Employee Benefits
A Challenge for Mental Health Awareness Month: Make It Enjoyable
April 29, 2025
Achieving and maintaining wellbeing takes work, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyable and even fun. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and with that comes Alera Group’s annual Mental Health Awareness Toolkit, this year featuring something we believe employers and their entire organizations will really enjoy: the 31-Day Challenge for Positive Wellbeing.
While the toolkit is organized into sections primarily intended either for employers or employees, the 31-Day Challenge is for everyone — a way for employers to boost morale and community within their organization, and for employees to support each other in performing healthy activities aimed at reducing stress and increasing happiness amid life’s demands and a frequently unsettling world.
Studies show employees value that kind of support — as both recipients and providers. According to polling conducted by Ipsos and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), “full-time workers at companies with at least 100 employees believe discussing mental health at work is important, but they need more resources to feel comfortable doing so.”
The 31-Day Challenge can help employees ease into those discussions by sharing their experiences with positive activities.
About the Challenge
The instructions are simple and straightforward: “Strive to achieve each day’s activity focused on your own self-care. Place a checkmark next to each item you complete.”
Most of the activities on the 31-Day Challenge checklist are easy to incorporate into your routine:
- “Practice deep breathing.”
- “Start a new book.”
- “Power down electronics an hour early.”
- “Share a smile.”
Others may be more challenging but equally meaningful:
- “Sign up for a volunteer opportunity.”
- “Take a social media break for the day.”
- “Declutter your workspace.”
- “Connect with an old friend.”
We won’t divulge what the activity for Day 31 is, but let’s just say it supports the notion that mental health awareness should extend beyond Mental Health Awareness Month.
If you’d like to have your company participate in the 31-Day Challenge for Positive Mental Wellbeing, but don’t have time to plan for May, no worries; you can begin the challenge anytime you’re ready.
Why employer support matters
The mental health service provider Headspace recently released “The Workforce State of Mind in 2025,” a report based on a survey of more than 2,000 workers and close to 250 HR leaders in the United States and the United Kingdom. Among its findings:
- Fifty-eight percent of employees have considered quitting their job due to their mental health.
- Fifty-one percent of HR leaders say that mental-health related leaves of absence are increasing at their company.
- Fifty-six percent of employees who have taken a mental health-related leave of absence didn’t feel supported upon returning to work.
- Sixty-seven percent of HR leaders say the most important offering in an EAP is mental health support.
- Ninety-five percent of employees who used employer-provided mental health services said they felt better as a result.
Mental Health Awareness Month is a great time for employers to plan and take action to let their employees know their mental health matters. And Alera Group’s Mental Health Awareness Toolkit is designed to support workforce and workplace wellbeing year-round.
What else is in the Toolkit
Here’s a summary of what you’ll find in the Mental Health Awareness Toolkit along with the 31-Day Challenge for Positive Mental Wellbeing:
For employers:
- A comprehensive guide to developing a mentally healthy workplace
- A 12-month mental health campaign to spark engagement with benefits available through their employee assistance program (EAP)
- Refreshed versions of our sample templates for communication with employees
- Virtual backgrounds and email signatures
- Tips for observing Mental Health Awareness Month
For employees:
- Links to digital mental-health apps and national resources
- Educational videos and an expanded menu of recorded sessions from past Alera Group Employee Wellbeing Fairs, including the popular “sound bath”
For updates and insights throughout Mental Health Awareness Month, check in with Alera Group on LinkedIn. And to access the Mental Health Awareness Toolkit, click on the link below.
About the authors
Andrea Davis
Director of Wellbeing
Alera Group
Andrea Davis is committed to helping organizations build a strong culture of wellbeing through innovative strategies and evidence-based practices. Andrea partners with her clients to create tailored wellbeing programs that are holistic in nature, with the goal of ensuring that employees have the tools, resources and environment needed to feel supported and empowered to achieve their best health. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a BS in engineering and is certified as both a health coach and thriving workplace culture consultant.
Contact information:
andrea.davis@aleragroup.com
Connect with Andrea on LinkedIn
Gretchen Day, MPH, MCHES
VP of Health Innovations and Advanced Strategies
Alera Group
In her role at Alera Group, Gretchen Day satisfies her passion for public health by working with businesses and their employees to improve workplace culture and influence individual wellbeing. Ultimately, her goal is to help individuals access better quality healthcare while advancing innovative thinking to bring about change in the way healthcare is delivered. Gretchen earned her Master of Public Health degree from the Penn State College of Medicine and certification as a master certified health education specialist from the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing.
Contact information:
gretchen.day@aleragroup.com
Connect with Gretchen on LinkedIn
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