From burgers to bananas: how WSLHD celebrated CrazySocks4Docs Day
Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) staff have put their best foot forward in style, with teams from across the district celebrating Crazy Socks4Docs Day.
Staff were encouraged to put on their brightest and most outrageous socks before heading into work, to help encourage healthcare workers to take care of their mental health.
Crazy Socks4Docs Day is held each year on the first Friday in June and encourages health professionals and their communities to visibly show their support for the cause. Normalising mental health and creating a safe space for these conversations is important, and we saw an explosion of colour in our facilities this year.
See the photo gallery below.
“CrazySocks4Docs Day is a great way to promote awareness of mental health and the need for self-care amongst medical staff at risk of burnout and starting a conversation with our colleagues,” Associate Professor Lukas Kairaitis, Head of Renal Services at Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospitals (BMDH) and Chair of the BMDH Medical Staff Council said.
Lukas and his team are celebrating CrazySocks4Docs Day today as part of their goal to promote wellbeing and morale amongst the senior/junior medical workforce at BMDH.
“Locally at BMDH we have challenged teams to produce the most creative team photo of their crazy socks-with the winning team being awarded a coffee voucher to promote further team socialisation.”
“Reach out to your peers, they understand what you are going through. Isolation makes everything worse in my experience,” Doctor Arwen Morath, ED Staff Specialist at Auburn and outgoing Auburn Hospital Director Pre-vocational Training and Education (DPET) said.
Arwen is wearing crazy socks today to raise awareness for mental health in healthcare workers.
“I am a passionate advocate for doctors’ mental health. Working as DPET has made me realise how important it is for doctors to be able to openly discuss confronting topics as a community. Without discussion, we aren’t able to best support ourselves and each other through difficult situations.
“A medical career can be incredibly rewarding, but all of us will repeatedly be exposed to mental and emotional strain. A culmination of stressors can leave their mark. That’s not weakness, it is trauma that needs to be acknowledged and addressed for our own sakes, but also so we can keep doing what we do best – care for patients.”
WSLHD offers a variety of mental health services which can be accessed here.
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