Continuing the Conversation:
Mental Wellbeing in Public
Relations 2020

FOREWORDS
It has never been more important for our industry to take action on mental health.
The progress made in recent years has been welcome: more and employers
recognise the importance of mental wellbeing by offering their staff support; they
actively encourage conversations about mental health in the workplace. And
employees have responded by being far more candid than was the case even five
years ago. Our industry should be proud of this progress. But it is not enough.
Too many people still don’t feel comfortable opening up about their mental
health. And there is still a minority of employers who don’t want them to. And
Covid has made it more important than ever that we do more than ever. Fromthe conversations I have ever day, there is enormous pressure on pretty much
everybody right now. At one end, junior employees working from home in cramped
and crude surroundings. At the other end, bosses are fighting hard to lead; toreform their working practices; to put their organisations on firm footings. And foreveryone, there are the worries of job security as we enter a global recession.
Which is why publications like this are so important our industry. And why the
PRCA will continue to shine a spotlight on this issue in the years ahead.

Francis Ingham MPRCA
Director General, PRCA

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CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION: MENTAL WELLBEING IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 2020 Opinium // PRCAIt has been a challenging year for people working in PR. The stress of Covid-19
and the impact on the industry has been vast and has negatively impacted
mental wellbeing scores for the sector.
But encouragingly, thanks to agency leaders, there has also been some progress
made since we launched our first workplace mental wellbeing report with the
PRCA in 2019. Employers are clearly focusing their energies on mental healthmore, and PR professionals are noticing this, with 64% saying that they feel
their employer takes the mental health and wellbeing of employees seriously(vs. 53% in 2019). But the stress of unmanageable workloads is still an issue,
and the biggest source of stress. The impact of coronavirus on the company is,understandably, the second biggest source of stress (44%).
Covid has posed many challenges to the industry, but has clearly taught agencies
and in-house teams to adapt. Some of these more positive changes to working
life, such as increased flexibility, could be built into working life in the months
and years ahead. 96% told us that they want to continue to work from home, insome capacity, post-covid. Although it is clear from our research that businesses
should implement some form of balance around this. While the period of full-timeworking from home has had mental wellbeing benefits for some, sadly it has also
had detrimental effects for others. Our research shows that 40% feel working fromhome during lockdown improved their mental wellbeing, while 41% said that it
actually reduced their wellbeing. If at all possible, business leaders in PR shouldlook to take an individualistic approach when it comes to flexible working in the
future and try to account for each employee’s specific needs and circumstances.
Huge thanks to the PRCA for teaming up with us again on this important pieceof work. And to our employee engagement team for conducting the workplacemental wellbeing audit and authoring this useful report. We hope it gives
agencies and in-house teams actionable insights and recommendations tocontinue to support their colleagues and improve workplace wellbeing.

James Endersby
CEO, Opinium

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BACKGROUND TO THE STUDYContinuing the Conversation: Mental wellbeing in Public
Relations 2020
Much progress has been made in the area of mental health in the last several
years; talking about it openly and honestly has become more commonplace, andgovernments and businesses have recognised that they have a major role to playin helping people look after their mental wellbeing.
We designed our Workplace Mental Wellbeing Audit to help businesses andother organisations understand the mental health of their employers and in turntake steps to help them. This year’s study, our second since the audit’s launch,
was made all the more pertinent by the outbreak of the coronavirus and thesubsequent lockdown. A combination of being isolated from friends and family, amajor economic downturn, and of course the threat to our physical health, create
an environment that is far from conducive to good mental wellbeing.
On the subject of the economic fallout of the virus, different sectors areaffected in very different ways. For this study we partnered with the PRCA
to look specifically at the mental wellbeing of those working in the PR andcommunications industry and how they are coping in the context of a pandemic.
Throughout the report, we also compare to last year’s results, as well as ournormative database of national workers.

