Seafarers' Mental Health: Learnings from walking a mile in their shoes

Sandra joined Seafarers Hospital Society (SHS) at an interesting and exciting time in its history as it moves towards its bicentenary in 2021.

In addition to this, SHS has seen several successes in the health development area including; the SeaFit Programme for fishers, the creation of the Seafarers Physiotherapy Network and the development of a standard in Mental Health Training.

Initially trained as a teacher, Sandra later gained a Theology Degree at the University of Aberdeen, as well as gaining a master’s degree in human resource management. She brings versatility and depth of experience to Seafarers Hospital Society having occupied a variety of senior roles, including six years at Sailors’ Society, initially as Director of Programme and then Chief Operating Officer with overall responsibility for the creation and development of crew welfare and well-being programmes and community development projects for seafaring communities.

Rebecca H. Mejia is Public Health Manager at Marine Benefits. She has more than 25 years of extensive professional experience within the fields of health and wellness.

Rebecca is involved in research and development at Marine Benefits AS, a Norwegian company specializing in employment benefits solutions for seafarers and innovative crew insurance solutions for the maritime industry.

She is responsible for coordinating Re:fresh, a health risk assessment tool developed by Marine Benefits AS to track the health and wellbeing of seafaring crew through a systematic and holistic approach. Rebecca is also the project manager for Re:start, a health and wellbeing program with a health promoting focus tailored for the shipping industry.

Johan Smith is the author and programme manager of the award-winning Wellness at Sea Programme. He joined Sailors’ Society, a leading Maritime charity, in 2014.

Sharing the belief that the human element in seafaring needs to be valued, supported and invested in, they have developed Wellness at Sea to become a leading Wellness Interventions in the Industry. The holistic philosophy the programme follows, was an Industry first and today, Sailors’ Society is grateful for the positive impact the Programme has had on thousands of seafarers.

The programme has won the Safety at Sea award for Best Crew Welfare Programme and the Seatrade Award for Investment in People. The Sailors’ Society are constantly exploring new and innovative ways to serve seafarers at sea, in port and at home.

Caitlin joined ISWAN as Project Manager in 2014 and is responsible for running a variety of projects and events which aim to make a positive impact on the lives of seafarers. This has included the development of ISWAN’s health resources for seafarers and organising events to explore solutions to prominent issues affecting seafarers.

Caitlin has previously worked in Project Management in the not-for-profit sector and holds an MA in International Relations.

Ann-Kristin Siewert is working as Owners Representative for Interorient in Manila. She is responsible for ca 1500 seafarers from the Philippines.

Ann-Kristin is working since 13 years in the shipping industry, specialized in Crewing. Before she moved to the Philippines, she was working as Head of Crewing Department for different shipping companies in Germany.

Ben Bailey is Director of Advocacy for The Mission to Seafarers – the international charity for merchant crews and their families. After training to be a journalist, Ben has spent his career to date working in international development, first with The Salvation Army, and for the past decade in various communications roles in the maritime welfare sector. Ben heads the advocacy and regional engagement team at the Mission’s International Headquarters based in London, and works with port operators, governments and local communities to create effective crew welfare services. His department is responsible for the widely read Seafarers’ Happiness Index and is regularly involved in working with crews who have been abandoned and marginalised. In 2017 Ben was appointed Head of the ICMA Delegation to the IMO representing all faith-based maritime welfare organisations. Ben Bailey is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.