Katrina Gaffney, External Affairs Officer, Money and Mental Health

What can essential services firms and local authorities learn about supporting vulnerable customers from our new research?

3 December 2021

Last week, we published new research offering a state of the nation insight into how the pandemic has impacted people’s mental health and finances. Those of you working in essential services firms supporting vulnerable customers may not be surprised by the results – which show huge numbers of people both experiencing mental health problems for the first time and falling behind on payments. 

This week, we were pleased to be joined by representatives from essential services firms and local authorities for a specialist seminar on our new research. Our Head of Research and Policy, Conor D’Arcy, presented the relevant findings for firms – covering issues from disclosure to levels of support received. We also heard from Helen, a member of our Research Community with experience of mental health problems, who shared some of the difficulties she’s faced with essential services firms and her thoughts on how support for people with mental health problems could be improved. Watch Conor’s full presentation and hear Helen’s insights below.

With one in four of us experiencing a mental health problem over the course of a year, this piece of research provides important insight into the experiences of a significant chunk of your customer base. Given the context of the pandemic, it’s vital that essential services firms and local authorities take action now to improve support for struggling customers – and this is something we can help you do through our Mental Health Accessible programme. For more details contact Alice Rose.