The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS)
A key element of our audit is the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale*; arigorous and scientific method designed by the University of Warwick with funding
from NHS Health Scotland. Not only does the scale give our research a robust
method for measuring mental wellbeing it also distinguishes our approach from the
myriad of other mental health surveys by giving us a benchmark to work with that isunderpinned by academic research.
Looking at the scores of the scale, the mental wellbeing of an individual can be
determined in terms of whether it falls above or below the national average. The scale
enables us to quantify mental wellbeing, thus promoting wider understanding of mental
wellbeing as a whole. A further use of the scale is to encourage effective improvementof mental wellbeing for the individual, by tracking scores over time, and to equiporganisations and wider society to support the enhancement of mental wellbeing.

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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
Recommendations
The research provided us with a wealth of data to analyse and deciding whichfindings to focus on was no easy task but in summary we found three important
recommendations for employers in the PR industry:

1. Importance of sharing stories
Our data shows that the culture around mental health has started to shift, as
those who spoke up saw benefits. However, there is still work to do amongst
those who are struggling and did not speak up. We’ve seen that Covid-19 has
had a huge impact on the industry, despite this we’ve seen an improvement in
attitudes overall. Our recommendation is on the importance of sharing stories ina relatable manner to create a workplace where mental health can be discussed
openly and without fear of consequence.

2. Promote existing initiatives and introduce new ones
There has been an increase in the number of employers offering mental
wellbeing initiatives to employees, which is great to see! The challenge now
comes with ensuring employees understand how to access these initiatives andfeel comfortable using them. There are also a number of initiatives that show
demonstrable impacts on mental wellbeing, such as remote working and flexible
working hours, employers should prioritise the introduction of these if they are
not already in place. Employers should also listen to employees when it comes tosupporting mental wellbeing, as there are several initiatives that there is employee
demand for, but are only being offered by a handful of employers.

3. Learn from the lockdown
A key part of the research showed that the working from home aspect of the
lockdown provided a number of benefits for employees; they were more relaxed,enjoyed avoiding the commute, and had more time for other hobbies and interests.
That said, the picture was not all perfect and not everything about lockdown waseasy. For employers we recommend learning how to make some of these changes
to working patterns permanent: greater flexibility, trust in your staff, and so on.
*© University of Warwick, NHS Health Scotland and University of Edinburgh, 2007, all rights reserved. If you would like to use the scale, please
visit the University of Warwick website for more details: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/med/research/platform/wemwbs/

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION: MENTAL WELLBEING IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 2020 Opinium // PRCA

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KEY FINDINGS

59%

of those in PR who
struggled with their mental
health told their employer

72%
64%

say their current workplacetakes the health and wellbeingof their employees seriously

46%of those who took time off
for their mental wellbeing
told their employer that
this time off was actuallyfor their mental wellbeingof those who didn’t take time
off work for their mental health,said that they didn’t feel thatmental health was a valid
reason to do so

67% say that having too muchwork to do was the main cause of stress

66% say not having

to commute whilst in
lockdown has improved
their mental health

52% are concerned

about the practicality ofsocially distanced desks when
they return to work

96% want working from home

practices to continue in some way
after the lockdown

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1. IMPORTANCE OF SHARING
Compared to the national figures from last year, there seems to be a slightly better
culture geared toward acceptance and understanding when it comes to accepting
mental health generally in the workplace. More PR professionals feel comfortablediscussing their mental wellbeing with fellow colleagues and reported positive
feedback. Yet, change is still needed. 46% of PR professionals did not share theirmental health struggles with employers as they did not think it was necessary and
48% refused to take time off because of “having too much to do”. If these issues
aren’t tackled, the fear is employee’s mental wellbeing will deteriorate in the long run.
Sharing positive stories of overcoming issues in a relatable manner will be key in thisinstance, to create a safe space for employees to air their concerns and take time off
to recover if needed.

