F. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

As with any formal organisational initiative, it is important to monitor and evaluate mental health support initiatives in your Parliament in order to assess their effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, evolution of needs, and outcomes. It is ideal to start with an initial needs assessment (see our earlier section on ‘A. Recognising Needs, and Prioritisation’) to help inform your strategy, and to provide a baseline status against which to measure outcomes. Reasonable agility in implementation may also increase chances of success. This requires regular monitoring and evaluation, and revision of strategy and implementation as required. Aspects to consider when monitoring your mental health strategy include the following (from The Mental Health Commission of Canada137):

Key Considerations When Monitoring Your Mental Health Strategy (from The Mental Health Commission of Canada137):

As described in our previous section on ‘A. Recognising Needs, and Prioritisation’, measures to consider include aspects of organisational culture and prioritisation of mental health, comfort in disclosing need for help, access to support, workplace contributors to mental health strain, and signs and symptoms of mental ill health. Here, absenteeism may be a useful parameter, along with objective symptom assessment tools such as the PHQ-9138, GAD-7139, and AUDIT140. Again, as stated in our previous section Confidentiality is Key (p.16), it is imperative to always maintain the confidentiality of sensitive information collected from programme participants.

1. WHO guide on Monitoring and Evaluation of Mental

Health Policies and Plans. Accessible from: https:// www.who.int/mental_health/policy/monitoring_and_ evaluation_of_mental_health_policies_and_plan.pdf

2. WHO Mental Health Policy and Service Guidance Package on Mental Health Policies and Programmes in The Workplace. Accessible from: https://apps.who.int/iris/ bitstream/handle/10665/43337/9241546794_eng.pdf