Wellbeing support for staff and their families

UNSW has a range of free services for UNSW staff members and their families to help at this challenging time. 

Benestar support 

Benestar is UNSW's Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and it has many resources to help you through the lockdown.   

UNSW continues to provide a counselling and coaching service free for all for all staff members, including contract and casual staff, and their immediate family members. At a time when psychology services in the community can be increasingly difficult to find, UNSW is pleased to be able to help staff to access this valuable and confidential resource. Benestar services are not limited to psychology or counselling – they can assist across all aspects of life including exercise, fitness, sleep, nutrition and money management.  

More information on how to access Benestar support can be found here. 

Uprise app and website 

Uprise is a resilience skills-builder, backed by research and provided free for UNSW staff.  

It is a simple wellbeing check that provides immediate feedback on how you are doing, relative to the population. From this you will receive an outline of recommended resources that may help you to reduce stress and improve wellbeing. These resources are drawn from an extensive library of evidence-based mental health modules that help you build skills such as stress management, dealing with coronavirus-related anxiety and improving sleep patterns. You can work through these short sessions in your own time, and tailor the support to your particular needs and interests. This is designed to complement our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with Benestar. For details on how to access Uprise, visit the Wellbeing website here.  

Wellbeing website 

Your wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic is our priority.  

There are great resources and straightforward advice on our Wellbeing website (here), grouped around four pillars: Mind, Body, Places and Culture. You might also like to download the Working From Home Guide as a reminder of things you can do to set up a healthy workspace while working virtually. 

Wellbeing events 

The Wellbeing events page is here to support your wellbeing during these challenging times.  

There are links for all the Benestar webinars, Uprise webinars and fitness classes such as the Desk-Based Stretching series which is currently running on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. There are links to recordings of all the webinars and online fitness classes that have been provided recently. If you’ve missed an event, or want to watch an event again, you should be able to find it here. 

Each month, several half-hour webinars are provided by Uprise coaches. These webinars are held on weekdays at 12.30pm and are also free to UNSW staff. In August, the webinars will be:  

• Coping with COVID-19 – Wednesday 11 August 

• Mindfulness for Sleep – Wednesday 18 August 

• Improving Sleep – Thursday 26 August. 

The Des Renford Leisure Centre (DRLC) in Maroubra is also running free live fitness classes on Facebook each morning from Monday to Friday starting at 10am, 11.30am and 12.30pm. Classes include HIIT, aerobics, yoga, Pilates, strength, dance fitness and also kids’ classes. Visit the DRLC Facebook for more information or a selection of pre-recorded video classes is available on the DRLC website here. 

Black Dog mental health resources 

The Black Dog Institute is affiliated with UNSW and is Australia’s only medical research institute dedicated to investigating mental health across the lifespan. The Black Dog Institute has a range of valuable resources to help people cope with the stress and uncertainty of COVID-19. They are available free on the COVID-19: Resources for Anxiety & Stress page of the Institute’s website, and can be accessed by anyone – so feel free to share them with your friends and family members who might benefit. There is a section for managers and workers, another section for parents and young people, and one for health professionals. For those living alone, there is some useful advice on how to stay connected during lockdown. 

For all of us, this personal mental health check-in for lockdown is a valuable tool to help us keep on track.