Terveystalo increases transparency in the mental health debate and will in future publish information on the company's own mental health-related sickness absences
By publishing Terveystalo's own mental health absence statistics, Terveystalo wants to increase transparency in the mental health debate and encourage organisations to share their own successes in tackling the mental health crisis.
In a demanding professional organisation, mental health disorders often form a significant part of the work capacity challenges. This is also the case at Terveystalo, where mental health challenges accounted for the second highest number of sickness absences in 2024, affecting around 10% of all employees.
– Our own occupational health data shows that mental health challenges are also visible in our company, but the trend has been in the right direction. For several years now, we have been investing in supporting the mental wellbeing and resources of our staff. For example, we have a wide range of low-threshold mental wellbeing services in place, we have focused on pre-employment, clarified roles and invested in tools. The journey is just beginning, but we can already be proud of the results we have achieved: over the past two years, the number of mental health-related absences among our staff has dropped nicely by more than a quarter," says Minttu Sinisalo, Senior Vice President, People and Careers at Terveystalo.
The decrease in mental health-related long sick leave among Terveystalo staff has been exceptionally strong over the past few years.
– We have been particularly successful in reducing mental health-related absenteeism in the under-50 age group. Our own data suggests that low-threshold occupational health mental wellbeing services work particularly well for younger age groups. Mental wellbeing is a continuum that grows at an increasing rate with years of work," says Sinisalo.
Terveystalo's Mielityö activities promote mental wellbeing at work
1) We increase transparency in the mental health debate by publishing data on mental health-related absences of our own staff.
2) We offer a wide range of low-threshold mental wellbeing services as part of our occupational health.
3) We train our chaperones systematically and invest in good chaperone work, clear roles and responsibilities and streamlined tools.
4) We strengthen our human culture and carry out mental health activities throughout the year as part of our daily work.
5) We provide guidance, good practice and opportunities for peer learning.
6) As an occupational health provider, we are committed to working towards mental wellbeing and aiming for a 5% reduction in national mental health-related sickness absence in our current customer base by 2025. If we succeed, we will achieve around 80 000 healthy working days, equivalent to an estimated saving of €35 million for our customers.