Slight decline in mental wellbeing scores since 2019
We’ve seen a slight decline in mental wellbeing scores this year, which is unsurprising
given the challenges posed by the pandemic particularly for the PR sector. The
average WEMWBS score among those in the PR industry is 43.5 this year comparedto 44.6 last year. Junior PR professionals scores have the lowest score at 39.9.
Looking specifically at experiences over the past 12 months, 90% have struggledwith their mental wellbeing to somedegree, this is stable with last year’s
figure of 89%.
PR professionals also still find their job
more stressful compared to the national
average this year. A quarter (26%) of
PR professionals say they find their job
stressful (giving it a score of 8-10, 10
being extremely stressful), compared to
18% of UK workers. Having too muchto do was the top cause of stress thisyear (55%), followed by the impact ofCoronavirus on the company (44%),and poor work-life balance (43%). PR
professionals are much more likely toworry about the impact of coronavirus
on their company compared to the UK
workers overall (11%).

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The culture around mental health has started to shift as those
who spoke up saw the benefits...
Almost three fifths (59%) of PR professionals told someone at work that theystruggled with their mental health, compared to 43% in 2019. This increase isencouraging and is also higher than the national worker benchmark of 39%.
They were most likely to tell their line manager (51%).
Those who were comfortable to share, generally reported a positive experience.
Almost three quarters (72%) said the colleagues they told were understanding
and supportive (up from 52% last year) and only 10% said they did not take itseriously enough (down from 22% last year).
Expanding upon their experiences, those who spoke up said they felt heard andwere offered support initiatives, time off and reduced workloads.

“They were empathetic, offered support and a listening ear, suggested
programmes and tools that could help and agreed practical to my work thatwould help (e.g. time off work, more flexible working etc.)”“Very supportive, a readjustment of my workload
was arranged, and time off provided.”

However, whilst progress has been made, there is more that can be done to support
the long-term mental health of employees, as concerns with workload remain.

“Management aresupportive but there isalso a view to just geton with it, work has tobe done and everyone
struggles at some point”

8“They were supportive
but also said thatlong work hours andcompeting deadlines isjust part of the job”

“They were kind andencouraged me totake a long weekend....
however, the long-term
issues such as immense
workload, rude anddisrespectful client
behaviour... were notaddressed.”

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Two fifths (39%) of those who struggled with their mental health did not discuss
it with an employer. Alarmingly, the top reasons why included ‘I didn’t feel itnecessary to tell them’ (46%) and ‘I didn’t think they would be able to help’(33%). In open text responses, many mentioned stress ‘being part of the job’
and fears of how struggling with their mental health would reflect on themprofessionally.

“I’ve had bouts of anxiety in the past, usually to do with workload, but didn’t feel I
could tell anyone, or it would look like I couldn’t deal with pressure of the job. I thinkstress/pressure kind of comes with the role when it’s busy. That is just agency life.”

Yet, there has been a decline in the number of PR professionals
taking time off
Since last year, there’s been a decline in the number of PR professionals who
struggled with their mental health took time off for this. In 2020 a quarter (26%)
of PR professionals took time off for mental health, declining from 31% in 2019.
Those in senior level positions were less likely to take time off for mental health at
22% compared to junior staff at 32%.
Having too much on at work to take time off (48%, up from 43% 2019) andfeeling that their mental health problem was not bad enough to need a day off(46% up from 33% 2019) were the main reasons cited for not taking time off.
Those in senior level positions in particular were much more likely to feel that it
wasn’t bad enough for them to take time off (52%).
There are some positive changes to be mentioned too, the number of those who
felt their mental health wasn’t a valid reason to take time off decreased to 23%,from 33% last year. And those not taking time off for their mental health because
they didn’t think their employer would understand is also down to 21%, from
26% last year.

PR professionals who have taken time off for their mental arealso being more open about this with employers.
This year there has been a large increase in the number of PR professionals who
have told their employer the exact reason for taking time off for mental health. In
2020, 72% of those who took time off for their mental health told their employer
that this was for their mental health, whereas in 2019 this was at 40%.

