does it work?
R;pple is an interceptive tool which presents visual prompts when a person searches for harmful keywords or phrases relating to the topic of self-harm or suicide. These phrases include any words or terminology which have been identified as displaying potentially damaging online content.
By integrating R;pple into your business, you’ll be contributing to saving lives and changing the way mental health is seen, talked about, and treated in your workplace. Plus, it’s easy to install for your technical teams, safe and privacy-minded. It works seamlessly with your IT systems and does not collect any personally identifiable data.
R;pple is also a registered charity; our subscription fees help ensure our tool is available at no cost to families and educators.
Roll-out enhanced support now
Recent research finds that, on average, there is a positive return on investment of around £5 for every £1 invested in mental health interventions in the workplace..
- R;pple’s expanded protection is now available to customers across the business, education and public sectors.
- Existing customers can opt-in to the new categories free of charge by contacting us.
R;pple is now positioned to support more people and organisations than ever. This expansion represents a crucial step forward in our mission to provide support to those in need, and we’re grateful for your support so far. Join us in our mission to reduce the risk of suicide.
Sources:
1. The Health Foundation, What we know about the UK’s working-age health challenge, November 2023
2. Deloitte, Mental health and employers: refreshing the case for investment, January 2020
3. Wilcox HC, Conner KR, Caine ED, et al.
4. Money & Mental Health
5. Lund University
6. Johns et al., 2019; Johns et al., 2020
