Breaking Down Barriers: iyarn in the News

iyarn recently appeared alongside prominent businesses who are taking action to support mental health.

(Picture courtesy of The West Australian)

From the article:

A new app is helping WA bosses break down mental health barriers with employees, with many at increased risk of burnout because of the pandemic.

Employers and workplace experts say there has never been a more critical time for businesses to open up on wellbeing amid the health crisis.

WA head of Investment for the Department for International Trade, Kirsty Packer, said it was “more important than ever” to put mental health under the spotlight.

“The big factors for mental health are family, friends, relationships, and job stability and at the moment we don’t have any of those,” she said.

“The closed borders affect so many people’s mental health … little has been said about the huge mental impact.”

This climate led Perth-based entrepreneur Lockie Cooke, pictured, to launch “iyarn” in May, which promotes checking in with family, friends and colleagues.

“Iyarn is a health pulse check, where users are able to allocate values that are important to them or the business and give personal ratings as to how they feel about them at any given time,” he said.

“This provides data to map users’ journeys and allows them to view others to check in on their friend, family member or colleague.”

Mr Cooke said the app was also a professional tool that enabled businesses to see what areas were lacking and to open up conversations about how to improve them.

Uniting WA head of service operations Michael Chester, who has been using iyarn with his team, said the app had already proved invaluable during the pandemic.

“It acts as a prompt to have a discussion around specific matters that people might not necessarily be willing to open up about on their own,” he said.

“It gave me the opportunity to see how individual members of my team were doing and to know sometimes I needed to just go offline with some of them and have some important conversations about where they were at.”

Brain Fit director Jenny Brockis, whose consultancy business specialises in brain health, said high stress, exhaustion and feeling overwhelmed were common in many workplaces and had been amplified by COVID-19. “Burnout from working at home has become more common, as has a growing sense of isolation and disconnect,” Dr Brockis said.

With COVID-related restrictions putting an end to interstate travel, Dr Brockis said the app helped her check in on her clients on the east coast.

Volleyball WA chief executive officer Robyn Kuhl is also passionate about breaking down mental health barriers in WA sport.

Read the Full Article

See the full article over at the West Australian (paywall).

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Interested to hear more about how iyarn can help to keep staff engaged or play a role in the mental health approach of your workplace?

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