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Did you tell your employer the exact reason why you needed to take time off? (mental health)

72%

40%
33%

29%

27%
13%

Told their employer theexact reason for taking time off

Told them it wasa physical illness

Told them adifferent reason
2019

2020

Attitudes in general around mental health have seen thelargest improvements
PR professionals are more likely to feel their workplace takes the mental healthof their employees seriously, 64% compared to 53% in 2019. There is also morebelief that they would be supported at work if they were struggling with theirmental health, 65% up from 56% in 2019. Openness in talking to colleagues has
slightly improved, up to 49% compared to 44% last year.
But there is more work to be done here, as over a third (35%) would still notknow how to approach the topic of mental health if they were struggling atwork, though this is down from 39% last year. There are also still feeling ofembarrassment about struggling with mental health, as 40% of PR professionals
say they would feel embarrassed if their colleagues discovered they were
struggling, stable with 41% last year. There clearly exists a belief that colleagues
will have negative perceptions and reactions mental health problems, which
contradicts those who have spoken out and found colleagues to be supportiveof their struggles.

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Attitudes towards mental health in the workplace

My colleagues would be supportive if I was
struggling with my mental health/ wellbeing

73%
65%

My currentworkplace has introduced
policies/programmes/processes
to look after employee mental wellbeing

65%
54%

My current workplace takes the mental healthand wellbeing of their employees seriously

64%
53%

I can talk to my manager openly
about my mental health and wellbeing

54%
47%

I can talk to my colleague(s) openly
about my mental health and wellbeing

49%
44%

I would feel embarrassed if mycolleagues discoveredI was struggling
with my mental health/ wellbeing

40%
41%

I wouldn’t know how to approach the
topic of my mental health/wellbeing
if I was struggling at work

35%
39%

I don’t think my current workplace isdoing enough to help employees with
their mental health/ wellbeing
I don’t know who I would turn toin the officeif I was struggling withmy mental health/ wellbeing

33%
38%
24%
29%
2020

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION: MENTAL WELLBEING IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 2020 Opinium // PRCA

2019

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Still work to do…
Whilst there have been some positive changes in attitudes, there is still work to doaround creating a safe space for PR professionals to share their struggles. Workload
is a key reason why PR professionals don’t take time off for mental health, and isalso a key sources of stress – a damaging combination which results in a vicious
cycle. This needs to be addressed by employers first and foremost, as it is a root
cause of much employee stress and exacerbates mental health problems.
This highly stressful environment of heavy workload is then combined with
employee perceptions that struggling with mental health is a reflection on theirprofessional ability. Therefore, many employees who are struggling keep silent anddo not take time off. Employers need to work at cultivating a safe environment
where employees can discuss their mental wellbeing without consequence,reassuring staff that their mental wellbeing is a priority.

Having a more open conversation about mental health in
the workplace and sharing stories amongst those who haveopened up will help with this much needed culture shift.
Covid-19 has also badly affected the industry, adding to the stress and pressure
on the mental health of PR professionals. The key is to not overlook these issues,
whilst progress has started, employee fear around risking their careers when
speaking up about mental health and workload are still high. This can threaten
the industry progress that’s been
made over the past year and cause
a decline in mental wellbeing in theyears to come. Employers needto acknowledge and address theimpact of Covid-19 on employee
wellbeing, as well as the company
itself, by openly discussing thecurrent situation.

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2. PROMOTE EXISTING INITIATIVES AND
INTRODUCE NEW ONES
There has been an increase in the number of employers offering mental
wellbeing initiatives to employees, which is great to see! The challenge now
comes with ensuring employees understand how to access these initiatives
and feel comfortable using them. There are also a number of initiatives thatshow demonstrable impacts on mental wellbeing, and employees are asking
for additional initiatives to be introduced. Based on this, we have several
recommendations to employers:
Introduce initiatives that positively impact mental wellbeing. There
are specific initiatives, such as remote working and working from
home, that have demonstrable effects on mental wellbeing, employers
who do not already offer these should prioritise introducing them.
Ensure that employees understand how to access initiatives andalso promote the usage of these, giving reassurance to employees
about using these initiatives will boost usage and ultimately employee
mental wellbeing.
Listen to employees when it comes to the wellbeing initiatives
that will be most useful to them. Hearing this feedback directly from
employees will enable employers to identify new initiatives that will
boost employee mental wellbeing.

