The Mental Health at Work Programme has helped in shifting the promotion of well-being at work and mental health from words to action. Over the past two years, thousands of Finnish workplaces have used the Mental Health Toolkit to make changes that support the smooth flow of work and work ability. One of the secrets behind the popularity of the tools is that they are suitable for daily work and management.
PRESS RELEASE 14.4.2025
Finnish workplaces have done a lot to improve well-being at work, and there has been a need for new kinds of tools.
Over the past two years, more than 2,600 Finnish work communities and occupational health care units have participated in free training and events for supporting well-being at work and mental health, provided by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. The participants also felt that these activities were useful: 98 per cent of the participants intended to apply the lessons learned in their work or workplace.
During the same period, the free digital tools and materials included in the Mental Health Toolkit were used approximately 128,000 times. The most popular of these was the "How are you doing?" well-being at work test. The tools can be used, for example, to develop supervisory work, manage stress factors or assess the organisation’s recovery practices.
"There is a lot of talk about something that should be done about the so-called mental health crisis. I am glad to say that we have taken action, specifically from the perspective of work communities rather than focusing on individual people," says Sara Lindström, Project Manager of the Mental Health Toolkit project at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
According to the How is Finland doing? study, the deterioration in Finnish well-being at work stopped in late 2024. The long-term increase in the number of mental health-related sickness absences also stopped that same year. At the same time, there are extensive development measures underway at different levels of society, which may have contributed to the development of sickness absences along with people suffering from health challenges leaving work life due to economic cycles.
There is only time for development in small bursts
The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health has noticed that taking time to improve well-being at work is sometimes difficult at workplaces. Managers in key roles typically have extensive responsibilities, which means that there is only time for development in small bursts.
The tools in the Mental Health Toolkit have been thanked for providing concrete support and tools for these moments. They can be used as part of the daily life of work communities both in monthly meetings and after workplace surveys. For example, a large specialist company used the Recovery Calculator to identify concrete solutions to recovery challenges. Using the tools also provided visibility to what was already done well in the work community. Similarly, the Workplace Resilience Toolkit was used to make the work processes were of a Wellbeing Services county’s unit run more smoothly.
"Mental well-being is a part of work ability, and supporting it takes place in the daily life of the workplace as part of management. This is not a separate issue that managers should take into account, but rather it concerns improving the preconditions for work," says Pauliina Mattila-Holappa, Director in charge of the project at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
Tools support development at the work community level
The tools in the Mental Health Toolkit focus on preventive development in the work community, which is not yet common when it comes to work ability.
"Impactful changes in the organisation of work can only be made by mutual agreement, not on the individual level. Digital solutions help with development, and the Mental Health Toolkit is a unique, free-of-charge package for work communities," says Sara Lindström.
"Workplaces also have the opportunity to utilise the expertise of occupational health care and occupational safety and to co-operate in the development of well-being at work. Now, during the project’s extension period, we have expanded the development to cover this perspective more broadly," says Salla Toppinen-Tanner, Director at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
The Mental Health Toolkit project
- The Mental Health Toolkit project is part of The Mental Health at Work Programme. The project is funded by Finland's Sustainable Growth Programme through the European Union’s one-time recovery tool (Next Generation EU) via the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
- The results apply to the project period 16 January 2023—31 December 2024. The project will continue until April 2026.
- Project page: Mental Health Toolkit
- Learn more about the Mental Health Toolkit
Further information
The Mental Health Toolkit project
- Pauliina Mattila-Holappa, Chief Specialist, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, pauliina.mattila-holappa@ttl.fi, +358 (0)43 824 4041
- Sara Lindström, Specialist Researcher, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, sara.lindstrom@ttl.fi, +358 (0)43 824 4521
- Salla Toppinen-Tanner, Director, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, salla.toppinen-tanner@ttl.fi, +358 (0)46 851 2517
Mental Health at Work Programme
- Jaana Vastamäki, Project Manager, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, jaana.vastamaki@gov.fi, +358 (0)29 516 3468