Angela Rako’s session at DrupalSouth Melbourne highlighted the urgent need for mental health awareness in remote and hybrid workplaces. Drawing on her work in organisational transformation and her background in mental health, she explored how changing work patterns are affecting wellbeing and what individuals, leaders and employers can do to create more mindful and supportive environments. The session offered a people-first roadmap for fostering connection, trust and balance in distributed teams.
Enhancing mental health awareness in a remote work culture – a summary
Remote work has fundamentally transformed the Australian workplace, growing from 13% of before COVID-19 to 45% working in hybrid arrangements by 2024. While this shift brings significant benefits like improved work-life balance and increased productivity, Angela highlighted that it has also created new mental health challenges that organisations are still learning to address.
The rise of distributed teams has introduced physical challenges, such as decreased daily movement, as well as social challenges, including workplace loneliness and mental health pressures from always-on connectivity. Despite 97% of wanting to continue remote or hybrid work through retirement, many struggle with isolation, boundary-setting and maintaining wellbeing in home-based environments.
Creating mentally healthy remote work cultures requires more than traditional wellness initiatives. Angela outlined systematic approaches that address these unique challenges, emphasising that effective mental health support in distributed teams demands intentional strategies from individuals, leaders and employers working together.
Understanding the mental health challenges of remote work
Remote work creates significant physical health impacts that directly affect mental well-being. Angela noted that 54% of remote and hybrid workers report a 50% decrease in daily , with some having as few as 16 steps from bed to workspace. This dramatic reduction in mobility leads to increased body aches, cardiovascular disease risks and reduced vitamin D levels, which directly correlate with depression, anxiety, fatigue and poor sleep quality.
The social and emotional challenges are equally concerning. Angela highlighted that 48% of remote workers report not receiving adequate emotional support from their employers, while 32% describe remote work as fundamentally . This isolation can escalate into depression, creating cycles where workers become increasingly disconnected from their colleagues and workplace culture.
Workers’ mental well-being faces additional pressures from the always-on nature of remote work. They often struggle with constant connectivity, information overload from excessive messages and meetings and difficulty separating work and personal life. Angela referenced 2022 data showing that 61% of remote attend more meetings than their on-site counterparts, while 65% work longer hours, creating a sense of overcompensation pressure and the constant need to prove productivity.
Four pillars for creating a mindful workplace culture
Creating effective mental health support in remote work environments requires more than traditional wellness initiatives like gift hampers, wellness apps or yoga classes. Angela outlined a systematic framework built on four essential pillars that address the unique challenges of distributed teams:
Foundation: Creating culturally safe environments where people feel comfortable discussing mental health challenges, with clear communication channels and empathy and compassion as core company values.
Mindful leadership: Leaders modelling vulnerability by sharing their own mental health experiences while being intentional about language, interactions and daily leadership practices.
Every day practice: Ensuring team members understand available support systems and that workplace policies accommodate the realities of remote work.
Connection and cohesion: Creating meaningful workplace relationships and interactions despite physical distance.
Together, these pillars create a framework in which mental health support becomes embedded in workplace culture, rather than being treated as an add-on benefit.
Practical strategies for supporting mental health remotely
Angela outlined specific approaches for individuals, leaders and employers, emphasising that mental health support requires collaboration across all organisational levels. These strategies focus on practical, implementable actions rather than abstract concepts.
Individual strategies
For individual remote workers, Angela emphasises that taking ownership of their well-being is crucial, with personal boundary management serving as the foundation of mental health support. This includes setting clear work schedules with defined hours, scheduling lunch breaks and 15-minute outdoor walks and managing email and messaging times strategically.
Some daily practices that support wellbeing include writing three daily goals each morning and reviewing progress at the end of the day. Angela also recommended hydration for improved focus, familiarising yourself with available mental health resources and participating in employer wellness initiatives.
Leadership approaches
Leaders have a unique influence over team culture and individual well-being in remote environments. Creating psychologically safe environments requires leaders to model vulnerability and establish no-blame cultures where mistakes become learning opportunities. Regular check-ins, daily informal connection messages and authentic appreciation matter more than material gifts.
Mental health conversations require intentional courage and empathetic language. Leaders should initiate supportive discussions when noticing concerning changes, reassure team members of confidentiality and promote flexibility, including mental health days, when they show signs of struggle.
Employer frameworks
Organisations must create structural support systems that enable mental health awareness at scale. Systematic support requires comprehensive organisational frameworks, including mental health policies, integration of company values and onboarding that covers employee assistance programs. Professional development should train managers to recognise signs of burnout and conduct supportive conversations with confidence.
Structural changes like Salsa Digital's meeting-free zones—two mornings and one afternoon weekly—improve both productivity and team cohesion. Additional strategies include mindful meeting practices, group wellness challenges and informal communication spaces for personal connection.
Conclusion
Angela's session demonstrated that supporting mental health in remote work environments requires intentional action across all organisational levels. The four-pillar framework—foundation, mindful leadership, everyday practice and connection and cohesion—provides organisations with a structured approach where individual boundary-setting, leadership vulnerability and employer structural changes work together to address the unique challenges of distributed teams.
The session concluded with a practical demonstration of workplace mindfulness, a two-minute exercise that focused on immediate sensory awareness. This simple practice reinforced that effective mental health support isn't about expensive wellness programs, but rather accessible mindfulness techniques that can be seamlessly integrated into busy workdays without requiring significant time investment.
About Angela Rako
Angela ensures Salsa's most critical resources — our people — are well looked after, feel supported and heard. Her goal is to ensure that our people have the most positive employment journey possible.