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Initiatives that are working
Following our report from last year, there has been a slight increase in theinitiatives offered in workplaces and the benefits are clear. Two thirds (68%) of
workplaces offer remote working, 51% provide information about mental healthand techniques to support mental health (vs 36% last year) and 47% offer amental health first aider (vs 27% last year).
However, usage is low amongst a number of these initiatives, as shown in thechart below. Whilst 47% of PR professionals have access to a mental health firstaider at their company, only 7% of PR professionals have actually spoken to one.

Initiatives offered to PR professionals
60

Remote working/working from home

37

Space for people to take breaks at lunch

Provide information about
mental health and techniques
Mental health first aiders

51
47

7
11

41
33

16

Exercise/ Recreational classes

Have an internal mentoring
scheme in place
Monitoring of mental
wellbeing via staff survey
Visits from external
speakers on mental health54

26

Employee Assistance Programme

Access to a counsellor

56
41

Flexible working hours

31

7

29

10

29

15
11

20
% who use the initiative% offered the initiative

Furthermore, usage of a number of these initiatives has shown to be a benefit tomental wellbeing, both at a self-reported level and as measured by WEMWBS.
Remote working is one of those initiatives – those who used remote working have
far higher mental wellbeing scores as measured by the WEMWBS, and 83% ofusers said it improved their mental wellbeing. Flexible working hours is anotherinitiative that has demonstrable effects on employee mental wellbeing – as well as
WEMWBS scores being far higher, 87% of users reported that it improved theirmental wellbeing. And the same is true for users of mental wellbeing informationand techniques and exercise/ recreational classes; WEMWBS scores are higher andusers reported this improving their mental wellbeing (79% and 88% respectively).

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Wellbeing scores (WEMWBS) of those who used each initiative, versus those who did not

45.5

45.8
41.5

Remoteworking

42.3

Flexibleworking hours

45.2

42.8

Space to takebreaks

45.4

45.1

43.2

Exercise/recreational classes

43.1

Mental healthinformation andtechniques
Used

Did not use

Room for more
There is a demand from employees for companies to offer more initiatives tosupport wellbeing. Three fifths (58%) say they would like duvet/ mental health days
(only 2% are offered this currently) and 33% would like access to a counsellor(31% are currently offered this) and 32% monitoring of mental wellbeing via astaff survey (15% are currently offered this). We recommend offering a variety of
initiatives to provide suitable support for all employees, as something that may
help one individual’s mental wellbeing may not be so helpful for another.

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Initiatives employees would like to see their workplace introduce

Duvet days

58%

Access to a counsellor

33%

Monitoring of mental
wellbeing via a staff survey

Flexible working hours

Internal mentoring scheme

32%

30%

28%

0
Culture change and openness is key to ensuring the success of
wellbeing initiatives
Introducing initiatives is a really important step in improving the mental wellbeingof employees, but employers must also be making a concerted effort to change
the underlying culture around mental health in the company. Having initiatives inplace without encouraging an open
culture about mental health can risk
employees seeing the initiatives asa token or tick-box exercise. An
individual and personal approachof listening to and checking in withteam members is key to fostering
this culture of openness about
mental wellbeing.

