February is a very busy month for health and wellbeing initiatives. Below is a list of the various campaigns. Do keep uppermost in your mind that the University’s Thriving at Work Team is launching its Mental Health Resource web-based platform for One Stop Shop access to the University’s support happening on Time to Talk Day, Thursday, 04 February. Keep an eye out for comms for this and a link to the web pages.
- Raynaud’s Awareness Month: campaign run by Scleroderma and Reynaud’s UK to raise awareness about these diseases which affect the cardiovascular and connective tissue systems of the body. The effects of the diseases can be incapacitating.
- LGBT History Month: LGBT History Month was established in 2005 to raise awareness of LGBT history, especially those figures who have campaigned for LGBT rights, so that more people can learn about often overlooked areas of history.
- Sexual Abuse & Sexual Violence Awareness Week (01-07 February): campaign promoted by The Survivors Trust. The week aims to generate discussion among the general public, statutory bodies and third sector organisations about how sexual abuse and sexual violence is not ok. It aims to empower victims and send out a clear message that the UK collectively will be saying ‘It’s Not Ok’.
- Tinnitus Awareness Week (01-07 February): campaign promoted by the British Tinnitus Association to make sure that everyone with tinnitus gets the right information, from the right place, at the right time. Tinnitus is a collection of symptoms that affect people’s hearing. It can often be a disabling condition and have a considerable detrimental effect on people’s wellbeing. It is something that is well known within the Occupational Health specialism because it can be associated with exposure to noise at work. Our OH team undertake regular audiometric tests for staff members who come into contact with persistent loud noise in the course of their work. UK safety legislation requires this where noise is above a certain level.
- Children’s Mental Health Week (01-07 February): this year’s theme is ‘Express Yourself’
- Dignity Action Day 01 February: organised by the Dignity Care organisation, Dignity Action Day aims to ensure people who use care services are treated as individuals and are given choice, control and a sense of purpose in their daily lives.
- Time to Talk Day, 04 February: for more on this, please see my blog article for last week. As above, the University’s Thriving @ Work group are launching the One Stop Shop web resource collating all the information staff need on support at Kent for their mental health and wellbeing.
- World Cancer Day 04 February: is the global uniting initiative led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). This year’s theme is ‘I Am and I Will’, which is all about the individual and their commitment to act to end cancer across the world.
- International Epilepsy Day 08 February: is a joint initiative between the International Bureau for Epilepsy and the International League Against Epilepsy which aims to promote awareness on epilepsy right around the world.
- Random Acts of Kindness Week 14-20 February with Random Acts of Kindness Day on 17 February: organised by randomactsofkindness.org, it explains that scientific evidence shows us the positive effects of doing kind acts for others as well as receiving or even witnessing kindness. Even the smallest act of kindness can change a life. The theme for 2021, is to encourage everyone to Explore the Good and Make Kindness the Norm. The idea of the benefits of behaving with kindness has really taken off throughout the difficulties of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Fairtrade Fortnight 22 February to 7 March 2021: organised by the Fairtrade Foundation, the theme for this year is ‘CHOOSE THE WORLD YOU WANT THIS FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT’, highlighting the growing challenges that climate change brings to farmers and workers in the communities Fairtrade works with.
- World Encephalitis Day 22 February: promoted by the World Encephalitis Day Alliance and the Encephalitis Society, the brain inflammation charity, with the aim of creating a world that recognizes and understands encephalitis and its long-term impact.
- Rare Disease Day 28 February: the main objective of this campaign is to raise awareness amongst the general public and decision-makers about rare diseases and their impact on patients’ lives. This is because 1 in 20 people will live with a rare disease at some point in their life.