Private Sector Collaborates with Government to Support Workers' Mental Health

The private sector is collaborating with the government to support workers’ mental health through the ‘Mental Ease at Workplaces’ programme. The initiative was marked by the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Otsuka Group Indonesia and the Marzoeki Mahdi Hospital (RSMM) in Bogor, West Java, which operates under the Ministry of Health. Dr. Nova Riyanti Yusuf, a doctor at RSMM, stated that the hospital is committed to overseeing the programme in the long term. ‘Through this collaboration, RSMM employees will be facilitated to receive mental health service support. This is a pilot project and hopefully can become a best practice for other hospitals,’ she said on Thursday. The strategic partnership places RSMM, acting as the National Mental Health Hospital, as a collaborator and partner in running the programme. Ockti Palupi Rahayuningtyas, Director of Referral Health Service Governance at the Ministry of Health, stated that cross-sector collaboration is a crucial foundation for public health in productive environments. ‘The signing of this MoU is a very good start. I greatly appreciate RSMM and Otsuka for their full commitment to running this mental health programme in the workplace,’ she said. Sudarmadi Widodo, HCD & Corporate Communication Director of Otsuka Group, stated that the initiative is a strategic step by the private sector to support the government’s agenda. ‘Otsuka, through the Mental Ease at Workplaces programme, is a form of the private sector’s commitment to supporting the Ministry of Health in creating mental health in Indonesia. This is in line with our company philosophy, Otsuka-people creating new products for better health worldwide,’ he said. Through the programme, Otsuka Group Indonesia and RSMM hope to set a new standard for human resource management in Indonesia, where work productivity goes hand in hand with maintained employee mental health. The Mental Ease at Workplaces programme is an Otsuka Group initiative aimed at creating mental health in the workplace while eliminating the negative stigma against mental health issues. Developed together with the Ministry of Health, the programme carries a promotive, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative approach through a series of activities such as training, education, handling by professional health workers, and other support systems designed to help companies build a work culture that is caring and responsive to mental health.