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“We have a counselling scheme but it’s done via acall centre which feels impersonal. I think improving
the work environment and creating a more open
culture of speaking about mental health or having
someone in the office who’s always able to chatabout these issues face-to-face (post COVID).”“I believe mental wellbeing is being paid lip service toparticularly within our team. We are signposted to all the rightchannels but with no real understanding or empathy towards
how we are feeling and what might have caused it.”CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION: MENTAL WELLBEING IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 2020 Opinium // PRCA

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3. LEARN FROM THE LOCKDOWNOne of the major responses to the pandemic was the lockdown which required
employees to work from home if possible. This was quite some change for mostof the PR industry, as only 47% of PR professionals worked from home before thecoronavirus outbreak – 6% full time, 41% some of the time.
It’s no surprise then that 100% of employees in the industry are currently working
from home. Our findings show that there have been huge benefits from doing so
and employees want to see some changes remain. However, the picture has notbeen perfect, with a considerable number finding the experience a challenge.
As we come out of lockdown, employers should try to learn from the experienceand maintain practices that have been beneficial to employees. They mustalso recognise that the experience of the crisis varies from person to person –approaching the return to work should put the individual first.

Working from home has many benefits
Overall, many PR professions have felt positive about this increase in working
from home. With one of the main benefits being the removal of the stressfulcommute - 66% say not having to commute has improved their mental healthand 55% say they are more relaxed. Half (51%) also reported that their work-lifebalance is better now that they are working from home.

But not everything has been easy…
However, working from home does have its challenges and has negatively
impacted some groups more than others. As the figures below show, in somecases there is a significant number who are finding aspects of working from homeduring the lockdown a challenge. Almost two thirds of PR professionals find it
hard to build in time to go outside during the work day, 58% struggle to draw
boundaries between work and rest and half (51%) are working longer hours now
they are working from home.

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“I feel like I am living in my office rather
than working from home, and I struggle
to stop working at the end of the day;there is always something more to be
done. Similarly, I struggle to get outside forexercise because of work pressures”
Senior Level, 35-49

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Experiences of Working from Home

Struggle to find time to go outsideduring the work day when WfH

31%

Find it hard to draw boundaries
between work and rest

30%

Working longer hours
now they are home

63%

58%

28%

51%

WfH has madethem feel more isolated

41%

40%

Worried about impact of
prolonged WfH on mental health

43%

38%

DisagreeAgreeSo, although there are some clear benefits to working from home, like feelingmore relaxed and being free from the bad parts of commuting, there are also
downsides, notably challenges with separating work and rest. Indeed, there
is some division of the effects of working from home during lockdown; whilst
40% say it has improved their mental wellbeing, 42% say the opposite. Younger
PR professionals are most likely to have felt this negative impact of working
from home – 45% of those under 35 said that WfH has decreased their mental
wellbeing, versus 36% of those aged 50+.
Those who have found it negatively affected their mental health cited a numberof pressures, many mentioned the challenge of switching off, loneliness, missing
socialising with colleagues and the stresses of looking after small children:“It’s the feeling of isolation. I have never opted to workfrom home. Whilst I have adapted, I am not sure I want to
do another few months of it…. It’s hard being in one room
for work, relaxing, sleeping and other activities. It is reallyhard to create those boundaries when working at home
in a one bed flat.”20“I miss the support of mycolleagues and the office banter/humour. I am juggling looking
after a small child with work,
which is extremely stressful.”

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“Enjoying working from home generally, and would like to continue to do so a few
days a week. But prolonged WFH has made me feel a bit isolated. Also miss theenergy you get from seeing other people.”

Nonetheless, an overwhelming 96% want to continue working from in some
capacity when lockdown is over, with most wanting to work from home a few
days a week (51%).

Returning to office life
When it comes to returning to the office, there is a mixed response in terms of
how PR professionals feel about this, but overall feelings are more negative thanpositive, as shown by the following chart.

Feeling about returning to the office33%

Anxious

43%

Apprehensive

45%

ReluctantPessimistic

52%

32%

Relaxed32%

Excited

29%

23%

Eager

Optimistic

The main concerns that people have about returning to the office are about busy
commutes (56%), logistics of socially distancing desks (52%), and losing the freetime gain whilst working from home (51%). These are factors that employers willneed to take into account when planning a return to the office.

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CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION: MENTAL WELLBEING IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 2020 Opinium // PRCALOOKING AHEAD…
As we have seen, the last twelve months have been a challenge for the industry,
especially in the light of Covid-19. Though, attitudes are beginning to change forthe better and employees who have opened up about their mental health haveseen positive results. However, whilst things are moving in the right direction
there is still lots of work to do to until we reach a place where mental wellbeing istreated the same way we treat physical wellbeing.
Determining whether the next twelve months will see these positive trends
continue is made all the more difficult by the ongoing pandemic. There are
numerous ways in which the crisis has and will impact workers, from the added
anxiety of the virus itself to the potential for future job losses.

The impact of coronavirus on the company was one of the
key causes of stress at work (44%).
Employers must strongly consider how this is affecting the health and wellbeingof their employees, and keep an open dialogue about the impact of coronavirus
to help ease some of this stress.
One of the more positive aspects to come from the pandemic is the huge shift
in our working practises, and many employees are enjoying the benefits this hasbrought to their day-to-day living and mental wellbeing.
In any difficulty there is also opportunity. The opportunity here is to take this crisis
to re-examine our working culture and make it better for all of us. As the longterm implications of the pandemic have yet to be felt, employers should make it apoint to cultivate an environment of openness, long after the pandemic is over.

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AUTHORS
Sophie Holland
Sophie is passionate about mental health and holds a BA Honsin Experimental Psychology from the University of Oxford. She
developed Opinium’s workplace mental wellbeing audit and heads
up Opinium’s mental health research team. Sophie is also Head ofWellbeing internally at Opinium, introducing workplace initiatives
to support employee mental wellbeing. Sophie works on a variety
of different projects from design to delivery, ranging from largescale quantitative research and international studies, to in-depth
qualitative pop-up communities. She is heavily involved in thebrand and comms space, charity sector and social research.
sophieholland@opinium.co.uk // 020 3119 3686

Isobel Hunt
With a BA (Hons) in Psychology, Isobel joined Opinium in Junelast year and works within the PR sector running a mix ofquick-turnaround and large international projects across a rangeof sectors. Isobel is also involved in the wellbeing team, running
lunchtime walks and part of the training and welcome teams at
Opinium supporting new joiners.
isobelhunt@opinium.com

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION: MENTAL WELLBEING IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 2020 Opinium // PRCA

25

About Opinium
OPINIUM is an award winning strategic insight agency built on the belief that in aworld of uncertainty and complexity, success depends on the ability to stay on pulseof what people think, feel and do. Creative and inquisitive, we are passionate about
empowering our clients to make the decisions that matter. We work with organisations
to define and overcome strategic challenges – helping them to get to grips with theworld in which their brands operate. We use the right approach and methodology todeliver robust insights, strategic counsel and targeted recommendations that generatechange and positive outcomes.
www.opinium.com :: research@opinium.com :: 0207 566 3190

About The PRCA
The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) is the world’s largest
professional PR body.
We represent more than 35,000 PR professionals in 70 countries worldwide. With
offices in London, Singapore, Dubai, and Buenos Aires, we are a global advocate forexcellence in public relations.
Our mission is to create a more professional, ethical, and prosperous PR industry. We
champion - and enforce - professional standards in the UK and overseas through ourProfessional Charter and Code of Conduct. The Code compels members to adhere to
the highest standards of ethical practice.
We deliver exceptional training, authoritative industry data, and global networking
and development opportunities. We also manage the International Communications
Consultancy Organisation (ICCO), the umbrella body for 41 PR associations and 3,000
agencies across the world, and LG Comms – the UK’s national body for authorities
raising standards of local government communication.
www.prca.org.uk

If you would like any more information or support about any of the topics
covered in this report, you can find more information at the Mind website:www.mind.org.uk